By Lucci  O’Donnell, McKenzie Vitale and Gianna Pineno

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. (November 5th, 2024)

After the 2021 NCAA National Collegiate Athletic Association(NCAA) court ruling that allows for college athletes to profit off of their name, image, and likeness, athletes all across the United States went from regular college athletes, to a walking and talking business. Suddenly, collegiate athlete’s emails begin to flood with contractors asking to be their agent and help them run their newfound brand. Not only now are athletes now benefiting from this new executive decision, but so are businesses, especially local ones here in Bloomington. Sue Aquila, the president executive of Bloomington Bagel Company, Inc here in the heart of Bloomington, partnered with sister swim athletes Noel and Anna Peplowski and finds that it brings in more than potential financial gain. 

“We promote them and rally the community behind them, it just so happened one of them earned a silver in the Olympics,” Aquila said. “She in turn promotes us to her community, I think there is some benefit for everyone.” 

Aquila has been feeding Hoosier athletes since 1996, but when the NCAA approved for athletes to profit off of their name image and likeness, she shifted her focus to supporting female athletes. Aquila has seen many athletes benefit from this court ruling as they become more informed on how they can profit off of their own name, image and likeness. 

“Athletes are getting more knowledgeable about it and a lot of them are hustling on their own but still not enough,” Aquila said. “Athletes could ask [for] more, [for] their favorite restaurants and stuff to do an NIL, I think that’s going to be more common in the future than the businesses asking to do the NIL.” 

Jermey Gray, an IU sports administrator here at IU, thinks that it is important to help these athletes build their own personal brand.

“The most followed student athlete we have here is Sydney Parrish. She’s done a really good job of marketing herself. She sponsors everything from a local bank to Sweetgreen to having a Tiktok series. So, teaching them social media practices and how to accentuate their own brand I think is really really important,” Gray said. 

Dr. Galen Clavio, the current Associate Dean of Undergraduates at the Media School, during a press conference clarifies the difference between being paid by a business, and being paid by a university for a sport. 

“If, I as an athlete, got a sponsorship with Everbowl, I could be paid by Everbowl directly because they felt like I had market value.” Clavio said. “But, If I was getting $100,000 simply for being a scholarship basketball player with no commercial ties, that would be considered pay for play.”

When athletes are paid for play, the relationship between the player and the university that owns them can be difficult to navigate. 

“A lot of how we approach athletes is, we almost infantilize them. We treat them like they’re incapable of making their own decisions and making their own sets of priorities;” Clavio said. “We don’t do that for other college students.”

Not allowing these students to make their own decisions both when signed to a university and business brings concerns to IU community members like Aquila. 

“I’m not sure if everyone is looking out for the best interest of athletes. I receive emails from agents who tell me which professional athletes they represent, and I’m not sure if it’s protecting the kids. And probably these agents, if there is money involved, will take 20 to 30 percent,” Aquila said. 

Gray has worked with many student athletes in the past and knows some of the challenges they can face when making a NIL deal. One of them, beyond balancing being a full time student and an athlete, is knowing when to sign a contract for a partnership. 

“Understanding those terms of the contract are really really important,” Gray said. 

Student athletes and Businesses have a relationship based off of mutualism. Not only do the businesses that partner with these athletes find ways to benefit from this deal, but the athletes are able to have the college experience while being paid. Aquila thinks that this deal has benefited these athletes and should have happened a lot sooner, but recognizes that in the world of sports, not every deal or decision goes the way one expects it to. 

“I think things totally can get messy, and it can get messier,” Aquila said. “The NCAA still has to open [the bill] up further, and it’s America–it’s always going to get messy, especially when there is a lot of money involved.”

https://youtu.be/F5niRNVuR3o

Bloomington residents discuss their thoughts on the 2021 NIL bill and the ethics of the court ruling. Both students and members of the community have differing opinions on the subject.

