Elizabeth Conley



Projects by Elizabeth Conley

Managing NIL in a better, more uniformed way.

By Mason Jones, Kamryn Eskew, and Elizabeth Conley

 

 

Just imagine this. You play college soccer for the Indiana Hoosiers and are in the middle of the championship match. You are a forward. It is a cool, autumn Thursday evening at Indiana University and you and your team are playing against the Clemson Tigers. The smell of the damp ground fills the air as you breathe deeply. The score is tied at 1-1, and you are up to take the game-winning penalty kick. The stadium is filled with students, families, and children screaming and shouting, but in your mind, it is silent. Nothing is more important than this moment. A deep inhale of oxygen is taken, followed by a slow exhale. After taking three steps backward, your cleats dig into the grass, and your eyes are glued to the soccer ball on the ground. You then run towards the ball and kick it. The ball goes left towards the goal, but the goalie leaps to the right, missing it. The crowd roars and your teammates are running towards you. The Indiana Hoosier’s soccer team just won the championship game because you made the penalty kick. Ever since that moment on that night, your name and face have been everywhere. As a sophomore athlete at Indiana University, you have been the best player on the team and have had many outstanding performances during games. Still, after you made the championship game-winning penalty kick, your image has soared through the media. You are no longer one of the most famous college athletes in the country, but now the most famous athlete. Growing up, being a professional soccer player was your dream, but you never imagined being this big in the NCAA. Stress and anxiety begin to overtake you as you think about how much pressure you have gotten from being all over the internet, and you worry about how it will affect you. A question lingers in your mind: “Is there a way to handle my image without the stress and pressure?”

In June 2021, the Supreme Court allowed college athletes to finally benefit from their name, image, and likeness, also known as NIL, which changed college sports. In a unanimous 9-0 decision, the Supreme Court upheld the lower court’s decision that NCAA restrictions on “educated-related benefits” for college athletes violated the antitrust laws. 

Jones taking a baseball photo for his senior year of high school in Madison, Indiana, Apr. 2017. Credited by Christian Brown.

When former high school cross country runner and baseball player Gunner Jones was asked about his general thoughts on NIL in the NCAA, he expressed that there are positive benefits from it, while also being mishandled. “NIL in today’s college sports is a good thing, but it has just been mishandled,” he said. “I do believe that student athletes are entitled to make money off of their name, image and likeness, but I also believe that there has to be regulations and rules set in place in order to protect the student athlete.” 

“I do believe that more successful athletes do have a right to negotiate better terms and have larger NIL,” Jones said. 

It was also important to know what a college athlete’s thoughts on the topic were. Jackson Kelsey, a former high school soccer player, track runner, swimmer, and football player, played soccer for Manchester University, located in Indiana. He transferred from Manchester University to Indiana University but does not play for the Hoosiers’ soccer team. The financial aspect of NIL is a big part of what keeps them going. “I think NIL is a great way for athletes to receive compensation beyond scholarships,” Kelsey said. “It gives student athletes an opportunity to profit from their own personal grants… Money can get in the way of college sports spirit, and I think, to an extent, it takes away the element of amateurism that is college sports.”

Kelsey in a soccer match for Manchester University in North Manchester, Indiana, Sep. 2022. Credited by Brian Beachy.

Kelsey also talked about his thoughts on how to better manage an athlete’s NIL. “I think there needs to be clear guidelines on the rules around NIL to ensure fairness and compliance,” he said. “While the management is sort of all over the place right now, I do think with the NCAA v. House Case, we will start to see a more uniformed system.” 

Clavio giving an NIL-based lecture to a class at Indiana University, Bloomington, Oct. 2024. Credited by Mike Badrov.

Indiana University’s Media School Associate Dean, Galen Clavio is an expert at NIL and when it comes to athletes earning money from other companies besides the university. “The NCAA is trying very much to put legal protections in that would allow them to essentially operate a financial monopoly…by making them the sole distributor of money,” Clavio said. So, there is always competition for colleges with a talented athlete who is getting many brand deals. 

