By: Maddi Sponsel, Sophia Galvanek, Gavin Worrel

Name. Image. Likeness. 3 words that have engulfed the college sports world in the past 4 years. The once thought of dream idea for college athletes to be compensated for their identity has come true and has provided unique impacts for smaller sports but funding could soon become a problem.

Grace Urbanski is a student photo intern with the Cuban Center and is majoring in sports media at Indiana University. She also is the director of the Little 500 network and a media school ambassador. Grace covers all 24 sports at Indiana University as part of her job and can say for certain that more popular sports like football receive way more sponsorships compared to less revenue-generating sports like field hockey. Grace thinks that NIL is a phenomenal opportunity for athletes to be rewarded for their efforts and time invested in sports. She constantly sees that NIL allows athletes to showcase their personalities, how they play on the field, and community engagement, which is extremely beneficial for them.

Grace also talks about how teammates often repost each other’s NIL deals on social media, showing a supportive environment. She also highlights that the Little 500 network, which is not an NCAA Division 1 team, has a stronger team bond as they participate for the love of the game rather than the financial gain aspect. “This lack of sponsorship opportunities in Little 500 makes their team bonds more genuine and unified,” says Grace Urbanski. She also states that non NCAA division teams are still working just as hard if not harder. 

Ara Cowper is a social media intern in the Championships and Alliances department. She was a former student athlete at Indiana University where she was on the rowing team and also an intern at the Mark Cuban Center for Sports Media and Technology where she worked with the social media team. She remembers during her junior year that NIL became more of a significant thing in terms of having to have training with each team and talked about how you want to represent yourself. They explained to her that this is how she could get deals. Ara states that during her senior year, “It became a much bigger conversation”, more stories and more publicity came out for college athletes.

Ara also mentions that out of 70-80 rowers, only she and one other teammate had NIL deals. Ara explains because rowing is a newer sport and there aren’t many rowers that NIL did not really affect her but she found it really cool to see it grow and her experiences that she had that involved a couple deals. Ara Cowper discusses her NIL deals, including one with Bloomington Bagel Company and her participation in the IU NIL store. She was also part of the third cohort of the Meta-NIL Empower group, a program focused on branding, career development, and NIL strategies. She explains how her understanding of NIL and social media strategy evolved, allowing her to better navigate and leverage NIL deals. For these applications, Ara says “you have to turn in your social media profiles and talk about why you would be good for the deal”. After getting rejected twice, she was finally accepted in her last year of college. Ara also went through many mental and physical struggles as she got injured plenty of times in rowing, and thinks it’s really important to emphasize and talk about these things. To get through these struggles, she got a guinea pig and this became her niche because people would come up to her and say “you’re the rower with the guinea pig”. Ara also emphasizes “college athletics never stay the same”, It is always changing and she found it interesting to see how all this played out because at the beginning there were not a lot of rules around it. 

Galen Clavio is an Associate Professor in the Media School at Indiana University, where he serves as the Associate Dean for Undergraduate Education and the Director of the Sports Media program. Clavio discussed the Supreme Court’s decision on NIL 4 years ago, which marked a turning point for the NCAA. With these changes occurring in college athletics relating to name, image, and likeness rights, more proposed settlements can redefine financial structures for athletes. He says that this is all influenced by “ongoing legal challenges and shifting cultural dynamics in college sports”. But with this comes challenges. The NCAA is struggling to maintain financial control over college athletics. With growing external pressures to compensate athletes directly that matches their market value. Clavio also adds that legal challenges may also hurt their attempts to regulate payments to players, this complicates future settlements.

Clavio addresses that similar to past unsuccessful attempts to impose restrictions, the NCAA “efforts to limit athlete compensation face legal challenges” because the courts always rule against limiting earnings in college sports. He also talks about how many athletic departments are required to find significant funds for NIL payments, which is proposed at $22 million per year. This strains budgets that are already struggling to keep up. Clavio says this leads to potential cuts in other sports making it tough to make decisions about where to allocate these resources and ensuring it is all balanced between various sports programs while also complying with NIL regulations. Clavio also goes into detail about how bigger schools can offer more financial resources for NIL than others. This creates disadvantages for smaller programs that can not compete financially, creating a decline in their athletic competitiveness.

Interview video of people on the street in Bloomington, Indiana about NIL. People were interviewed about their thoughts on equal access to NIL and how budgets could be effect.

By Adelyn Rabbitt, Maddie Greenberg and Nicole Dettmer

BLOOMINGTON, IN (Nov. 5, 2024)

Under bright fluorescent flood lights, the Indiana University men’s soccer team gathered to smile for a group picture after defeating Northwestern. Junior Jack Wagoner grinned along with his teammates as they celebrated the 6-1 win, which earned them their share of the Big Ten regular season title. This was monumental for the team, as it clinched their near-perfect October record.

As the crowd cheered, photos were taken by media personnel covering the big win. Media has played a huge part in college athletics ever since the Supreme Court ruled against the National Collegiate Athletic Association’s (NCAA) attempt to limit education-related payments to student athletes. This ruling became known as name, image and likeness, or NIL. The ruling went into effect on July 1, 2021, and allowed college athletes to use their public name, image and likeness to gain sponsorships and increase their financial gain from their sport. Deciding whether or not to implement NIL is a choice given to colleges, meaning some colleges have no NIL rules while others have widespread NIL rules. Though most athletes seemed to appreciate the ruling, controversy quickly arose with claims of the ruling’s unfairness and inequality.