By Ali Brown, Stella Klaus, Michael McGrew and Jolie Goldstein

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. (Nov. 5, 2024) – The air was finally beginning to warm up after a rough transition into spring and the campus almost felt deserted, with no students making their way to classes. After the spring semester had wrapped up at Ball State University and students went home for the summer, Alec Cesare suddenly found himself no longer enrolled in his school or his sport. His first collegiate golf season was not what he had hoped it would be, so Cesare decided it was time for a change. He knew he wanted to stay in the state, but still the challenge of finding a new school was daunting. After an abundance of research, visits and practices Cesare finally decided on his next destination: Indiana University.

Name, Image and Likeness (NIL) started at the very beginning of collegiate athletics with a boat race between Harvard and Yale that was sponsored by a railroad executive to promote train travel to lake Winnipesaukee in 1852. At the beginning with no governing body regulating college athletics and not very many rules, payments of many different kinds to college athletes happened. 

The rise in popularity of football created lots of revenue. They would offer compensation to talented athletes which led to athletes jumping around to different colleges depending on which ones would pay them more. The sport of Football became increasingly more popular and dangerous, so Theodore Roosevelt met with colleges to review rules and from that meeting the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) was created to make the sport safer. 

Once it was created the NCAA advised against compensating college athletes. However, they found that this was still happening since football was a highly profitable sport. In 1948 the NCAA decided to do more than advise against it; they adopted a code that reiterated their opposition to payment of student athletes. Through the years the NCAA molded and formed new rules about scholarships and how much they can give athletes for being on their team. The rules of NIL are still being challenged to this day.

One of the biggest complaints about the structure of NIL is the vast difference in income between smaller, less-viewed sports and the larger, more popular sports. Alec Cesare, a sophomore golf player, has experienced this firsthand.

“We spend the same amount of hours practicing, competing and representing the university,” Cesare said. “I think we deserve the same opportunities even though we don’t bring in as much revenue as they do.” 

Financially this gap makes sense, the larger sports attract more views and in turn generate more revenue. However, smaller-sport athletes, like Cesare and his teammates, don’t benefit from this, and are expected to spend most of their free time dedicated to their sport without any compensation. 

While smaller sports may never get the same amount of money through NIL as sports like Football, NIL still impacted Cesare’s decision when he was transferring schools. He did not get NIL money at Ball State, but at a bigger school there are more opportunities.

“I knew if I went bigger there would be higher chances to get more money,” Cesare said. “The difference between mid-major D1 schools and Power 4 schools is crazy, especially when it comes to money.” 

Even with the large difference in sums of money, Cesare still voiced his complaints about the large deficit of money from sport to sport.

  “There is a lot of hypocrisy, a lack of clarity and a lack of consistency in a lot of what we’re seeing in these proposed settlements,” Dr. Galen Clavio, Director of the National Sports Journalism Center, said.

The lack of consistency is the same thing that many athletes are frustrated with. This difference in revenue between larger and smaller sports is creating a divide amongst athletes. 

“You’re never going to have a job where your coworker gets paid more and you don’t think you deserve to get paid more than them,” Jeremy Gray, Senior Associate Athletic Director for Strategic Communications, said. 

There are many different attitudes between experts on how NIL should work and how much athletes should get paid, that is why it is such an ongoing topic that has changed a lot through the years. However, smaller sports don’t make as much NIL money as more popular sports because they don’t get as much TV time, they get less advertising (billboards, posters, merchandise, etc.), they can’t ask brands for sponsorships because of the lack of TV time and they don’t get as much emotional support compared to other sports.

NIL continues to be a popular topic of discussion in collegiate athletics, and that is not going to stop anytime soon. Smaller sports will continue to make far less revenue than more popular sports, despite efforts from smaller sport athletes. Although there are many different facets of NIL that can be dissected, the deficit of funding between large and small sports is one of the most important to discuss to ensure all athletes are being treated fairly under NIL regulations. 

People on the streets of Bloomington share their opinions on NIL. Due to the recent supreme court case NCAA v. Alston NIL has been a growing topic with new opinions arising.

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By Catherine Hattery, Ginger Jia and Brianna Rudnet

BLOOMINGTON, IN (Nov. 5, 2024)

The stadium erupted with loud cheers as the football forcefully soared to the other end of the field. Marlboro ‘Cignetti’ towels waved from the side lines to the nose bleeds. The large number of fans crammed into Memorial stadium is a stark contrast from attendance last year, as Indiana Football has had a considerably better season this fall, still undefeated well into the season.  

