Team 1: Story 1: Implications of NIL in college sports

The Basics of NIL

The NCAA changed the nature of college athletics with the introduction of NIL in 2021—a bill that answered the age-old question of whether or not college athletes should be paid for their work. NIL allows athletes to profit off of their own name, image and likeness through marketing and promotional pursuits such as endorsements, social media activity, autograph signings, etc. This allows athletes to be compensated for their presence in athletics without actually allowing universities to pay them directly for their work. According to Icon Source, the NCAA maintains that college athletes are considered amateurs, and thus they cannot receive compensation for their sport as a professional athlete would. NIL serves as an opportunity to work around this amateur status.

According to an article by As, the average income from student athletes’ NIL deals ranges from $1,000 to $10,000. How much money athletes make from their NIL deals is dependent on the sport, the player and their publicity, and compensation can vary drastically among athletes. According to The Fan, LeBron James’ son and University of South Carolina basketball player Bronny James has an NIL valuation of $6.1 million. While his father’s name is certainly an influence in his NIL value, athletes without a legacy namesake can reach millions as well. For example, Louisiana State University gymnast Livvy Dunn currently holds a $3.2 million NIL valuation.

Gender Inequities with NIL

Although a select few athletes have achieved this level of success through NIL, the vast majority of college athletes’ experiences with NIL are not as lucrative. Female athletes in particular receive significantly less revenue from NIL deals than their male counterparts, as NIL has caused burgeoning inequalities in women’s college athletics. According to Business Insider, “Power Five women’s basketball players receive on average 58% fewer dollars per NIL activity with a collective than men’s basketball players.” One potential factor that may influence this wage gap is the popularity difference between male and female sports.

University of Mississippi women’s soccer player Grace Freeman speculated that this difference in popularity and publicity is a major factor influencing the amount of money male and female athletes make.

“Males definitely do make a lot more money,” Freeman said about NIL deals. “I obviously don’t think it’s fair because we work just as hard to get to the same place, but I also know that those sports have more viewers and have more fans than women’s soccer would. So, I understand that side of it.”

A 2022 campaign in observance of International Women’s Day by Buick revealed that while over 40% of athletes are female, they receive less than 10% of media coverage. Additionally, PlayToday.co reports that 66% of US sports fans watch more men’s sports, while 3% consume more women’s sports. This disparity in viewership decreases the value of female sports and consequently, lessens female athletes’ NIL value.

Freeman continued, attesting that on a collegiate level, the difference in popularity between male and female sports is obvious.

“Most people don’t even know there’s a women’s soccer team, or ever attend the games even though they are free. So male athletes definitely get a lot more publicity and attention and love than the female athletes do,” Freeman said.

Mississippi State University women's track athlete Mallory Streetman agreed that there is an inequality of media coverage between male and female sports. However, Streetman attested to Mississippi State's due diligence to combat this inequity.

"There’s always like football, baseball, and basketball—the 3 main men’s sports that are gonna have so much media coverage," Streetman said. "But I think our school especially does a really good job of covering all sports and really focusing on female athletes, which I think is really cool.”

December 2023, NCAA president Charlie Baker addressed student athletes in a letter revealing his proposal to help “modernize college sports in an equitable fashion.” Baker shared that part of his proposal would require Division 1 institutions with the most resources to invest at least $30,000 per year into an education fund for at least half of the school’s eligible student athletes. Baker stated that this investment must be done in a way that complies with Title IX, a law prohibiting sex-based discrimination in school and in educational programs that receive federal funding. This proposal, if approved, may not affect the wage gap of NIL deals for college athletes, but by prioritizing both male and female athletes equally, it will move college sports in the right direction.

NIL and the Nature of the Game

There is much speculation about how NIL affects the nature of college athletics. The introduction of NIL has generated questions about athletes' loyalty to their team when presented with opportunities to receive greater NIL deals at other institutions by entering the transfer portal.

Freeman stated that when entering the transfer portal, she belives many players' loyalty lies with the money, making it difficult to build a strong foundation within the team.

"I think (loyalty) definitely mainly lies within the money, but I know there’s some people who they’ll stick around for the university and the education, but for the most part, the money plays a big role in which school people attend or transfer to," Freeman said. “I think it’s really tough to build a good culture when people are constantly leaving or being offered more money. It feels more like a business than it does like a team and a community.

Mississippi State University baseball player Stone Simmons echoed Freeman's opinion on how NIL and the transfer portal impact loyalty.

“I think it definitely changes the nature of the game," Simmons said. "I think people can have in the back of their mind that they have the opportunity to transfer and make some more money somewhere else and that’s a factor towards everyone’s game.”

Simmons continued, noting that while NIL is a necessary option for student athletes, it comes with adverse, unexpected effects on team loyalty.

"I think NIL is something that is very controversial and personally I think NIL is good, the concept of it is good, and it’s important that athletes are getting paid in some way or another for their name, image and likeness. It does get a little out of hand, I will admit. But I think for the most part it’s a thing that’s very necessary," Simmons said. "And for loyalty wise, if you have your loyalty in the right place then it shouldn’t change anything in terms of making it better or worse. It should just be something that is very beneficial for you although we’ve seen in some cases where it becomes more of a transfer in order to receive NIL money type thing. And I don’t think that’s what we wanted with the whole NIL and transfer portal thing."

Email the team at cmh1189@msstate.edu with any questions

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