A third-year law student and J.D. candidate well-versed in NIL, Amelia Taylor, explained how NIL works. “The law basically says the NCAA can’t require or stop student athletes from doing something that is not for the purpose of the NCAA,” Taylor said. This means the NCAA cannot control the name, image and likeness of individual players. The NIL ruling gives student athletes the legal right to use their image in the media for financial gain. As for public controversy, Taylor said, “Even since this started, there’s been just as much backlash as public optimism about it.”

IU heavily implements NIL rules. Men’s basketball and football are the most popular sports overall at IU, and the athletes’ pay shows that. In less popularized sports, such as men’s soccer or any women’s sport, the pay is generally lower. This is often because less popular sports get less television time, making them much less likely to be spotted by brands. Additionally, more popular players on a team receive better NIL deals than less well-known players. Jack Wagoner, an IU men’s soccer player, commented on NIL, expressing his support for the ruling. “I believe it is the right way to handle paying college athletes,” Wagoner wrote in an email.

Though men’s soccer NIL deals are commonly much less financially fulfilling than the NIL deals of more popularized sports, NIL still provides beneficial finances to many athletes. Wagoner has a few NIL deals, including one called ‘Hoosiers for Good’ and other local partnerships. Wagoner highlighted his appreciation for local NIL partnerships, including the example of athletes receiving deals from Everbowl, a popular acai bowl shop on Kirkwood, in return for promoting Everbowl on social media. “These mean much more to me than just being paid upfront,” Wagoner wrote. “I feel like I am more effectively giving back to the community around me.” Wagoner is aware that he is paid less than other male athletes at IU, and he highlighted IU men’s soccer and swimming in his response. “Both programs have a very rich history and are the powerhouses in their relative sports, so deserve to have more NIL opportunities,” Wagoner wrote. However, Wagoner understands that basketball and football are more central in media coverage and therefore thinks NIL is fair, as many players have built their success and image throughout the years.

Opposingly, other student athletes do not share the same sentiments. Jeremy Gray, IU Athletic Director, commented on the unseen NIL disparities between IU student athletes in an online press conference. Gray said sports psychologists have seen mental health struggles in IU student athletes skyrocket post-NIL ruling as the players scramble to acquire the same deals as their teammates. “Teaching them how to accentuate their own brand is really really important,” Gray said. Regarding teammate relationships, Gray said NIL can “change the dynamic” between teammates, as NIL has turned finances into a competitive playing field. Taylor also expressed the sentiment of changed dynamics due to the NIL ruling. “The issue was… is it going to ruin teamwork and ruin locker room situations and dynamics because now a player is mad that their teammate is making much more money but not doing anything different?” said Taylor.

When NIL began, it became clear that the ruling was unfair to women. Though women’s pay was already unequal to men’s pay, NIL showed that women’s sports are often less popularized than men’s sports. “This (NIL) is just going to continue making the disparity between especially gender even wider,” Taylor said. Taylor brought up the struggles less popular teams are having with recruiting athletes as a result of NIL, saying the teams could cease to exist as a result of the athletes’ pay disparities between schools. Of course, there are exceptions to this. IU women’s basketball players are likely to make much more money than men’s soccer or tennis players due to basketball being more popularized than soccer or tennis. However, within specific sports, such as basketball or soccer, men are paid more. There are athletes like Caitlin Clark who take the media by storm and end up landing NIL deals that are more than some men’s deals within the same sport, but it is extremely uncommon.

People walking on Kirkwood comment on their perception of NIL. The topic of NIL is generally well-known by IU students and residents of Bloomington.

By Matilyn Martin, Max Kirsch and Whitney Householder

BLOOMINGTON, Ind (November 5, 2024)-

For a long time, college athletes have played their sport and built a strong fanbase for themselves by attracting fans with the skill level they play their sport with and also how they go about their daily lives and interact with people. However, these athletes were not getting paid for anything despite the program that they were apart of being worth millions of dollars. Now things have changed for the better. In the past couple of years, there was a change to college athletic programs that completely changed the way that fans were able to view their favorite athletes.

With the not so recent law change affecting college athletes, there still seems to be some confusion regarding college athletes and how they can promote themselves through their sport for profit. In June 2021, the Supreme Court passed a ruling that all college athletes have the ability to profit off of their name, image, and likeness (NIL). This law especially helped out large campuses like Indiana University. With Indiana University being a large Big Ten school, this ruling allowed the university’s athletic department to bring in more popular athletes and to also market said athletes and set them up for a future not only with their sport, yet how they can market themselves in their own social media.

Although this sounds like a good thing for student athletes and is, it does leave room for questions about certain aspects of the ruling. Is there an increased pressure to perform, knowing that there could be financial risks at stake? NIL deals are of course a good thing for the athlete, but there is always something to counteract the positives. In this situation, the athlete is getting an offer for an NIL deal, but at what cost did it come at? Did the athlete perform in their game a certain way to secure future deals? A deeper dive into this topic could only be done by interviewing the professionals themselves.

