Should NIL Contracts Be Allowed for College Athletes?
March 6, 2023
I think that NIL should not be allowed in college unless there are certain changes made to include more people. According to the article, less than one percent of college athletes would receive these large money-making deals from sponsors, which is clearly not inclusive at all. Because that fewer than one percent are the best of the best they are going to go to the school where they will make the most money. For example, because of NIL football schools like Alabama, Ohio State, Georgia, USC, and Michigan; giving them even more of an advantage when it comes to recruiting and actually playing the game.
My other problem with these sponsorship deals is that almost all of the deals will be within the realm of football and basketball, the two biggest sports in college. The article states, “A vast majority of deals reward the top players on the nationally competitive teams in two sports: football and men’s basketball.” This would make every other sport feel way less important than the other two. And while those two sports generate teh most money and most popularity there should still be a lot more NIL deals for other sports like baseball, swimming, soccer, and gymnastics.
Finally, I think it is bad for all of the athletes to incorporate NIL deals within all colleges. I think this because they could become way too money-oriented when in their college days. I think that it’s important for these players to be like everyone else money-wise, but if they all get these deals then they will get way more money than other students/athletes, making them feel even better than others.