The NIL market is expected to be worth approximately $1.7 billion in the 2024-2025 season, according to Opendorse, with $1.1 billion of that going to college football. Men’s basketball players earn approximately $389 million. Women’s basketball players earn approximately $75 million. Olympians earn approximately $134 million.
The moneymaking began in July 2021 when the Supreme Court ruled that the NCAA could not prevent student athletes from profiting from their names, images and likenesses. Since the decision The legal battle continues between the NCAA and state legislatures.
“It’s been interesting to look at the competitive balance between the states,” said Rob Sine, CEO of Blueprint Sports. “Tennessee has been more aggressive. Florida wants to be more aggressive. Then Texas wanted to be more aggressive. More state laws are being passed and repealed. Then it passed again.”
Blueprint Sports maintains many high-profile groups across the country, sponsors, and individual donors. and various businesses They often choose to fund groups that will pay athletes for appearances or endorsements. The group is expected to control about 80% of the NIL market.
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“Schools have very little spread. Therefore, for professional service units They’re happy to know that, hey, we’re going to put officers on campus. It will represent them and the student-athletes,” Sine said. “Overall as a marketing agency. We will manage all operations. We will provide that third party agency for the athletic department with whom we can negotiate with agents. We can negotiate with the athletes we manage if they enter the transfer portal. Contract termination or something like that.”
Blueprint Sports oversees groups from across the country, including NC State’s One Pack NIL, Colorado’s 5430 Alliance, Pennsylvania’s Happy Valley United and Arkansas’ Arkansas Edge.
“Pennsylvania has different rules than Arkansas or North Carolina do,” Zine said. Then you have to comply with state law in some ways.”
The first guidance from the NCAA for 2021 is consistent with the Supreme Court’s decision. Athletes can receive money if state law allows. The rule attempts to prevent schools from using NIL funds to recruit athletes.
“It’s a lot easier,” Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., said of how the NIL law has changed the recruiting process in recent years. “There are really no applications right now. It is a purchase It is completely different.”
Before Tuberville was elected to the Senate He has coached at Ole Miss, Auburn, Texas Tech and Cincinnati. He has co-sponsored NIL legislation alongside Sen. Joe Manchin, IW.V. He plans to revive or amend the Athletes, Schools and Sports Protection Act (PASS Act) in tandem. Go with the Democrats to the next convention.
“In football and basketball Whoever has the most money,” Tuberville said.
California signed the first state NIL law in 2019, and many others began to follow suit. Eventually, the Legislature began passing laws to bypass the NCAA’s guidance to allow NIL funds to be used for recruiting.
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“Over the years The money kept rising. And student athletes move on, wait a minute, why don’t we get that money? Why don’t we split the proceeds?” Tuberville said.
Tuberville said the group has too much influence and legislation like the PASS Act would help level the playing field. But the general public did not agree.
“I don’t think the federal government is the way to do it. I think it raises a lot of complications,” said Zine. “I’ve seen those trials before. And there weren’t many bright directions and ideas coming out. There are many draft laws. I think it must have been difficult for them to go through.”
Some university officials believe the federal government should not enter the NIL debate.
“This is a free market economy. We live in the greatest country in the world. And I think it’s great that our student-athletes can finally be compensated for what they’re worth. But we need national standards in college sports. Every coach must know when the ball is loose. We all play by the same rules. And right now we’re not doing that,” Auburn men’s basketball coach Bruce Pearl said.
Initial laws in Alabama and South Carolina reflected the NCAA’s guidance preventing the use of NIL funds for recruiting. Other states began passing laws that strayed from that guidance. and allowing third-party donors to promise money to potential student-athletes, causing the NCAA to change its stance. In 2022, the Division 1 committee clarified that schools can ask donors to provide public funding. As long as the donor isn’t focused on a specific sport or athlete.
“Back in those days it was all about graduation rates. or something like that Can you help me get into the NBA? Will we win a championship? What is the culture of the project like? Those things are more important to parents,” Pearl says. “Now it’s become more transactional. What is my market value? How much money will I get if I go to that school? And of course, right now everyone is playing with different budgets. And that is what makes it quite unfair.”
Updated NCAA guidance led Alabama and South Carolina to repeal their initial NIL laws. Both states determined that other schools had a greater chance of recruiting better players.
“It gives us a little more freedom,” Pearl said. “We want the conference and the people who guide our project to be strengthened. Now, it’s all before the court. They lost every case.”
Texas passed legislation in 2023 that breaks with the NCAA’s guidance to allow donations for certain sports. The law also allows for special privileges and benefits for fans. that donates to NIL pools. One clause also allows the NCAA to punish schools that take full advantage of NIL.
“A lot of people are starting to find a gray area, so donors or other organizations across the country are seeing this happen: OK, we’re going to raise money, instead of $100,000, we’re going to raise $2 million, or we’re going to raise 20 million. dollars, and we’re really going to start building this thing out. and create a significant competitive advantage Because no one told us we couldn’t do it,” Sine said.
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New transfer portal rules have increased the competition to find better players and pay more. A few months before the Supreme Court issued its NIL decision, the NCAA updated its transfer portal policies, giving Division I athletes the opportunity to transfer and compete on time.
Previously, athletes could change schools. But it must sit out for a year before it can be played. Unless they receive an exemption from the NCAA in 2024, the association updated its guidance to allow for unlimited transfers. As long as the athlete meets certain academic eligibility requirements.
“Marshall University Football Team Almost everyone moved away. They had to leave the bowl game,” Tuberville said. “Their coach left and they followed them.”
Marshall is set to face Army in the Radiance Technologies Independence Bowl. Dozens of Marshall athletes have returned to the transfer portal. Army will now face Louisiana Tech instead.
“I understand that families They are in a situation where they cannot earn more money than they are making right now. And that’s what they were told. We are teaching children to flee, not fight.”
UNLV quarterback Matthew Sluka announced in September that he would enter the transfer portal for the second time in his college career. Sluka’s agent said the $100,000 NIL payment was never fulfilled after that he agreed to transfer to UNLV
“Graduation rates have been decimated because of the combination of NIL and the transfer portal working together. These people are free agents,” Pearl lamented. “In some cases, the money can be significant.”
State laws also vary regarding who can represent student athletes. In 2019, the Uniform Law Commission recommended that states Adopt the Uniformed Athlete Representative Act. Allow student athletes to hire agents with the aim of protecting them from unfair treatment. At least 39 states have already adopted such laws. But it does not mention NIL. Some legislatures have added representative clauses to state laws.
“Players have agents, they have lawyers, they have accountants. That is something we have been struggling with for many years. Don’t sign a contract with an agent. Keep them out of your life. But college football College sports are growing.”
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The NCAA will now allow universities to pay players directly. This is in addition to what they receive through scholarships and third-party payments. Each school has a cap of $20.5 million for all sports. Various schools They were already targeting mostly the football program.
“We will lose the football program. basketball program and many women’s sports If we can’t find a solution, the NCAA has to work with us,” Tuberville said. “There aren’t many answers when you have so many hands and everyone wants it their way.”