An Indiana University Sports Media Professor came to a C250 class and let students ask him questions regarding everything related to NIL. Dr. Galen Clavio, who is the Associate Dean of Undergraduate Students in the Media School, shared his insights on this topic. “Name, image, and likeness in college sports has rapidly become one of the more misunderstood things in college sports over the last four years” Clavio said. This he is right about; there are a lot of subcategories within the NIL umbrella that leave a lot of people still questioning what exactly it is. Clavio touched on the history of NIL and how people questioned the money being made by the schools but not the players. Clavio talked about if this pressure starts even as early as high school. Are high school athletes worried about potential NIL deals in their college careers? He thinks that it does bring a certain pressure to the table, especially for athletes who are good at practicing media. These athletes might expect to bring a certain amount of NIL deals once they get to college, and this could lead to a pressure to perform better. “It’s pressure if you’re a college athlete with a social media following to maintain your audience and build upon your audience.” Clavio said. There is a difference from athlete to athlete. There is the athlete who is good at media and the athlete who is good at their sport. He suggested that the athletes should learn social media practices sooner rather than later, when they are in the midst of earning off of their NIL. This would be helpful to them since this is how the world communicates with each other, so it would give the athletes an insight into how to navigate social media, which in the end would be beneficial when they start getting NIL deals to know how to market themselves and such.

Mario Landino, a freshman at Indiana University, is a defensive lineman for the Hoosiers football team under a new coaching staff led by Curt Cignetti. Coming out of high school in Pennsylvania, Landino wasn’t too familiar with how NIL changed the game of football once entering collegiate competition. He shared information and experiences about how NIL has affected his career at IU. In his first semester at Bloomington, he has already received an offer from the IU NIL store, “The store is a place student-athletes like myself are able to create gear and post it to the website. So with that being said, I would say I started that just around 1 month ago,” Landino said. While Landino has been lucky enough to acquire such opportunities, they do not come as easy as it seems. When asked how often athletes get deals like his, Landino responded, “Athletes truly must have multiple or high-end deals, need to be in the P4 conferences and be well known for your team. Since it is hard you really need to seek out deals and persuade businesses to work with you.” Getting handed a NIL deal so early in his collegiate career means Landino only has larger expectations as time passes and he adjusts to becoming a starting player. Now that there are financial risks at stake, it could lead to added pressure on and off the field. Additionally, tension could potentially arise between teammates who may have not received similar offers if any at all. “In general there is always pressure and competition within football. Everyone is chasing to make money and be the best player. Naturally, the process will unfold and everyone can have the ability to dabble in NIL,” Landino said. He adds that NIL and money related topics are generally not talked about in the locker room much. He also feels that everyone who gets opportunities worked hard to earn it. From local merchandise deals to partnerships with national corporations, the possibilities for deals are endless. Everybody needs to start somewhere, and Landino seems to be highly optimistic about how his deal has been treating him. “With this type of NIL, it is not a set price you receive. It is based on the sales of your merchandise. Everything I earned feels well deserved as I know how hard we work to get here,” Landino said. Leaving off on a high note, Landino provided genuine words of wisdom as he added, “Every day without trying to further your abilities is another day you miss an opportunity.”

Oumar Ballo, currently plays the center position for the Indiana Hoosiers men’s basketball team. Before playing for Indiana University, he played basketball for Arizona, which is where he was when the NIL ruling came into play. “It wasn’t very popular or important at first, didn’t really make much of a difference for a lot of players” Ballo said. He explained how NIL began to change his basketball career and specifically the amount of money he was making. “The experience was different for me because I am a foreigner here, certain offers I had to turn down because the contracts did not align with the stipulations of my work visa” Ballo said. He feels that there is a pressure to perform better in order to make more NIL deals and money. Ballo believes that all of his teammates have this pressure as well. He considers NIL deals as a business and stands by that. When asking him how this affects the energy between him and his teammates, he says how it had never really been competitive between them and that they always liked to see each other receive new opportunities. Ballo talks highly of the NIL experience and the effect it has had on his basketball career. “I feel like I deserve everything that I have gained from transferring to Indiana, there was a lot of money coming in just from coming here and I am very grateful for the opportunity. I have worked very hard to get here and I love playing for the Hoosiers” Ballo said, speaking very highly of his achievements.

There is always pressure to do anything in life. Especially with competition. Athletes will still get NIL deals regardless of anyway that they play their sport because they also have the ability to find opportunities themselves. However, there is a definite connection between the way athletes perform and the NIL deals that they receive. The extremity differs from athlete to athlete but one thing remains the same. Every player feels they have worked hard to earn each opportunity, no matter what.

Bloomington residents give their insights on if there is a connection between performance level and the amount of NIL deals. Indiana Hoosier fans are very loyal to their favorite IU teams.

By Saige Arnold, Karen Flores and Andrea Minuto

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. (Nov. 5, 2024) — The struggle of balancing athletics and academics has always been a challenge for student athletes, but the inclusion of NIL rights has significantly added a new layer of complexity. As they navigate the opportunities and difficulty of earning money from their personal brand, many find themselves struggling to execute the benefits of NIL while being a student athlete. 

In July 2021, name, image and likeness laws went into effect benefitting college athletes to get paid through their NIL. This allows the athletes to accept money for their popularity which can be seen in many different ways. The athletes are able to do commercial endorsements, appearances and social media posts, hosting camps and more. However, these tasks are already too much to put on a student athlete.

