The Volatile Future of NIL and its Effect on Young Athletes

By Finley Bisch, Zach Sherman, and Courtney Holland

In June of 2021, the Supreme court ruled that college athletes could make money off their name, image and likeness or NIL. This ruling quickly became one of the more confusing and controversial court rulings on college sports in a long time.  

With these new laws evolving so rapidly, fans and athletes alike got confused, taking the enjoyment out of watching college sports.  

NIL has been confusing since the start. Dr. Galen Clavio, sports media professor at Indiana University, spoke at a press conference about the history and the details of NIL.  

Speaking on the confusion at its inception he said, “instead of coming up with a plan, the NCAA essentially punted and left it up to the states.” 

Dr. Clavio also spoke on the futures of student athletes and NIL. He noted that “amateur college sports are over” due to the fact that schools are spending $15-20 million in NIL deals to keep players on their rosters, essentially paying them for playing sports. 

This pay-for-play model is something that NIL has tried to avoid and is something that Clavio warned against.  

While he’s very informed, Dr. Clavio can only provide an academic view on NIL. To get a real look from athletes, we interviewed Joran Rayford and Brody Marcet. 

Jordan Rayford is an IU basketball team member. Rayford is in his second year of playing for the Indiana basketball team.  

He has experienced NIL and profits off of it. When asked about what NIL means, Rayford said, “to me it means the opportunity to profit off my name and then get a share of the revenue that college sports make.”  

However, since he is new to the entirety of NIL, he continues to say, “I can’t name any specific laws about it.”  

Rayford, despite the fact that he has experience and profited from NIL, is one of the many athletes who is confused about what it all means.  

Moreover, he says, “I guess they’re changing the rules a little bit, it’s more like revenue sharing and the collectives…you can’t pay players an outrageous amount of money for doing something basic. The collectives are going to be controlled more,” he says.  

Rayford is just one of many athletes who are confused by the laws, and don’t feel as though the confusion is worth it.  

Brody Marcet, a swimmer from Ohio State is in his first year of eligibility. He echoed the confusion that Rayford experienced, especially because of the way that NIL laws in Ohio,  

“Theres like zero regulation, besides what’s regulated,” said Marcet, “You can basically do whatever you want until you can’t.” 

This confusion can be stressful for athletes, who are all attempting to do good in school, perform at their top levels while also not breaking any laws that will ban them from their sports and their schools.  

Despite the confusion, Marcet spoke of one benefit that he found, and that is the Chipotle Card, wherein student athletes get free Chipotle once a week for the entirety of their season. This is due to NIL.  

Unlike Rayford, Marcet is in a sport that isn’t as popular as basketball or football. He says that this is difficult because he has many friends that are on other, more recognized teams who benefit more from NIL deals.  

“The entire Utah football team got Ford trucks a couple of years ago, and that sucks because I just got a chipotle card and a couple free shorts from brands. Obviously, I’m grateful and very lucky to be getting anything at all.” said Marcet. He wanted it reiterated that he does feel lucky because many college students do not get this opportunity.  

However, there was a time before NIL when thousands of “regular” college students were given the ability to profit off of themselves, but athletes were not.  

Dr. Clavio noted this, saying that “[NIL] is not new rights, but the removal of restrictions”. It was after this statement that he also noted that there needs to be some sort of codified take on NIL, in order to prevent empty promises for athletes.  

In the future, that code would also likely persuade athletes to go into professional sports after college. As Dr. Clavio stated previously, NIL is destroying amateur sports.  

This was echoed by Marcet who said, “Athletes aren’t going pro out of college anymore; they’re making way more money in college with NIL.” 

He is not wrong, pointing to Caitlyn Clark making millions of dollars in her senior year at the University of Iowa.  

After talking with these two athletes and listening to Dr. Clavio, it is evident that there needs to be much more regulation and clarity of laws regarding NIL and the deals that these athletes should be allowed to make. 

IU students and staff weigh in on NIL, giving their opinions on how it involves members of the Indiana University community.

###