NIL Go approves nearly $80 million in payments to athletes, who is left behind?
The new College Sports Commission has approved deals worth nearly $80 million since its inception on June 11. Over 8,300 students have submitted third-party deals to the commission for approval since the “pay for play” era began, with some worth more than $1.6 million.
The system to approve name, image and likeness contracts between college athletes and third-party companies must approve any deal over $600. It has rejected 332 deals so far, 75 of which have been resubmitted, the commission said.
Deals have been rejected for various reasons, including failing to provide the correct information, contradictory deal terms or not providing a “valid business purpose” for the deal, which is a requirement under the House vs. NCAA landmark settlement.
Why was the commission created?
The NIL Go platform and the College Sports Commission were established as part of the House settlement, which enables schools to pay athletes directly while also providing them with opportunities to earn money from outside groups, such as collectives or other private businesses.
Ohio State University Athletic Director Ross Bjork spoke about the constant arms race of NIL at the Bloomberg Power Player Conference in New York on Thursday. Third-party deals, he said, are essential because the university can only pay $20.5 million directly to athletes.
“So is $18 or $20.5 million enough? No. The answer is no. Because again, it’s all about what are they doing over here? What’s this program doing? How is this person now taking their apparel contract?” Bjork said. “Because those have been in the news lately, and then redeploying that towards NIL above and beyond the cap. It has to go through the system and has to go through the clearing house. It has to meet those standards that are part of the settlement, so now we’re all going through this analysis.”
Which sports receive the money?
Those third-party deals are expected to increase exponentially in the next year. More than 28,000 athletes and 1,200 school administrators registered for NIL Go in the first six weeks. Those athletes added more than 3,000 designated agents to the system. And 658 student-athletes and 507 school administrators log on to NIL Go in an average week.
There is no data available at this stage outlining which sports facilitate the most outside NIL deals. It’s safe to assume that Power 4 football and basketball lead the way. Does that mean Olympic sports and others that are less popular are being left behind? Martin Jarmond, the athletic director at UCLA, where the Olympic village will be located in 2028, believes something has to change.
“Is there going to be a cliff with Olympic sports?” Jarmond said. “I don’t see that obviously at UCLA, but I do worry about as a whole our Olympic movement if we don’t figure out a better way to fund Olympic sports, because that’s the issue. The issue is the funding model for Olympic sports, and I think that’s got to adjust.”
What will the future of NIL look like?
Athletic departments can influence third-party deals through their marketing and collective efforts. However, administrators ultimately have no control over which athletes receive money from an outside source as long as the college sports commission approves it.
The CSC has said its “deal flow reports” will be updated regularly. Bjork believes the numbers will be staggering.
“Nobody can sit up here in today’s world and say you don’t need the money,” Bjork said. “Everybody needs capital. Everybody needs money. We’re all trying to churn and burn through this new era of what it looks like to keep investing and support your athletes.”
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Ella Rae Greene, Editor In Chief