Student athlete, William Jansen, a junior diver at Indiana University, seeks to grow his NIL and use his image to his advantage and for the opportunity to make some money. Jansen expresses that he does not have the time to lean into his NIL opportunities. “There are some days when like I won’t come to practice at all just to focus on school, and then I’m about to miss school on Thursday and Friday for a meet.”  With practices and meets being incorporated into Jansen’s academic schedule, it can be hard to find the incentive and interest in implementing it. 

Dr. Galen Clavio, Associate Professor in the Media School at Indiana University answers questions at a press conference on October 15th, 2024. Dr. Clavio explains that social media plays a huge part in the world, allowing people to make a living off of their name on social media. When it came to NIL in the sports world, there were often times where college athletes names were being used by the university or even other companies like NCAA video games that were benefiting off of these athletes name, image and likeness. After many court cases, the NCAA was no

longer allowed to keep student athletes from using their name, image and likeness to make their own money. Although these students now have the access to their NIL, it doesn’t exactly mean they’re able to focus on it. Dr. Clavio explains that the schedules young adult student athletes have don’t always allow them to use NIL, “To me its a false dichotomy in a lot of ways and its part of a larger problem with the way we think about athletes at the college level in many cases, which is that they need saved or that they need all of this special structure around them, when in reality a lot of the reasons for this is because of the insane scheduling that we place on them in the first place.” With student athletes trying to manage such a time-crunched schedule, all of the NIL deals they could be taking, they don’t always have time for.

Marina Fuduric, a freshman tennis player at Indiana University, experiences the same challenges. With being a first-year college student and athlete, she struggles to find the right balance, on top of growing her NIL. She currently does not have a large following on social media, but works to grow her account. Working with what she has, she tries to reach out to people and brands, but since she does not have a large following and certain brands have follower requirements, she gets denied. She has to find other ways to grow her platform and to have brands be excited or willing to work with her. “I’m trying to figure out different ways to get more followers and I might have to make content or something in the future,” Fuduric said. This is prevalent in new student athletes because this is not necessarily taught or implemented within their sports. Student athletes have to go out on their own to find these experiences, having no guide on securing deals. It is significantly more challenging if the sport is not popular on a college level, making it harder to seek opportunities. 

Fuduric talks about her experiences balancing playing tennis with her academics. Allotting free time on top of her sport, education and personal life. When she talks about this, she said that if you want to study, maintain yourself and find time to hang with friends, you will have to be efficient with your time. But it is not easy for Fuduric, especially when trying to get the hang of being a first-year student. Accountability is a huge thing that Fuduric has to do.

Because of the benefits that come with NIL, it is important to Fuduric and her future plans. She wants to rely solely on her NIL as an income to help support herself. As she settles and comfortable with being a student athlete at Indiana University, she sees herself growing her platforms and finding ways to get deals. She wants to learn how to grow her NIL and motivates herself to endure the obstacles that come with it.

NIL is crucial to student athletes, as it leads to greater opportunities for them in the future.

Students at Indiana University answered questions involving their opinions on name, image and likeness. Having strong ideas on what NIL can do for student athletes, if they take full advantage of it.

By Sophia Trout, Sukari Williams and Molly Wrightsman

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. (Nov. 5, 2024)

“BALLS UP” yelled Josephine’s teammate. As she looked up, it seemed as if she watched the ball hit the floor in slow motion. She looked around to see disappointment on her teammate’s faces as that was the point that just lost their entire season. The look on their faces portrayed the way she had felt all season, disappointed.

Josephine Mulligan had just transferred to Indiana Northwest University after playing three years of volleyball at Keiser University. After she transferred, she realized that the promises she was guaranteed were just broken promises. Josephine was not taken care of physically or mentally.

“Being a college athlete has definitely taken a toll on my mental health,” Mulligan said. “My first college had great counselors who helped me through my anxieties and struggles learning how to live away from home. My second college did not have that and it took a huge toll on me to the point where I had to leave.” As a college athlete, outside audiences do not often associate these athletes with having mental health struggles nor do they realize the intense amount of pressure they are put under everyday.

In June of 2021, college sports changed tremendously. In prior years, getting money as a college athlete would cause these athletes to lose their eligibility. However, after the Supreme Court ruled against NCAA v. Alston, all of this changed. College athletes are now able to earn money based on Name, Image, and Likeness, also referred to as NIL.  “The idea was that athletes don’t have intrinsic value and the NCAA and its members believed that so strongly that they thought the whole thing would go away by not providing that level of support, ” said Dr. Galen Clavio, an NIL expert at Indiana University, during a press conference. “The opposite has occurred.” Many athletes have taken advantage of NIL and are using it as an opportunity to succeed in the media world.

The NCAA is still figuring out the rules and regulations surrounding NIL. “You have to present yourself as an individual,” Clavio said. You cannot wear the logo of your school when in an NIL situation, unless the school has partnered with you. This is just one of the many rules the NCAA has created thus far.

Athletes before NIL were worrying about playing time and trying to go professional as that would be the only way they could make money playing a sport. However, NIL has now created additional pressures on these athletes which could potentially have detrimental effects. “There are a lot of outside expectations that people may have of you,” Brady Simmons, a football player at IU, said during an interview. “There are a lot of internal pressures like wanting to please your family and impress your coaches.”

College athletes already are putting pressure on themselves to perform well- is NIL only going to make this issue worse?

