Projects by Emma Pearce

News Story

Three years after NIL ruling, College athletic departments tackle changes

Story by Alex Spielman, Emma Pearce and Lily Hagedorn

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. (Nov. 5, 2024) – The crowd screams. Beer cans are airborne, sprinkling the student section with alcohol. Everyone is on their feet. The Indiana Hoosiers just beat Nebraska with a score of 56 to 7. The win against the Cornhuskers was the Hoosiers’ seventh of the season. They have not lost a game. 

The 2024 game against Nebraska was the first IU football game to sell out since the Ohio State game in 2021. Indiana would go on to sell out the rest of their home games. The Hoosiers’ winning season was drawing national attention, bringing the FOX “Big Noon Kickoff” show one weekend and ESPN’s “College Gameday” the next. Indiana became a nationally ranked football team. 

Director of the National Sports Journalism Center and Indiana University Associate Dean Galen Clavio calls on a student during a press conference on NIL deals.
Director of the National Sports Journalism Center and Indiana University Associate Dean Galen Clavio calls on a student while answering questions during a press conference on the 2021 NIL ruling. As an expert in Sports Media, Clavio has witnessed changes across athletic departments over the past few years. Photo by Emma Pearce

“At the end of the day college athletic departments and their teams and the coaches that control those teams, they want to win, and they have a limited amount of resources,” Director of the National Sports Journalism Center Galen Clavio said. “Whatever small positive effect you might have from a really popular high school athlete coming in is going to be a drop in the bucket compared to the effects of having a winning team. I mean, look at IU football. Look at the attention on IU football. They’re going to sell out maybe four games this year. They’re not doing it because they have popular NIL players on their team, they’re doing it because they’ve got good players that are winning games.”   

In 2021 the Supreme Court ruled that college athletes could hold NIL (name, image and likeness) deals, which would allow them to profit off the use of their name or photo. After the ruling went into effect, the amount of money a university could offer an athlete started to affect the recruiting process, changing collegiate athletic departments.  

Logan Krzykowski looks into the camera while doing a segment for the IU Media School YouTube page.
Indiana University student Logan Krzykowski hosts the IU Fast Five segment on the IU Media School YouTube page. Krzykowski is an intern for the Indiana University Athletics Department, and works closely with many basketball players. Photo courtesy of Logan Krzykowski

“What recruitment revolves around now is NIL. If you go to a big school like Indiana, there are going to be a lot of NIL deals, and it doesn’t really matter if you’re the most talented on the team or not…Most players don’t even look at the system that best fits them, they look at the amount of money that they’re going to get. It’s kind of a sad change, but it’s a change that we have to make,” Indiana University Athletics Intern Logan Krzykowski said. 

The transfer portal is being used more often for athletes who are not satisfied with their current deal or team. To convince athletes to transfer, schools can offer NIL deals. Eight players on the 2024-25 Indiana University men’s basketball team roster transferred from other schools.  

Jeremy Gray looks into camera for headshot.
Indiana University Senior Associate Athletic Director and Cuban Center Director Jeremy Gray smiles for a headshot for the Cuban Center. Gray works in communications for IU athletics, and has become an expert on NIL. Photo courtesy of Jeremy Gray

“I think NIL has impacted mid to major transfers more than anywhere else. It also kind of shortens the patience of the backup. A lot of people were willing to stick it out to wait for their chance to break into the starting lineup before. Now it’s like ‘it’s been a year. You haven’t started me. I’m transferring, and I can get paid to do it. I might transfer to a school that’s not as good at this sport as yours, but they’re going to let me play right away, so, I’m going to go do that,’” Indiana University Senior Associate Athletic Director and Cuban Center Director Jeremy Gray said. 

Sometimes, the transfer portal does not work out for athletes. In 2024, the University of Nevada Las Vegas verbally offered quarterback Matthew Sluka $100,000 to transfer from Holy Cross. The agreement was not in writing, however, and UNLV did not have the promised NIL money for Sluka. 

“Right now colleges and universities have been steadfast above all else in arguing that athletes aren’t employees, that they can’t be considered employees, and there’s a longstanding set of legislative approaches that the NCAA has taken that have tried to make that commonplace. I would have told the quarterback who ended up transferring this is why you don’t take a verbal promise about anything involving money,” Clavio said.  

