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DOES NIL NEGATIVELY AFFECT COLLEGE ATHLETES MOTIVATION?

By Kol Popkin, Carter Moran and Erika Watt

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. (Nov. 5, 2024)

Kai Connor massages his temples as he looks over the list of multiple colleges that have reached out to him for the third time. The countless years of memories on track teams throughout his life playing in his head. Alabama, IU, Purdue, Columbia, and more had invited him for unofficial visits offering him differing athletic scholarships and promises. Ideas of money, publicity, and deals swarmed his mind, the dim lighting of his room starting a slight headache. Connor knew prospects of making money off of himself in college could be a genuine factor in picking his future.

His fingers tapping the desk as he took in every coach and teammate’s opinion that’s been said to him. Through all the confusion of the picking and choosing recruitment process, the only thing that provided clarity was remembering his love for running. The dedication and passion he’d put in to get where he is today further leading his motivation to continue past high school. With his competitive nature and love for track, he finally knew what college he wanted to pick and why. 

In 2021, the NCAA changed its rules to allow college athletes to profit from their name, image, and likeness. Taking away these restrictions after so many years of them being in place left many athletes and professionals in the field questioning whether this will change the motivation of athletes. Will effort levels decrease or increase if the ability to make money is available to them? Are athletes performing for the wrong reasons? We talked to multiple athletic experts on their understanding and thoughts on this.

athlete kai doing warmups
Kai Connor, junior track and cross country athlete at the University of Alabama, completes his warmups before practice. Connor expresses that making money based on name, image and likeness makes the sport more enjoyable. Photo by Jacob Lucas

Junior track and cross country runner at University of Alabama, Kai Connor, shared his own NIL experience and gave us his take on how making money affects college athletes. He has had involvement in deals with brands such as Reebok, CVS, and HeyDude. With the many opinions surrounding enjoyment, motivation, and pressure with NIL, we asked him how he thinks deals have affected the way athletes enjoy they’re sport. Connor said, “Not too many downsides when it comes to making money because that’s how it always should’ve been. You always should’ve been able to promote yourself on your own and reach out to companies. In sports you can only have a certain amount of scholarships, but now with NIL you can put more kids on full scholarships which is helpful. Taking away financial stress definitely increases being able to enjoy your sport.” While it could be believed that having the ability to make money at a younger age would add more pressure, Connor highlights how helpful NIL can be with financial burdens for college students. The recruitment process is also very controversial given schools that can offer more money would get the best players. However, players’ reasoning for picking colleges and motivation for their sport cab be a lot more complex than that. We see that in Connor’s situation. Knowing Alabama just finished 4th in the nation last year in track and is a top 10 program in cross country, Connor came to be pushed athletically. He said, “I wanted to be challenged, you know I didn’t want to be like the best guy coming in. It definitely makes you compete harder.” He further points out that his reasoning for picking such a competitive program was related to passion and work. 

Tyler Cherry tossing a football up in the air
Tyler Cherry, Freshman quarterback at Indiana University, tosses a football in the air to pose for a picture. Cherry is familiar with NIL and shares positive feedback on the matter. Photo taken by Erika Watt

As well as track, NIL deals are very popular in football. We interviewed IU Bloomington’s backup quarterback Tyler Cherry. He described how since he’s only a freshman, his personal experience is limited. However, he still has a lot to say around the controversy of college athletes making additional money. When asked if he thinks NIL deals will impact the future of college athletics he said, “I think NIL deals are the entire future of college athletics. I think that’ll affect a lot of recruiting situations if the schools are close, like whoever offers more money might end up getting the recruit to come to their school.” Cherry believes, like many others do, starting to make money at that age will affect the process surrounding applying and choosing schools for high school seniors. However, his beliefs for college athletes such as himself differ. While he believes NIL has completely changed the game of football, when he was asked if he feels NIL opportunities have affected his motivation to compete he said no. “I approach it the same, just want to do my best and if you’re playing good you can get some opportunities. I think some athletes may be more focused on NIL, but it doesn’t really affect the way you train. Like in high school, it’s just football that you love to do and want to do. But in addition to that, you can make good money and get opportunities off the field.” This simple statement describes how love for a sport can outweigh money-making aspects. 