 The crowd, a sea of red, exploded as Freshman kicker Quinn Warren successfully punted the ball to the opposing team, Washington, to begin the game. 

Warren’s life has changed in more ways than one since signing to IU’s football team back in February- not just in terms of athletics. Because of the Supreme Court’s ruling in 2021, declaring that the NCAA could not prohibit student athletes from benefiting from their name, image, and likeness, Warren is able to monetize his brand; establishing sponsorships, brand partnerships, and growing his social media presence.  

Warren has stressed the importance of establishing his brand. “To build a personal brand is fairly important. You want to create an account that is marketable, and one that companies are willing to give a deal to and market their product through,” Warren said. 

Although around 10 companies have reached out to him, Quinn has only partnered with the popular clothing brand Hollister and Max Caffeine Gum and has been compensated through the form of products and payments. “They sent me clothes and I had to post two Instagram posts, three photos, and then a reel, and made $200. It was that simple.” Warren said.  He described using the app Postgame to become a Hollister Ambassador. “The app evaluates people who have applied and select a handful to market the brand through our social media platforms.” Warren said.  

While the NIL ruling has provided collegiate athletes with countless opportunities like the ability to profit from brand partnerships and the many connections that social media can create, others have wondered if the ability to make a profit would affect the legitimacy of a player’s recruitment.  

For Quinn, the NIL benefits were simply that- a benefit. “Although the opportunities some schools gave for NIL were intriguing, I played football at Indiana University because of the sport itself not because of the NIL aspect.” 

Galen Clavio, the Associate Dean for Undergraduate Education for Indiana University’s Media School, an NIL expert, agreed. “Look at the attention on IU football. They are not selling out games because they have popular NIL players on their team. They are doing it because they have got good players that are winning games.” Dr. Clavio said. 

Clavio also highlighted the Cavinder twins, popular basketball players who transferred from Fresno State to Miami University, illustrating there was no correlation between recruitment and one’s name, image, and likeness. “Maimi did not take them because of their NIL capabilities. They [the Cavinder twins] chose Miami because of the possibilities of the marketplace there.” Clavio believes that although a player may equate more NIL benefits to certain schools, like the Cavinder twins did, a school’s drive to recruit a player does not lie in their social media presence, nor their ability to market themselves- only in their talent.

Clavio continued, adding that when considering professional sports, a team would not sign a player based on their ability to market themselves, but their capability to perform. “For the most part, at the professional level, you do not see professional sports teams going and signing athletes solely because they are popular on social media.” Clavio argues that the relationship between NIL and college athletes should mirror professional sports and the profitability they get to experience in regards to the recruitment process. 

Senior Associate Athletic Director for Strategic Communications, Jeremy Gray, emphasized the importance of marketing through social media. “How do you advertise to someone under the age of 25? You don’t read newspapers. You don’t watch traditional television. You don’t listen to radio.” Gray contended that college athletes are major influences among college students, citing Sydney Parish, a member of the IU Women’s Basketball team who has amassed many followers, as a major influence among students in Bloomington.

“The best way to reach that group [18 to 25-year-olds] is by paying social media influencers to market your products, businesses, restaurants, and the like. They [college athletes] are valuable to the community to market to businesses,” Gray said.  

Gray illustrates the major incentive for companies and brands to create relationships among college athletes, as a majority of their followings are made up of college students who are influenced  to purchase products from certain brands if prompted to. Without NIL, companies would lack the benefits college athletes provide their brands through social media, emphasizing the important role athletes play in the scope of marketing. 

As Indiana University’s football team continues to win, so do the players financially. With more attention on the teams success, the players continue to reap the benefits as companies reach out for brand deals and partnerships due to their popularity. Athletes like Quinn Warren emphasized the role of NIL in his college career so far. “NIL has changed my view of playing college football. I have gained so much from simply being a college athlete because of the courts ruling in 2021.”