The rise in NIL deals is causing large financial effects for athletic departments. In recruiting players this past year, IU men’s basketball reportedly spent around $4 million Indiana University Men’s Basketball allegedly spent around $4 million in NIL money to recruit players this past year. Other schools are struggling to keep up, and their programs are starting to show it.  

“I think one of the problems with the NCAA circumstance that we have right now is that there are too many teams in the mix who don’t have the financial resources to compete… I do think that college athletics has had a gradual separation financially between the universities that are fully invested in their athletics programs and the ones that, for whatever reason, just can’t hit that level. I think we’re seeing that in higher education in general,” Clavio said. 

Athletes are drawn to better programs, especially with the influx of money that programs can now offer players. The ruling has made it possible for athletes to be rewarded for their contributions to their schools. 

“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,’” Clavio said.   

 

https://youtu.be/JKraVa6PAyw

Bloomington residents speak on how the 2021 NIL ruling has affected college athletic departments. The ruling made it legal for college athletes to profit off of the use of their name, image, and likeness.

Featured image by Emma Pearce

###

Public Relations Story

The Next Generation of Apple

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Media Contacts
Kamryn Eskew
kameskew@iu.edu
Luke Barton
lukburto@iu.edu
Emma Pearce
empearc@iu.edu

CUPERTINO, California (Sept. 9, 2014) — Apple CEO announced the release of the company’s new product, the Apple Watch, at the Macworld Expo in Cupertino on Tuesday. The watch is the company’s take on standard watches and wrist-technology. With many customizable features, the new product brings the iPhone to your wrist.  

With an emphasis on seamless improvements, Tim Cook calls this “The next chapter in Apple’s story.” The watch contains new-age technology that allows it to be a top-of-the-line fitness device, with an ability to track things such as heart rate and distance traveled, among others. This new technology allows a more intimate connection to others as well, with new features such as being able to tap the screen and send a vibration, send quick drawings, and even share your own heartbeat with other Apple Watch users.  

 On a typical watch you’d find a dial on the side to adjust the time. Apple took it a step further. The digital crown is not only used for adjusting the time, but it is also a multi-use home button and scroll wheel, and also a quick way to talk to Siri, allowing users to navigate their Apple Watch with ease.   

Woman uses smart watch applications.
Amber Beech looks through the applications on her Apple Watch using the device’s digital crown. The watch emphasizes fitness apps, and encourages users to stay active.

Apple designed a new way of using force to navigate a touch screen, with sensors able to detect the difference between a light tap and a stronger push, creating many new avenues of navigation throughout the device. A sapphire sealing around the surface creates a shield to protect the device from harm while still being completely transparent and responsive to inputs. 

The design of the wrist straps are also very customizable, as you can use a chemical and sweat resistant elastic band, a soft leather magnetic band, and a stainless-steel link or mesh bracelet, all with their own versions of an easy-to-use clasp or magnetic band that allows the user to put on and remove the watch with ease, with emphasis on it being comfortably secured to the users wrist. Each style comes with even more customizability, with a range of colors to choose from for each. Along with these, there is always the option for a slightly smaller version of the watch, with matching smaller straps as Apple understands that this is not a one-size-fits-all piece of technology. 

Rhea Patel, an Indiana University student, uses her Apple Watch to make a phone call. The Apple Watch brings some of the capabilities of the iPhone to a wearable technology.

Apple introduced “glances” as an easy way to see the most important information at a “glance.” This feature includes being able to conveniently check a schedule, the time and weather, the user’s location, as well as information from third party applications. Users can quickly respond to texts with suggested responses, take calls, and adjust music all within seconds. The watch can be connected to any Apple product you choose, such as your iPhone, MacBook, and other Bluetooth devices like speakers or headphones.  

Vibrations for notifications have been included as well. Users will feel a small vibration when they get push notifications. The vibration is unnoticeable or heard by anyone but the user. The watch can also give directions by simply vibrating on either side of the user’s wrist, indicating where to turn.

The Apple Watch brings a wearable version of the iPhone to users.

 

Apple CEO Tim Cook announces the Launch of the brand new Apple Watch at the September 2014 Apple Press Event.

Tim Cook excites the crowd as he explains the exercise features included on the watch and how one can customize them to their personal preference.

 

###