With the new name, image and likeness rule (NIL), it is assumed that this is going to have a major impact on where student-athletes decide to take their athletic and academic abilities when looking at colleges. Collegiate athletic programs that adopt this NIL policy will gain a major recruiting advantage. 

Because of a cap on athlete compensation that is currently in place with the NCAA, programs compete for top recruits by spending money on them indirectly. For example, Alabama’s football locker room has a waterfall, a brand-new weight room, and hot tubs and new cooling baths for players to use at any time. LSU just spent $20 million on a new football locker room which includes sleep pods that mirror the ones found in first-class on international flights. Even Auburn just approved a new $60 million football performance center. 

Because the players currently cannot profit from their name, image or likeness, every dollar spent on a jersey or poster with their headshot on it goes to the university’s athletics department. At some point, programs that adopt the NIL policy will use this as a recruiting tool and do their best to use it to their advantage. But if you ask me, this will become extremely unfair to those universities that are in states where the law will not be passed. 

Let’s take California for example. Their state leaders just passed the bill that states that collegiate athletes have the ability to now profit off of their name and likeness. California athletes can also take measures such as hiring an agent to assist them in building their brand. Some universities that are smart might even hire a in house “brand coach” to help these athletes as well. These coaches would train the athletes in how to build their personal brands. 

From a student athlete prospective, if I were given the option between programs like the University of Southern California, UCLA or LSU, I would choose one of the California schools. Yes, LSU might have just installed “sleeping pods” in their locker room, but a 5-star athlete could go to a school in California and start making money right when they throw his last name on a jersey. 

As a program in a state where the bill has not been passed, this could cause major blows to their recruiting as a whole. The athletics department could have just spent millions the nicest locker room or performance facility, but if an athlete could go to another top 25 school, and get paid for it, it seems like there is no debate on where to commit. Even though the NIL rights cannot interfere with the recruiting environment, the thought of all of the endorsements and other deals are bound to be floating around in a recruit’s mind. Thankfully, NIL payments cannot be made to try and sway an athlete into choosing a particular school or there will be no money in any type of transfer situation as well. 

If only some states pass the bill and the NCAA approves it, the schools in states that do not have the law and do not have the same exposure as larger programs are no longer going to get any top players. This will cause an unfair advantage to lower level teams that do not have the same income level as schools like Alabama or LSU. These top schools are only going to get more and more concentrated with the top players from all over the country because they know they will get plenty of exposure on a national stage. Sounds like the rich, are only going to get richer. 

***all opinions are my own***