Overall, NIL has improved the lives of many college athletes. It gives them a sense of belonging in their sport, while giving them financial benefits.

On the topic of NIL, we asked a couple members of the IU community their opinion. They shared their thoughts on the topic of managing NIL in a better way.

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Tim Cook, Apple CEO, Unveils New Apple Watch

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Media Contacts
Alex Speilman
Elizabeth Conley

CUPERTINO, California (Sept. 9, 2014) – CEO Tim Cook unveils new electronic watch, a customizable device that allows the user to track
health, stay connected, and access apps on their wrist at the Apple convention last Tuesday. The watch was shown off with an innovative video and showed off its features to launch into the future. The highly anticipated Apple Watch has been released, and it will change how we interact and use technology for years and years to come. This product can track fitness and health and is an overall new piece of technology to enhance lives. The Apple Watch can pair with iPhones and other devices and send you notifications on the screen for the ultimate luxury. The Apple Watch featured the Digital Crown, a tool enabling people to zoom, scroll, or navigate. The watch has various materials like stainless steel, aluminum, and, most notably, 18-karat Gold. The Apple Watch has a whopping 18 hours of battery before charging. The watch has several sensors, including a heart rate sensor, accelerometer, and a gyro corpse. The Apple watch creates a whole new way of connecting and building; it offers the ability to send and receive text messages and the opportunity to send and receive calls.

Young female student at IUB uses her Apple Watch
Kyushu Patel, a student at Indiana University, checks her step count on her new Apple Watch. The fitness feature on the Apple Watch allows Patel to be aware of her health no matter where she is.

“Apple has introduced the world to several category-defining products, the Mac, iPod, iPhone, and iPad,” said Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO. The watch is a revolutionary device meant to do more on a smaller, more situated device. The Digital Crown, another new feature, can be used to zoom, scroll, and get through the Apple watch in a straightforward way that is friendly to the user. The watch also comes with 11 intriguing faces ranging from more routine and traditional to very new and updated faces. The dynamic timelapse face is an astronomy face with an interactive 3d model of the entire Earth, moon, sun, and planets. The Apple Watch will notify you when something like an eclipse or a special event happens with our solar system. The device will be open and available in 2015, beginning at a starting price of $349. Apple has always been at the forefront of technology since the Macintosh computer was released in 1984.

“Apple has a history of revolutionizing industries, and with the Apple Watch, were poised to do it again. This is the most personal device we’ve ever created, and it’s not just with you, it’s on you. We believe Apple Watch will become an essential part of people’s lives” (Cook). The watch is designed to work well with the iPhone and team up to help you with whatever needs to be successful in customers’ lives. It is wearable any time of day, all day, any day.

A man on the IUB campus uses his Apple Watch
Walking on campus at IU, Russel checks his text messages linked to his Apple Watch. The iMessage app gives him easy access to contact any people he needs to in seconds.

“It’s as much about personal technology, as it is style and taste” (Cook). The Crown is a great and helpful tool used as the watch’s home button, as it can quickly get users in and out of apps to support a user-friendly system. When using the watch, there is always an idea of comfort; the watch guarantees all ideas of comfort when you look at our user-friendly tools like the Digital Crown, interactive 3d Model, an easy and efficient way to track fitness, etc. But, when you clip that Apple watch on you want a sense of even more comfort, and with that we mean the leather buckle, there are six different shades to the leather and it is made from a sweat and chemical resistant high performance elastoma. The leather loop comes in a soft and fuzzy quilted leather. This leather is designed for the ultimate comfort when working out so you are comfortable in whatever task you complete on the watch.

 

 

 

Cook, dressed in humble attire, presents the new Apple Watch to an eager crowd. The room erupts in applause as he says his signature line, “One more thing…”

 

Tim Cook presents a video showing the watch’s close-up details, from the aluminum structure to the sleek glass screen. The Apple Watch is advertised as a second choice for the iPhone for any occasion.

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