Not only is extreme pressure applied to perform well on the court or field, but also on social media platforms. Since the pandemic in 2020, mental health in college athletes has continuously and rapidly decreased. According to the National Athletic Trainer’s Association, adding NIL pressure can be too much for athletes and put their mental health at risk. NIL does have its pros, including helping athletes financially, however, putting too much pressure on an athlete to secure NIL deals can lead to burn out (Sitzler et al., 2023).

NIL is not only affecting mental health, but can also cause friction between teammates. “I definitely think NIL can affect relationships if teammates are not getting the same opportunities, but I also think that comes with every job in life,” Mulligan said. Some sporting programs are a close knit community where NIL may not affect teammates’ bonds. “At the end of the day when you have a place like this, a good support system, and a good group of people that you surround yourself with everyday, money is kind of the last thing on your mind,” Simmons said. Every school’s sporting community is different, so NIL can influence teams differently.

Each athlete has a different experience with NIL. Many only hear the good things, so it is important to understand the risks that come along with NIL. For Josephine Mulligan, when she was struggling with her mental health, due to added pressure, her school unfortunately did not provide the resources to help her get through it. Now that NIL is rapidly growing, each school must have counselors for athletes so they do not get put in the same situation as Mulligan. If NIL is used correctly, it can be a great tool for athletes to have, but if not, it can put their lives at risk and potentially ruin their love for the game.

Student’s on Indiana University’s campus tell their thoughts and opinions about how NIL is affecting college athletes. NIL has added extra pressure to athletes to perform not only well in their sport, but also on social media.

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By Caitlin Murphy, Skylar Sutton and Jaycie Cress

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. (Nov. 5. 2024)

Crowds are gathered at Indiana Memorial Stadium, thousands of people are decked out in red and white face paint, and striped overalls. The stands have filled exponentially over the course of the football team’s undefeated 9-0 winning streak. Fans ranging from students and staff to alumni and fans from around the country fill in the stands in anticipation of seeing a good football game. Each person in these stands are expecting more from the football players than they have in years past. Because of this unexpected, undefeated winning streak, Indiana has become more popular in the sports industry and its athletes are gathering more prosperity and popularity than they have in the past.

Big Noon, Barstool and College Game Day arrive at Indiana University all in the same season, shocking college football fans from all over the country. Giving IU more recognition in the football world on social media, moving unsuspecting people to root for them and their strong efforts of working well as a team to have a good season. Raising the question: How are these athletes getting recognized for their accomplishments?

College athletes, for many years, were accustomed to getting scholarships to play their sport at specific schools that wanted them. The talent the recruiters saw was put in place to give the athletes money to play the sport for the school; making them better athletes. However, just a few years ago, the NCAA put out a new approach on how athletes should be able to handle their money.

In a transformative shift for college athletics, the Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) agreement, set on July 1st, 2021, has revolutionized how college athletes monetize their personal brands, how it has shifted the strategy of recruitment, and how it has raised questions regarding the fairness of the sports. As the universities and NCAA adapt to this new reality, the landscape of college athletics is rapidly changing.

Just a few weeks ago Dr. Galen Clavio, director of the National Sports Journalism Center at Indiana University, conducted a “news conference” in the C250 lecture hall to provide information about NIL to hundreds of students. Clavio answered multiple questions from students who gained insight from an industry professional that provided the basics the students were grateful to hear. “IU is selling out games, not because they have a popular NIL base, or overly known players, it is simply because they have a good team,” Clavio said to the students.

While NIL is well regarded for most colleges and their athletes, not all are seen the same on the basis of distribution of money and the use put to the promotions of the athletes. Giving them more leeway into doing what they want with the money they get from NIL, providing a fan base of people who like the sponsorships they do or the commercials they are in, and leading people to buying tickets to their games. This pushes the focus of college athletics into a popularity contest with the promotions they can get from the money provided from playing for that particular school, rather than by just playing. Isaiah Jones, a redshirt sophomore linebacker at IU said, “[NIL] has made college athletics as close to professional sports as possible, because now players are getting played to play.” He explains how he chose Indiana from the beginning when the transfer portal wasn’t directly affecting him and most players. However, Jones explained, “The NIL will affect where players want to play, the portal, and how coaches recruit.”

NIL has changed the way sports are played and viewed, shifting the landscape to something bigger and broader than just playing sports. Looking toward the future, while this is seen in more well-known colleges, the NIL is expanding and is subject to change as it grows within the realm of sports. Yet, this hasn’t been seen at smaller private schools such as Princeton, where the players do not get the same benefits for doing the same sports as the athletes at schools with NIL. But, there is still time for the NCAA’s decision to make its way over to them. Overall we have seen how this shift in the landscape of college athletics has prospered with the influx of deals and sponsorships and how this will continue to grow as different sports that were once underrated become more popular.

https://iu.mediaspace.kaltura.com/media/t/1_z5wc0vy9?st=0&ed=99[/kaltura]

On October 20, 2024, Indiana University students shared their opinion on the NIL ruling. Past and present students were asked about what they know about NIL in general and how they think it will affect college athletes in the future. 

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By Chloe Epstein, Mike Badrov

BLOOMINGTON, IN (Nov. 5, 2024)

Feature Photo by Mike Badrov

Bloomington residents and visitors give their insights on the pressure high school athletes already face, and what could crack while NIL spreads its reach.

