College athletes are now allowed by the NCAA to profit off of their name, image and likeness. Here’s the key thing you’re missing …
College Football Daily Cavalcade: The NCAA allows players to profit off of NIL
– Contact/Follow @ColFootballNews & @PeteFiutak
Sorry if this take sucks, it’s not my fault …
The NCAA just ate everyone’s lunch and made them think they’re full.
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Basically, this means Reggie Bush wasn’t actually history’s greatest monster.
With over 20 states and counting passing laws and rules allowing college athletes the ability to profit off of their name, image, and likeness – unfortunately abbreviated to NIL – the NCAA changed its lifelong stance on amateurism and decided it’s now kosher for the student-athletes to – within certain boundaries – make money and get benefits for being who they are.
And the NCAA managed to sound magnanimous about it.
All three @NCAA divisions adopt interim name, image and likeness policy:
— Inside the NCAA (@InsidetheNCAA) June 30, 2021
The governing body of college athletics – okay, sort of, but whether or not the NCAA really does have the authority to rule like it does is a thing for another day – will now go by whatever the NIL rules each state has or will put in place, mainly because it was going to happen anyway.
Throw in the 9-0 Supreme Court ruling that the NCAA couldn’t restrict athletes from receiving education-related benefits – punctuated by a scathing rebuke from Justice Brett Kavanaugh – and it might seem like this is a wee bit of a rough patch for the kids in Indy.
You think the NCAA just lost? You think the NCAA just conceded? You think this is the beginning of the evil empire’s downfall?
Bless your heart.
The NCAA might have fallen assbackwards into this situation, but it just pulled off an all-timer of a business model win.
Let me ask you this, with the allowing of student-athletes to profit off of their name, image and likeness, does the NCAA actually have to pay college athletes? Nope.
Do the schools have to pay college athletes? Nope. EVERYTHING is adamantly the same when it comes to colleges being able to directly pay players or incoming recruits. That’s still a no-no.
Does the NCAA have to deal with the impossibly sticky Title IX issue of having to pay the same amount and give the same benefits to female athletes as they do the males? Nope – at least not yet.
Are the college athletes able to unionize? Nope – at least not yet. (That, by the way, would be the potential death blow. Once they figure out the legal way to do that, everything changes.)
Does the NCAA, or do the schools, have to give anything they don’t already provide to the backup punter on the friendly neighborhood MAC program near you? Nope.
Does the NCAA, or do the schools, have to give anything they don’t already provide to the Heisman-caliber quarterback or the first round NFL Draft pick on the defensive front? Nope.
Now try out these two key questions.
Do the NCAA and schools lose any revenue whatsoever from what they’re already bringing in? Nope, and in fact, this likely has the opposite effect with several cash-strapped star college athletes likely to stick around a little longer rather than turn pro early. That ties into this …
Are the players about to be paid, promoted, and marketed by others without the NCAA and the schools having to drop a dime? Yup.
And you think the NCAA might be losing here? It just pulled off a miracle.
The NCAA just 1) advanced its brand, 2) increased its power and relevancy, 3) kept its revenue stream, 4) avoided having to pay the athletes – aka The Labor – 5) got anyone and everyone else to pay for The Labor, 6) will generate more revenue because of that, and 7) …
WON.
Best of all for the NCAA and the colleges, the ball will be kicked off on Saturday, August 28th, and to John Q. Fan the whole NIL debate will be a non-factor.
Okay, agents. Time to go to work.
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