Last year, I wrote an article defending athletes and praising the NCAA on their decision to finally return the freedom to the young players of college sports on their new NIL policy. However, after a full year of college sports, the effects of this new policy have shed new light on the sport that so many fans love. Many fans are beginning to call what we are in the “NIL Era” of college sports. March Madness was dominated by Number One Seeds with the Final Four only being represented by these Number One Seeds. In light of this, the argument for freedom or entertainment continues in college sports. Have NIL deals now ruined college sports?
In simple terms, NIL deals are college student athletes’ ability to promote and profit from their self-image. NIL comes from the acronyms name, image, and likeness. NILs often come from. In these deals, players give companies and businesses the freedom to publicize their involvement in sports. In exchange, the player gains a profit or incentive from the business’s earnings. Nevertheless, since the introduction of college sports and advertisements, the ability to sign these deals as a college student was forbidden under no circumstances.
The NIL Era began late last year as eager fans awaited the newly introduced 12-seed bracket. Yet, as the tournament proceeded, fans quickly realized that only top-notch organizations with millions of dollars invested in young athletes were winning. Teams like the Texas Longhorns, and the Georgia Bulldogs dominated their way through smaller schools with far less spending under their budget. The fact remains that many fans of the sport watch the games because college athletics bring a different type of drive and passion for the game than the pro level does. College sports fan Andres Restrepo stated, “College students have a different youthful drive to the game than professional athletes do.” The students at this level are often playing for a spot in the next year’s draft. This youthful passion is something that isn’t seen. But when money is mixed into the equation, many athletes lose sight of this.
“When it came down to making my final decision, there were teams throwing money at me, this and that, trying to bribe me,” wide receiver T.J. Moore said last week. “But Clemson felt right. Clemson is what I was taught to like when I was a kid.”
Alongside the simple looks test of the athletes, the monopoly teams are beginning to take over the sport and are ruining the sport. After a heavily NIL-dominated College Football season, fans eagerly waited for this year’s March Madness. Out of all college events, the insanity of March almost always comes with smaller budget schools taking on the goliath that is these monopolies. However this year fans missed out on the seat-clenching feeling in March. With all 4 Final Four participants coming from number 1 seeds, the sport didn’t have the same effect. Although Florida and Houston put on a thriller show, there seemed to be something missing.
There are arguments to both sides and players should 100 percent be allowed to market themselves through branding. And there is no reason colleges and universities should market off a single athlete without compensation toward that athlete, but the chairman at the top of the NCAA is slowly watching their decisions come back and the domino effect of opening the gates of the NIL Deals.