On Friday Oct. 18. both students, staff, and residents of Bloomington were interviewed about their thoughts on the growing opportunities provided to athletes through NIL. Those interviewed believed NIL granted college athletes numerous opportunities to market themselves through brand deals and partnerships, providing them the ability to profit through their name, image, and likeness.

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By Emily Hunter, Matthew Brenner and Malachi Williams

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. (November 5, 2024)

With college right around the corner for high school recruits, where they decide to play is a major decision. An even bigger decision for some: can they make a profit? As college athletics progresses, introducing Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) rights for student-athletes has created a new world.

This adopted policy allows athletes to profit from NIL activities. It plays a tremendous role in the decision-making for striving athletes, affecting their recruitment process at universities across the country, including Indiana University. Ian Stephens, a second-year basketball player for the Indiana Hoosiers, credits the policy adopted by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in 2021 to his decision-making in his choice of university. “It’s definitely made me look at things from a financial perspective. There’s definitely not just an athletic side to things because you’re getting paid to do something.” A perspective on the money side of athletics highlights how NIL has prioritized financial considerations for many athletes when choosing schools post-2021 policy change. NIL has opened opportunities for athletes at IU that have not been offered before, placing IU on the radar for aspiring collegiate athletes. Creating an environment where young students can strive as athletes and have financial freedom was a factor in choosing the right school for Stephens and fellow teammates.

In 2021, a Supreme Court ruling allowed student-athletes, recruits and their family members to engage in NIL activities in compliance with state laws. The ruling provides resources and guidance, answers questions, and allows athletes who attend schools without NIL laws to participate without violating NCAA rules (NCAA). 

A correlation exists between students wanting to profit off their play and interests in attending Indiana University, found by Luke Bosso, Director of Athletics at Indiana University Indianapolis. “The athletes that we are recruiting, it’s one of their first two questions, is do you have a NIL program.” Bosso, a former football player himself, says he has seen an influx of student enrollment now that IU supports NIL activities. Students who enter a transfer portal will even search for NIL-positive programs at various levels of college, looking for a sufficient amount of money.

A study conducted by Mark Owens, working in the Department of Economics and Finance at Penn State University found elite programs that offer NIL activities statistically have the largest NIL deals, high recruiting and most players to be drafted into the NFL. The NIL ruling has enticed students like Stephens to be a part of a program where they can strive academically but also financially, “It’s just opened up many financial doors for me.” Stephens was aware of his opportunities when looking into IU’s basketball program. “There’s a lot of NIL events through Hoosiers for Good which is one of our philanthropy companies that’s doing a lot of good work around the community. It takes a bunch of student-athletes and we go into the community building homes, it’s really good.”

Dr Galen Clavio, Associate Dean for Undergraduate Education at IU, describes this process in two categories, being a good athlete and utilizing your resources, “a lot of it is what market are you bringing to the table.” These partnerships are reaching an audience of supporters and place pressure on big names and those striving for a platform. The rise of women’s sports credits this NIL policy change. Over ten years, the rise of digital media and growing revenue allowed female athletes to profit not only at the college level but professional and Olympic levels. Although Bosso saw positive feedback from athletes regarding their newfound opportunities, being paid, is not everything, “Winning entices athletes more than anything to go to a school, not money.” With three hundred sixty-three Division 1 basketball programs, almost all of them offer NIL activities.

Looking towards the future, there are ongoing advancements to Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) rights for athletes. The question, “Can I profit at a place I also want to play?” is something high school recruits think about when applying for schools. With NIL activities being allowed, there are resources available at all Indiana University campuses for athletes regarding signing contracts and taxes. As more and more marketing opportunities come up for athletes, the work they put into their financial decisions can become tricky. Without a proper understanding of NIL, student-athletes can prioritize money over play time, something Bosso looks out for. Playtime should always be prioritized over financial gain. Stephens recognizes this trade-off as well, “It’s okay to point out that you are getting paid if that’s what you want to do with your life then go be serious about it and go get paid as much as you want, but you still have to perform and be able to do your job at the highest level.”

https://youtu.be/SIIQjcfaAlo

Emily Hunter, Matthew Brenner and Malachi Williams interviewed individuals on Indiana Univerity’s campus on IU’s NIL opportunities. Interviewees’ feedback gave insight into what the average person thinks about IU’s offered NIL opportunities. 

