The pros and cons of NIL

👍 The good

The GIST: A lot of folks are fans of NIL — not just the Olivia Dunnes of the world. The money-making opportunities have brought about a lot of positive changes for student-athletes.

⚖️ Fair labor practices: NIL earnings are allowed because the U.S. Supreme Court, in Alston v. NCAA, ruled that the governing body’s previous restrictions on student-athlete earnings amounted to an antitrust violation. After all, if any other college student could profit off their NIL, why not athletes?

💪 Athlete empowerment: It’s no surprise that college students are typically broke, and that includes student-athletes — especially when team activities eclipse any time for a campus job. By earning NIL money, players can turn their sports participation into a financial asset while gaining valuable business experience.

That’s especially helpful in non-revenue sports, where full scholarships can be rare. Extra cash means athletes can save, alleviate family financial pressure, or chip away at their student loans.

📱 The content: Even NIL haters have to admit that it can be pretty dang cool to see college stars in brand campaigns. Whether doing so raises their profile before turning pro or simply helps them maximize their glory days — and bank accounts — before hanging up their cleats, the cultural impact of those ads is undeniable. Plus, it helps grow the game.

Case in point? The sports world’s current obsession: EA Sports College Football 25. The video game giant just dropped its first NCAA–themed game in 11 years, and it’s taken over social media.

A 2014 lawsuit halted college sports games because athletes understandably objected to non-compensated use of their NIL. But now that players have been paid to appear — those in CFB 25 banked $600 and a free copy — video games are back and bigger than ever.

👎 The bad

The GIST: For every NIL supporter, there are two angry people who say it’s ruining college sports — and even more who think it’s good at its core, but has spiraled out of control.

⚖️ Parity concerns: The NCAA’s richest programs have mind-boggling resources at their disposal via donor networks and NIL collectives, which makes luring less affluent schools’ players away with the promise of a major payday as easy as writing a check.

The jury’s still out on the true impact on parity, but there’s no denying that it’s turned recruitment into a financial arms race — one schools can’t afford to ignore as a competitive edge in football becomes more important than ever.

⏭️ Transfer-palooza: The transfer portal has negative side effects on its own, but adding NIL poured lighter fluid on the situation. Former Florida football recruit Jaden Rashada’s NIL tale is particularly dramatic — after an NIL deal fell through, he bailed on the Gators and is now suing for millions — but stories like his could become increasingly more common.

❓ Lack of education: Many athletes (who are still only 18 to 23 years old) report feeling vulnerable to manipulation in business deals because of their lack of experience, and most schools don’t offer enough educational resources on how to land and manage NIL contracts. Top stars often hire agents to help negotiate, but even those relationships can be exploitative.

👯 Interpersonal dynamics: Even most supportive locker rooms can become strained when one player is making NIL bank while her teammates don’t see a dime. And considering male athletes benefit from far more institutional support, women athletes could resent the gender imbalance, too.

🏆 The NIL Awards

The GIST: Like it or not, NIL is here to stay — and folks are certainly having fun with it. Here are the buzziest NIL deals of the last few years:

Caitlin Clark & Nike: It doesn’t get much cooler than the Swoosh’s activation around the Iowa women’s basketball alum’s record-breaking season last year. Never a long shot.

Paige Bueckers & Crocs: Few athletes have a wider portfolio of NIL deals than the superstar UConn hooper, but her footwear collab is perhaps her greatest fit.

Utah athletes & Utah Crimson Collective: The Utes’ collective brokered an agreement with a local car dealership to cover the leases and insurance payments on brand-new Dodges for women’s and men’s basketball players, women’s gymnasts, and all 85 scholarship football players. Gives a whole new meaning to the phrase “rolling with the homies.”

Caleb Williams & Dr. Pepper: This partnership earns a shoutout simply because of its ubiquitousness — you just couldn’t escape the 2022 Heisman–winning former USC quarterback’s Fansville commercials during last football season. He’s not even a little ’stitious.

Purchase, Moore, Hamann, and Bacon & Iowa Pork Producers Association: There’s no topping the deal Iowa State football players Myles Purchase, Tyler Moore, Tommy Hamann, and Caleb Bacon landed last season — until you learn that teammates Alec Cook and Zach Lovett later joined the campaign. *Oink, oink.*