How a response to NIL could shape the future of college athletics
When the clock struck midnight to July 1, a new era of college athletics began.
In the early hours of that morning, Auburn quarterback Bo Nix became the first notable student athlete to announce a brand deal, posting an advertisement for Milo's Tea Company on Instagram.
Had Nix done so minutes, hours, days or years earlier, he would've been subject to discipline from his university and the NCAA. In years past, collegiate athletes had been unable to receive compensation or benefits from third parties.
Everything changed on June 21 when the United States Supreme Court unanimously ruled the NCAA's policies against compensation violated antitrust laws. This allowed student athletes at all NCAA levels to be compensated for the use of their name, image and likeness, or NIL.
"Nowhere else in America can businesses get away with agreeing not to pay their workers a fair market rate on the theory that their product is defined by not paying their workers a fair market rate," wrote justice Brett Kavanaugh in his concurring opinion. "And under ordinary principles of antitrust law, it is not evident why college sports should be any different."
In response to the court's ruling, the NCAA adopted an interim NIL policy. This policy is not uniform, and the implementation of how student athletes can use their NIL is at the discretion of their universities.
This lack of uniform policy across the collegiate landscape is creating what some have dubbed the wild west.
'A lack of strategic direction and execution'
The argument for student athletes receiving compensation for their name, image and likeness dates back to 2009, when former UCLA men's basketball player Ed O'Bannon sued the NCAA for not compensating athletes for using their likeness in video games.
In 2014, district and subsequent circuit court judges found in favor of O'Bannon. The ruling allowed student athletes to receive full academic scholarships.
The fight wasn't close to over, however, as a group led by Shawne Alston, a former West Virginia running back, sued the NCAA over its restraints on compensation in 2019. A California District Court judge found in favor of Alston, finding that the NCAA rules violated antitrust law.
As a result of this ruling, states such as California, Michigan and Florida began passing legislatures allowing students within their states to receive compensation for their NIL.
By 2025, 23 states will have NIL policies signed into law.
"The die was cast on this issue two years ago, when the state of California passed NIL legislation," said Mid-American Conference Commissioner Jon Steinbrecher during media day July 20. "At that time, the NCAA had two choices: pursue a legal strategy challenging California, and, or implement its own NIL legislation.
"The first was not pursued, the second was not accomplished. As a result, we are left with little direction at this time."
The NCAA argued the ruling at the Supreme Court level but lost, as the judges found unanimously in favor of Alston two years after the original decision.
Despite having two years between the decisions, no policies were implemented by the NCAA. Following the Supreme Court's decision, an interim policy was put together and announced June 30, just 24 hours before the rule went into place.
Steinbrecher said the topic of NIL was something discussed within the MAC as far back as 2019.
"Two years ago at our council of directors of athletics meeting prior to media day, we spent several hours focused solely on this issue. We brought in legal and marketing executives and NCAA staff so that we could explore what this may mean."
Ultimately, the NCAA remains without a uniform policy. Without a federal or uniform legislation, some students may be at an advantage or disadvantage with regards to opportunities.
"It is unfortunate that we do not have a single national standard guiding us," Steinbrecher said. "It is a challenge to run national championships without national standards of conduct. Quite frankly, this is a failure by the entire association and reflects a lack of strategic direction and execution."
An educational opportunity
Due to the unforeseen nature of the world of NIL, many student athletes are entering brand deals and marketing situations under the guidance of their university's athletic directors and compliance officers.
In the case of Central Michigan, the Chippewa compliance department and athletic director Amy Folan have created an outline of what is allowed within the NIL guidelines.
"Our compliance office and obviously Amy (Folan)has put a fantastic presentation together for our guys, and really just giving them ins and outs," said CMU coach Jim McElwain. "More importantly, from our standpoint, I'm excited about it. I think it's fantastic for our players."
Many Chippewa athletes have taken advantage of the new opportunity. Two major players in the world of NIL who several Chippewas have signed with are Barstool Sports and Yoke Gaming, both of whom have made partnerships accessible.
“Man, I think it’s a great opportunity for student athletes across the nation to really get, to be compensated for their name, image and likeness," said Chippewa wide receiver Kalil Pimpleton. "Because there are a lot of guys who would get in trouble for little things just because of their name, image and likeness. I think it’s fair, it’s finally fair, that we’re able to be compensated for our name, image and likeness.”
"I have a lot of opportunities, and we all do," said CMU defensive end Troy Hairston, the reigning co-MAC Defensive Player of the Year. "It helps a lot especially because what we get is really not enough if you know from personally."
Pimpleton later announced he had struck a social media agreement with Moneyball Sportswear, a sports apparel company founded in 2002 by former NBA player Desmond Ferguson. Other Chippewas have made such ventures, with punter Luke Elzinga partnering with Grand Rapids Auto Gallery and cornerback Dishon McNary signing with Agency1 Sports Group.
Chippewa quarterback Daniel Richardson also said he's working on NIL deals with Sprite and McDonalds.
"For the students, I view NIL as a tremendous multidisciplinary educational opportunity," Steinbrecher said. "It gives them an opportunity to maximize their potential. And to do so, they will need to be proficient in areas such as branding, marketing, communications and in addition gaining some knowledge in areas such as taxes or contracts."
There is still uncertainty. Nobody has been in this position before, and many are taking time to analyze whether or not companies have the best interests of student athletes in mind.
“(We're) cautioning them a little bit as to who maybe you’re doing business with," McElwain said. "And make sure they’ve got (the student athlete's) best interests in mind.”
The world of collegiate athletics is in uncharted waters. How these waters are navigated will shape the future. Yet, with NIL essentially in a free-for-all, the pressure is on the NCAA to find a universal solution.