With support from top universities like Indiana University aiding potential students in their profitable opportunities, athletes across every sport have incentives to become a Hoosier. 

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By Audrey Pfeiffer, Katie Newett and Ryan Beauregard

BLOOMINGTON, IN (Nov. 5, 2024)

When Mya Ayro attended Greenwood Community High School as the outside hitter on the volleyball team, she never would have imagined the tumultuous path that NIL would pave in her collegiate career.  

Ayro is a four-year letterwinner and holds the record for the most kills in program history at Greenwood Community High School along with competing in the AAU National Championships with her club volleyball team in 2021 

The 19-year-old was driven by the power and initiative that volleyball provided and knew that she wanted to find the right fit in a college—a perfect combination of athletics, academics, and the ability to provide a successful career. 

As she chose her school, she reflected on the values that really matter to her.  

“At the end of the day, I’m focused on my performance and education,” Ayro said. 

For her freshman year, Ayro excitingly committed to University of Connecticut. Throughout her time there, she was very successful—playing 27 matches for the team and recording a career-best kill count of 16 against Yale last September. 

But there was always something missing at UConn for Ayro. She entered the transfer portal for her spring semester and chose Wright State University, another Division 1 school, where she has continued to attend through the 2024-2025 school year.  

This season, Ayro is a successful athlete at Wright State, and is projected to continue her career there.  

Ayro is not alone in her decision to transfer schools, but some may do it for the wrong reasons. Transfer athletes could be motivated to transfer for a variety of reasons—relationships, location, education, or in our research, NIL. Many believe that NIL can be a selfish or immoral reason to transfer, including Ayro. 

“As a transfer athlete myself, transferring for personal pay ruins the whole point of sports,” Ayro said. 

Professor of Sports Media and Director of the National Sports Journalism Center at Indiana University Dr. Galen Clavio describes the experience that athletes have and the expectation that they’re incapable of balancing all the components that come with being a collegiate athlete. 

“A lot of how we approach athletes is we almost infantilize them. We treat them like they’re incapable of making their own sense of priority,” Clavio said. “We don’t do that for other college students, do we?” 

First year IU thrower Seth Brosseau also picked his university based on the academic performance, as opposed to NIL money. More uncommon sports like throwing or tennis are less likely to make as much money comparatively to basketball or football, simply based off the amount of viewership and popularity the sport has. 

“I know that, personally, as a male track athlete, my opportunities with NIL and making money from them are more slim than other athletes in other sports,” Brosseau said. 

Ayro has found similar issues in relation to gender bias in sports. Men’s sports tend to gain a bigger viewership and, therefore, more money. 

Similarly to Ayro, Brosseau believes that NIL is secondary to sports and academic performance, and it would be immoral to transfer simply for the money. He thinks that there should be some restrictions set on the amount that athletes are allowed to make on top of the amount for transferring, for the sake of the team dynamic.  

“I think that it is fair that athletes have their school fully compensated for, as athletes bring a specialized skill to their college,” Brosseau said. “I do think that there should be some better devised limits on the amount of money that athletes are able to make outside of having their school paid for.” 

Ayro believes that NIL is secondary to performance and practice time, since it is not one of the main factors that she put into the consideration of picking her school.

“NIL is just an opportunity to network. My program isn’t focused on the fame and money. We are focused on how we perform; NIL is just something that may happen for us,” Ayro said. 

Clavio also included that it is extremely important as an organization to educate athletes on the importance of how to use social media and handling their affairs correctly. Many times, athletes don’t realize how much they can capitalize off their careers and end up losing out on opportunities. 

“I would strongly recommend that we start teaching about social media, branding, and the utilization of digital media at the high school level for everybody because that is where most people are communicating these days,” Clavio said.

 Sex is a factor that may play into NIL as well. Ayro thinks that men are more likely to talk about their deals and get bigger deals, since viewership is typically biased toward males.  