A droplet of sweat drips off her face, tightly gripping the basketball. The high school gymnasium is filled with eager faces of families latching onto the bleachers as she releases the ball. She scores the buzzer-beater basket as the clock ticks with ten seconds left and a tied game. The team ran onto the court as champions. The crowd jumps in the stands, their fists pumping, as their exhilarated smiles light up the room.

Beams of light appearing from the photographer’s camera add to the team holding up their new trophy. The essence of triumph from the team is enhanced by their frozen stillness on the camera’s screen. Amongst the joyous cheers, reality hits the high school team. The new Supreme Court ruling of the NCAA allows athletes to make a profit off of their name, image, and likeness. For some team members, a major endorsement is near, for others, an immense amount of pressure forms.

High school athletes are under a vast amount of pressure to brand themselves early in their athletic pursuits due to the implementation of NIL. What once was a competitive game of basketball is now heightened by the recognition and awareness of the players. Adding to the pressure of NIL, Indiana Public Media says, “It’s those deals that inflate what the average athlete makes, which is around $3,700, according to Opendorse, a leading NIL collective. It expects total NIL earnings to exceed $1 billion dollars in this year.” With NIL’s role in their careers, students must develop a compelling personal image to gain acceptance and appeal to athletic supportive brands and endorsement deals.

Cooper Komsthoeft, a Lyons Township High School Football Captain, shares his insight on how NIL affects the minds of high school athletes when deciding where to take their athletic careers next. He says, “NIL added a whole new idea into what colleges I would even consider. Schools like Oregon and Colorado show players making millions of dollars in college.” High school athletes now have to consider potential endorsements when deciding their futures. The growth of NIL changes the perspective of choosing a school for a student athlete in hopes to grow their personal brands. Komsthoeft continues to emphasize the struggles NIL brings into the athletic industry by saying, “I had older players telling me how hard it was to get NIL if you weren’t one of the ” “million dollar players” so it sort of stopped having me pursue it.” If you aren’t on the radar of major athletics, your chances of getting NIL are lower than those who have a name and reputation for themselves. For those who feel NIL won’t help grow their personal brand, it adds to the pressure put on their athletic careers. They unfortunately look towards a different direction for their future career paths.

NIL is not just focused on student athlete views, others have opinions on the topic such as Jeremy Gray. Gray is the  Senior Associate Athletic Director for Communicator for the IU Cuban Center. He says, “And I don’t think the average kid on let’s say the Bloomington South, and the Carmel High School, or the Munster High School, or the Schenectady North High School team you know is expecting to get [NIL] money.” High school athletes are strategic when creating their personal brand and image early in hopes they will one day be endorsed and profit off of themselves, which adds to the crippling pressure put on them. For others, they know they won’t benefit from NIL because they are not on top of the radar, making them a known player. Gray then says, “Parents on recruiting visits will ask, like, what kind of NIL opportunities are there at Indiana? And so it’s something top of the mind that way.” Students consider playing professionally. It’s important to gather information about financial decisions. Parents are enthralled in the idea of how NIL can shape their children when choosing a college. This has become a crucial factor in the decision making process.

High school athletes have to manage staying on top of their academics while taking part in their sport. Keeping academics high contributes to the pressure put on them to spread awareness about themselves through social media platforms and networking. Dr. Galen Clavio says, “If you’re an okay athlete and you’re trying to develop a media presence at the high school level with the idea that it will carry over into the college level, yeah, that is extra pressure, just like it’s pressure, if you’re a college athlete with a social media following to maintain your audience and build upon your audience.” High school athletes who aren’t as known for their athletic ability feel the pressure of NIL to obtain a prevalent online presence. Having a strong personal brand helps set oneself apart. Clavio compares how college athletes need to keep their audiences, while high school athletes need to have compelling profiles of themselves for branding purposes.

High school athletes focus on their sport while utilizing NIL to draw awareness to themselves. The pressure of branding lies in how they curate their personal image. The influence of NIL is shown not only on the field or court, but online. The NCAA’s ruling of NIL pushes these young athletes to go further in their careers while still remaining to represent themselves for new opportunities that arise.

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• By Grace Selesky, Zachary Thompson, Nick Milentis

BLOOMIINGTON, Ind. (Nov. 5, 2024) –Breathing in the cold air, heart racing, game face on with a stick in hand, ready to break the tie and make the last shot on goal. The roars of the exciting game can be heard from outside the energized stadium. Sophia Hoover tightens up her grip holding her hockey stick, and makes a move. Her nerves are piercing through her body, as she attempts to beat the clock with fifteen seconds remaining. She makes her way toward the net with the help of her teammates, and goes for the shot. 

A brief silence breaks throughout the entire arena as the buzzer blares, awaiting to see if Hoover’s shot was a success. The entire crowd and team jump to their feet, erupting in celebration for the team, they celebrate Hoover’s shot, breaking the tie for the game.  After the game, Hoover took to social media to celebrate her team’s big win. As a current freshman at St. Catherine’s University, she has seen how social media plays a big role with athletes Name, Image, and likeness deals and profits. “For me as a woman in a collegiate sport the main difference between men and women’s sports isn’t competition or skill, it’s the way we get treated outside the game. In today’s society we solely run our lives through social media”, said Hoover. She is not someone who currently receives profit off of her sport, Hoover knows a lot about the gender gap that is currently at place with men and women’s sports. “Women’s sports get little to no recognition for the work in the game, therefore, no matter the results no one knows. You will see numerous accounts and posts catering to men’s sports giving them all the focus win or lose”, Hoover said. 