Professor Clavio guest lecturing a room full of students
Galen Clavio, Professor at Indiana University and NIL expert, guest lectures students during a C250 StoryLab class. During his lecture, Clavio addresses the rights athletes have to make money based on name, image and likeness. Photo by Emma Pearce

Many professionals working in the athletic area believe regardless of the motivation behind someone’s work, they have the right to be able to make money off of themselves. This is the case with Galen Clavio, professor at Indiana University and NIL expert. He said, “Everybody in this room as an adult has rights of publicity. You have the right to profit off of your name, what you look like, and how your likeness is utilized within any form of media or advertising or business.” It could be said that the age of college athletes is too immature to be able to make a certain amount of money. That they’re too impressionable and may prioritize the potential deals that could be made instead of their passion for the sport. However, does that make it okay for other people to decide if they can or can’t brand themselves? Clavio believes this is a right that already exists and is not granted, “This is not a case of new rights being granted to college athletes. It is instead the removal of restrictions that were being imposed by college athletic departments upon college athletes. Essentially telling those people you do not get the same rights as the other people that are college students.” Athletes like Tyler Cherry and Kai Connor uphold this notion that the passion for a sport exceeds the prospect of making money in college. This freshman football player and junior track competitor provide the same insights that getting deals is just an additional prospect to the hard work, dedication, and commitment put into college athletics. In addition to the fact that according to Clavio, this restricted right should be given regardless of the motivation. These professionals point to incentive and effort not being an issue within NIL.

Interviewees express their opinions on NIL. They explain why or why not they like NIL, along with how they think it affects a college athlete’s motivation for their sport.

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Public Relations Story

Apple Changes the Technology World Forever, Announcing the Release of the Apple Watch

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Apple Changes the Technology World Forever, Announcing the Release of the Apple Watch
Media Contacts
Sophia Trout
Sofia Harari
Carter Moran
Cupertino, California (Sept. 9, 2014) – Apple publicizes the new Apple Watch today, unveiling a new way to communicate and upping the technology game forever. The Apple Watch is a new form of technology that combines the iPhone and regular watch, creating the Apple Watch. The CEO of Apple, Tim Cook, announced the Apple Watch at the Flint Center at De Anza College in Cupertino, California.
The Apple Watch is much more than your typical watch. It introduces a screen with digital crown- also relayed as the home button. This button essentially is where you can unlock the screen, zoom, scroll, or open an app. Just for basics, it is connected to your iPhone to make communication, work, and life easier. The Apple Watch can receive/make calls, iMessages, emails, and manage many more apps that are connected to your iPhone or other Apple products. The Apple Watch is created to provide a wide range of features to enhance and simplify everything you do daily basis. The Apple Watch is a device that can’t be topped for assisting everyday living and allowing individuals to have accessible tools at hand, all day long.
Joel Thomas checks his new Apple Watch for his reminders as he waits on his check, effortlessly managing his day. Gifted by his wife and kids for is birthday, the watch serves as a powerful tool in helping him stay on top of important tasks, including managing his type one diabetes with timely reminders.
“With Apple Watch, we’ve developed multiple technologies and an entirely new user interface specifically for a device that’s designed to be worn.” said Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO. “We believe this product will redefine what people expect from its category.” The Apple Watch allows physical and technological worlds to collide. The Apple Watch is designed to add to the evolution of technology and opening a new chapter to the Apple category allows them to continue to outdo themselves. The Apple Watch adds yet another milestone that Apple has created to make history adding onto the iPhone, iPad, and iMac. The connectivity involved allows the Apple Watch to receive any notifications sent to any of the other existing devices owned by the wearer.
Not only does the Apple Watch get worn for a more enhanced experience and connection to the outside world, but it is also equipped with a built-in accelerometer, allowing your health to be tracked. Although the iPhone has included the health app, this new and improved feature provides day-to-day updates on analysis of how many steps you have taken or track workout sessions to give you accurate diagnostics to keep track of your health. Apple Watch uses LED lights that can track your heart rate, evolving the iPhone’s health features to a personalized device that can keep you aware of your health. Not only does the Apple Watch health feature track your fitness, but it also reminds you to stand if you have been sitting too long and tracks the amount of sleep you get. It can also help alert you of any heart rhythms or cardiovascular/aerobic issues that seem abnormal to potentially help aid and save a life.
Mia Cornell, several minutes into her routine nightly walk, receives a call from her roommate Abigail Blythe. With easy access to communication through her new watch, she is reminded to pick up a few packages just before returning home.

 

The Apple Watch’s release will be including many different color options in stainless steel. A band is provided with the Apple Watch and a variety of different colors and textures can be interchanged to your preference. The Apple Watch is a prime example of innovation, providing technology to merge with reality to create convenience and reliability. With the features including health tracking, connectivity, accessibility, and variety, Apple has overachieved when it comes to creating products that make everyone’s lives better.  Brace yourselves, the Apple Watch will be getting released early 2015 starting at the price $349.
Apples designs produce technology that is used globally along with other software. Apple has not only sculpted technology products but has created other listening devices for the music industry such as iTunes, Apple Music, iPods, and Air pods. The creation of technological innovation doesn’t stop here.

 

Tim Cook examples how the crown on the Apple Watch is used. Tim shows that the crown can be used to zoom in, scroll through lists, and go back to the home screen.

 

Kevin Lynch shows off  some new features of the Apple Watch. By holding the crown down on the Apple Watch, Kevin asks Siri to display movies playing in Cupertino.