“NIL is a bigger aspect in male sports. That’s where it generally becomes an issue,” Ayro said, “They want all of the benefits they can get and if a school offers more benefits compared to another, it tends to sway their choice.” 

Despite the idea that male sports have a larger viewership in general, Clavio acknowledges the growth that women’s sports have had since the rise of popularity in women’s basketball, starting with Caitlyn Clark. 

“It’s nowhere near the amount of money that men’s revenue sport athletes are getting just for existing in many cases, but it has meant that there are some female athletes who have been able to capitalize at the college level,” Clavio said. “Now that they are more known commodities, which might open up additional commercial possibilities that weren’t there before.” 

NIL is an ever-growing and evolving idea, but the foundations for first year and transfer athletes will remain the same—performance and education come before any type of compensation. 

We headed to campus to ask students and fans about their opinions on NIL deals.

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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. 

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 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.” 

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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By Caitlin Givand, Aaralyn Mills, Stella Abodeely

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. (November 5, 2024)

College athletics is undergoing major changes following NCAA legislation recently passed. The impact on former and current collegiate athletes with regard to name, image and likeness (NIL) leaves many athletes unfairly compensated.

Over the past few years, the sphere of college athletics has undergone transformations surrounding NIL, sparking debate concerning whether former athletes deserve payment for their contributions to their athletic departments. For example, Skip Mills, a former Ball State basketball player, aided the department in significant growth averaging 18.6 points per game in the 2005-2006 season. However, no financial compensation was awarded to Mills as he was considered an “amateur athlete” during his collegiate career. Some current players with similar, or less impressive statistics are being compensated handsomely for their efforts, which some see as unjust.

Indiana sports media professor Dr. Galen Clavio discusses the impact that a social media presence can have on an athlete’s value both in college and beyond. “Well now, if you’re a female athlete and you have some juice in the marketplace because you have a large social media following, you have the ability to capitalize on that yourself,” Clavio said.

This shift has brought many cases to light in the new era of NIL. Caitlin Clark, was a top recruit coming from the University of Iowa is a good example. Her stats paired with her social media presence allowed her to gain exposure through advertisements. Notably, her campaigns with Nike, Statefarm and Gatorade resulted in large payouts for Clark, something unfathomable for a college athlete years ago. A current senior on the Indiana University rowing team, Phoebe Inall, discusses the competitiveness between athletes and how those with large NIL deals behave. “The ones who are making a lot of money- they think they are so much better than the ones who are not, which is leading to a divide between student-athletes as well,” Inall said.

Even though many see this implementation of NIL strictly as a benefit for student-athletes, a majority of non-revenue sports athletes are facing negative repercussions in this transition. Indiana University senior rowing coxswain Lilly Gintert has experienced this firsthand. “I think that with all the changes that happened too, like Tobias and everything, the ones who are making NIL don’t even care about it because they don’t need to but it is impacting the sports that don’t make as much money,” Gintert said.

At Indiana University, Tobias Nutrition Center (TNC) is the exclusive athlete dining hall located at Memorial Stadium, offering a variety of nutrition options and to-go containers for the typical student-athlete in a rush from practice. In years prior, athletes were able to eat breakfast in TNC for free, giving them the ability to perform better throughout the day with easier access to a satisfying breakfast. However, starting this year, to pay funds to the NCAA for NIL settlements, IU Athletics has started charging student-athletes for meals, with breakfast increasing $10 from before. Due to this, many athletes do not use the nutrition center anymore and struggle to fuel after workouts.

Clavio mentions the importance and urgency of the NCAA passing this significant piece of legislature. “One of the reasons why the NCAA is trying to get this settlement put in the books is they lock out previous potential classes of athletes from being able to sue for lost funds or lost compensation,” Clavio said.

NIL has reshaped the college sports landscape, allowing athletes to profit from their talents unlike before. For athletes like Skip Mills, a former All-MAC Ball State University basketball player from 2003-2006, this opportunity to profit from personal branding was non-existent. “My dad used to tell me, if I could get a hit, he would give me five or ten dollars. Knowing that, if NIL was there when I was in college, it definitely would have made me more motivated,” Mills said.