Name, Image, Likeness, more famously known as NIL, grants high school and college athlete the opportunity and rights to be able to profit off of their own personal image. NIL allows these athletes to be able to profit off of endorsement deals, merchandising sales, advertisements, and social media sponsorships and partnerships. Although Hoover is not part of the percentage that gains profit from NIL deals yet in her career, she sees how big of an impact it has made on other athletes, changing the way we view athletes today than ever before, with most of this attention coming from social media.

Social media has also played a huge role in the likeness of athletes and different sports getting recognized more easily on a daily basis. This can be a breaking point for many athletes of today, as keeping up with their social media can be tremendously beneficial for their image as an athlete. The media is a simple and quick way of finding your favorite player on the team on social media to keep updated with them and their sport. This seems like a factor that would make the gender gap more equal, but with the more renown men’s sports having more viewership, the reality of this is going to put these sports at an advantage for their personal NIL.

NIL has also recently began to be taught in high schools and colleges. With the way the media and society is changing, it has become a vital part to teaching and learning today. Recently, Dr. Galen Clavio spoke to a Story Lab 1 class and discussed his thoughts about NIL. As we know, college sports are becoming more popular as they are publicized, and using the athletes image to help promote the school gives the opportunity to reach larger demographics and a wider audience. Dr. Clavio, along with his many other roles here, is a Sports Media Professor, and has seen and heard an immense amount of different NIL deals, including with the gender gap. Even with the most popular women’s sports, they are still not even with the men’s version of the same sport. Clavio said, “There is clearly a ground swell of spectator interest in women’s sports from where we were 10 years ago, even 5 years ago. I think that was probably always going to occur as media became more decentralized.” Media is growing everyday, and although the gender gap has gotten better, we sometimes do not even realize how most of us view men’s sports publicity more than women’s.

Indiana University Athletics have recently gotten a much wider audience as of this year, with the football team currently being undefeated. This has led to leaving the other fall sports being left in the dark, even the other men’s sports. Jose Torres, a player on the school’s rugby team, has not gotten much recognition as deserved. Torres knows and understands the gap, even being in a men’s sport. “It all ties into that intensity factor. I’m sure football athletes are paid higher here than basketball athletes and it’s just because they bring more heads to the stadium,” Torres said. Although Torres understands fully why the football team has such a big audience currently, he wishes the other sports, that could be doing just as well, could be seen in such a spotlight, compared to the other men’s and especially women’s sports.

Social media has had the biggest impact on athletes and sports as we know today, the use of social media has increased their athletic accomplishments. Although this helps many athletes every year, the gender gap still involved within this leaves women’s sports in the shadow a lot of the time. NIL deals are much more than just a brand deal, they bring a whole new image to athletes and their career.

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By Caroline Crawford, Jordan Campbell and Chase Dodson

Bloomington Indiana, ( November, 5th, 2024)

 The polished waxed floors squeak with the sound of shoes running up and down the court. The horizontal lines come together to create boundaries that make up the game of basketball. With people cheering in the stands, the players line up for their routine entrance. As the crowd sees their favorite players they get even louder and scream with anticipation for the game that’s to come. As the energy in the room intensifies, the game begins. 

With athletes seeming so untouchable, the topic at hand is wondering how easy it seems to be a college athlete and have your entire college tuition taken care of, a problem many college students worry about throughout their academic careers. With athletes being at the top of the social hierarchy, it seems to be the easiest job in the world, getting to do something they truly love and were born to do, while getting applauded and worshiped for it. Although the life of a college athlete seems glamorous and effortless, It’s actually quite the opposite with the discussion of how college athletes actually feel mentally and physically, while dedicating their life to playing their sport. Athletes’ troubles and challenges often go unseen, especially with the debate of Name, Image and Likeness (NIL).

The hard work and dedication that every player consistently brings to each game is immense and deserves to be shown off and profitable, most would think. The game of basketball is seen as lots of effort and time, although the sport is rewarding, the discussion of how the game affects the players mentally is not a topic that the media usually covers. According to IU’s women’s basketball manager Aj Harmon “It’s a lot of time and commitment, and a major struggle being the time the players spend away from their families” said Harmon. The players spend most of their time conditioning, practicing and getting ready for games. It’s a full time job to be a college athlete, so that means the players have no way of getting a real paying job as their time as an athlete. Without sponsors and advertisements, the players are making no money from all their hard work and dedication. The labor they do becomes unseen without getting a paycheck at the end of the day.  The players give up their social life, including phone calls with parents, social gatherings, even something simple like down time. The struggle of trying to stay afloat is real for athlete’s while trying their best to play well.

Mental health varies from player to player, but the pressure is almost constant. The need to be the best and always give their all becomes a never ending cycle of mental defeat. While working hard on the court and outside of it, the players have no real compensation for their hard work. The amount of work they put in with no reward leaves the players burnt out and tired. With the risk of injuries and pressure to be the best during every game, college athletes ask themselves “what’s the point?” While being a full time student, the stressors of personal identity and self doubt come to the surface. Stated by D2 Freshman basketball player at Wayne State College, Darshan Thomas “Many of us sacrifice our time and our bodies while on the court, it takes a toll on me mentally to constantly think about my performance and not my school work so the team and school can be good”. Putting the skill from each player aside, the main part of being a team is each individual putting their talent together to create one big talent. Representing a school is an honor and each player must give it their all each game. The stress of being good for something other than yourself is tiring and leads to burning out. The anxieties of being injured or performing badly is immense when playing for a high division like D2. Without NIL, and not being compensated for effort, time and stress, the players can reach a point where they feel like their time and effort is not being appreciated or valued enough to it’s fullest potential. 