One of Mills’ standout performances came during a game against Buffalo, where he scored 38 points–a feat that would draw NIL attention today. As a Division I star, Mills contrasts with Jaxson Robinson, ranked in under the top 100 on the College Basketball NIL list for today. His career average stands at 8.7 points per game, yet his NIL valuation is $255,000 thanks to his huge following going over 100,000 on social media platforms. For players like Mills, the opportunity to leverage NIL in their peak college years was missed and could have added incentive to push their performance even further.

By Makenna Piatkowski, Ryan Banks and Matthew Mason

BLOOMINGTON, IN (Nov. 5, 2024)

The buzzer sounds and hockey players storm the ice to celebrate with teammates. Indiana University is officially bringing home some hardware as the club hockey team wins the American Collegiate Hockey Association (ACHA) National Championship. A team with so much talent finally wins it all, and they didn’t even pay the players to do it.

An athlete’s name, image and likeness (NIL) allows for college players to be paid for anything attached to their brand, such as personal merchandise, camps and clinics or any type of affiliate roles. Before NIL was put into effect, athletes were prohibited from profiting off of their personal brand, and could even face punishments if it occurred. One example of this is Reggie Bush, who had his Heisman Trophy taken away (it has since been returned in the wake of athletes getting paid) after he was illegally compensated. Collegiate athletes are now allowed to hire outside expertise to advise them in deals surrounding NIL, and most college athletes are benefiting from this law change. The biggest advocates for NIL argue that athletes that spend countless hours in practices and games should be compensated fairly for their time and inability to acquire a job outside of school and sport. 

Many have spoken up about NIL and the effect it has had on student athletes, including Indiana University Media School professor, Galen Clavio. Clavio uses his many years of experience as a broadcaster and reporter in the sports industry to speak on various topics, both in his own classes and in guest speeches to students in other media classes. In a press conference held in a C250 Story Lab class, students were able to ask questions about NIL and what the future holds.

“What keeps the boat in the water is the tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands of dollars of donations coming from the alumnus who feel positive emotions towards their university.”

However, some people have some issues with how NIL works. NIL deals only benefit those in high level collegiate sports, and tends to ignore other sports, like the 40 club sports at Indiana University. When asked about how new collegiate funding ideas would affect smaller sports, Clavio noted that a lot of lower level sports could see major cuts.

“The NCAA has been throwing everything they can at trying to get some kind of antitrust exemption or some kind of carve out from the government because if they don’t get that…it’s going to be a fundamental reorganization of a lot of what we see in college athletics where you could see a lot of college athletic programs kind of convert back down to what we would consider to be ‘Club Status’.”

Due to the underfunding of collegiate club sports, athletes like Peter Faust, a club lacrosse player at IU, have had to sacrifice personal time and money to the sports that are played. 

“Club sports run pretty similarly but lacrosse in particular is rather expensive to be a part of. Each member of the team owes dues each semester and that only covers field time and travel. The uniforms and their equipment are further expenses out of their pockets.”

Without funding from the university, athletes that want to continue to play the sport they love continue to cost them. Although the high level sports seem like an unattainable schedule, Andrew Gus, IU Club Hockey Forward Coach, does not think that they are all that different. 

“We practice 4 days a week and have to travel on weekends. We have given up on some big things in college because we had to travel that weekend, but it’s all worth it. It would be nice to see the school compensate for that.”

Gus also acknowledges the discrepancy between the recognition that some sports get over others and what the university chooses to prioritize, in terms of media coverage. 

“Look at the football team right now, it is awesome. But the hockey team won the national championship last season and not as many people know about that. The school could have helped with spreading that news.”

NIL has greatly affected the culture when it comes to collegiate sports, in both positive and negative ways. However, it is notable that club sports and the lower level division sports may face many challenges due to this new era in college athletics.

People on the street speak their mind about whether NIL is fair for club level sports and consider the effects that a lack of funding could have. Multiple perspectives were administered during the afternoon interviews.

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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.