According to the Associate Dean for Undergraduate Education for the Media School, Dr Clavio “you do not get the same rights as the other people that are college students, despite the long-standing public relations approach by the NCAA, which tries to argue that college athletes are simply students who happen to be engaged in athletics”. While full time college students get the right to profit off their name image and likeness, College athletes unfortunately do not. Although a college student who is engaged with athletics or with a particular field of study, they are seen as two different students. College athletics, specifically basketball, bring in a big sum of money through ticket sales, merch and much more. Ignoring what each individual brings to the table, the players don’t even make money off the games as a whole, which people pay to see them play. With the liabilities of injuries and the serious impact on mental health that comes along with the game of basketball, the players are doing all the work while getting no reward. Punishing athlete’s for being extraordinarily good at something, is wrong and unfair for those who fight through and overcome mental and physical challenges while playing their sport.

People of Kirkwood discuss how student athlete’s are impacted mentally through NIL, without getting compensated for their hard work and dedication.

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The Hidden Cost of NIL: Stagnant Growth in Varsity Sports

By Oliver Carr, Aparna Krishnan, Liam Greene

BLOOMINGTON, IN (Nov. 5th, 2024)

As the sun begins to set over the Sembower Recreational Sports Complex, the golden sunlight highlights the mounting pressure that begins to take its toll on the Indiana University Lacrosse team. In the midst of a chaotic, lung-busting and end-to-end game, the undefeated Michigan State Spartans begin to assemble what looks like the game-winning attack. In that moment, IU buckles down and makes a crucial defensive stop, and as IU are urged on by a rowdy, and record breaking crowd of 300, they rush to counter-attack.  With three seconds remaining on the clock, that crowd of 300 go crazy as IU scores to knock off the undefeated Spartans.

It’s a sporting moment in time, a moment that deserves so much more. More than the 300 diehard fans who stand in lieu of proper seating. It deserves more than to be played at the Sembower Recreational Sports Field, a nice field, but it’s a venue typically reserved for intramural sports. It’s a moment deserving of lights, cameras and reporters clamoring for interviews with the winning goalscorer. It’s a statement win, deserving of a NCAA Division Ⅰ program. Unfortunately, Division I programs aren’t formed from those moments of sporting magic, or the spirit of the players, it requires a variety of factors, chiefly among them student interest, and a whole lot of money.

While the lacrosse team doesn’t control IU’s athletic department finances, according to Logan LeGrett, a junior midfielder for IU Lacrosse, thinks they can certainly hold up their end of the deal, “Lacrosse is in a good spot to be elevated,” LeGrett said. “The team is good, and we’d be playing in the best conference.” One of the biggest roadblocks for any sport looking to elevate the need for brand new facilities.  LeGrett recognized this and believed it to be a non-issue, “There’s not much specific to lacrosse that you need to add.” LeGrett said. “We can just use the soccer field, we play at odd times already, so we wouldn’t really cause them any problems.” Playing at the Bill Armstrong Stadium is a common dream among players and supporters alike, according to LeGrett, “Playing at the soccer stadium would be awesome, much nicer for us and the fans, nice field, nice facility.

So all that stands in the way of lacrosse’s ascension to NCAA Division I is money. Money that is now more scarce in the wake of the 2021 U.S Supreme Court decision about collegiate athlete’s name, image and likeness rights. (NIL) That money seems to be moving away from athletic departments, and into the hands of athletes. The vast majority of revenue comes from success in football and basketball, and athletic departments will need to pay to stay competitive. Galen Clavio, director of the National Sports Journalism Institute believes this to be a grim side effect of NIL,   “The unfortunate truth is that most athletic departments now have to pay this $22 million a year in NIL money, and they have no additional revenue streams: all of the money is already spoken for,” Clavio said, “Which is probably going to result in a lot of cuts in athletic departments in what are perceived as non-essential areas.”

That’s not all, NIL is even causing those already spoken for revenue streams to start to dry up. Before NIL, donors, often referred to as boosters, would donate their money directly to the athletic departments.  Those same boosters that once lined the pockets of athletic departments are now being funneled into NIL collectives, organizations that are ensuring that the prominent players make their money. Jeremy Gray, senior associate athletic director for strategic communications at Indiana University has witnessed this problem first hand. “The athletics departments feel a little hard done,” Gray said. “Their money is starting to dry up.” 

What the future holds for collegiate sports in a world post NIL remains to be seen, but it’s already showing to have far reaching effects. For lacrosse, it’s made their outlook significantly dimmer in the new NIL landscape, but they’ll keep fighting to take their sport into the limelight of Division I. So for now, they’ll keep knocking off schools who seem to have much more to offer to their respective clubs, marauding around the country on their own dime and playing the sport they love. They’ll do it not for the money, but for the simple love of the feeling moments like scoring a last second winner bring to them.

Many people falsely claim that its destroying the integrity of college sports, and many blindly think its doing only good. In reality,  NIL is an extremely complex issue, that has both positives and negatives.