NIL is changing college sports tremendously, and the culture we know and love will never be the same. In June 2021, the NCAA implemented a policy on NIL (name, image and likeness), permitting college student-athletes to earn money from their personal brand. Although opinions on NIL are mixed, one thing is for sure: the business and profitability of college athletics are starting to flourish.
Caitlin Clark, a popular WNBA player who attended the University of Iowa, had reportedly secured an estimated $3.4 million in NIL deals before ever stepping foot on a professional court. On the other hand, Texas A&M’s 2022 football recruiting class was the best in the country through the utilization of NIL. Wealthy alumni created boosters that would pay the players using NIL, but the team underperformed, finishing 5–7, resulting in the transfer of many recruits in the following season.
These examples reflect the positive and negative impact NIL can have on players and programs, but how do the fans feel?
Ethan Kervella ’26, a lifetime college sports fan, shared his opinion on NIL’s cultural effect: “Conferences like the Big and Pac 12 are being wiped away as a result of NIL and I don’t see the same matchups that I used to watch as a kid and I think if the people that make these decisions had a sports background rather than just knowing about the business aspect, the tradition of college sports could be better preserved because they would know what should be changed and what shouldn’t.”
College sports wouldn’t exist without their passionate fans, but the players are the driving force that brings the game to life.
Marty McGinity ’28 shared his own perspective as a Loyola football athlete: “I think NIL is needed for athletes to survive, even if they don’t play after college. They’re performing at a higher level and would need to pay for more things.”
McGinity and Kervella are prime examples of the two sides to this argument. Although the players should be paid their increased, fair share, NIL is turning college sports into a business, which diminishes the magic of the sports.
This year’s March Madness saw fewer upsets than any year before, causing outrage within college basketball. This is partly due to the dominance of NIL in college basketball, which, in 2019, resulted in zero transfers to 13–16 seeded schools and 58 transfers from lower-seeded schools to 1–4 seeded schools.
NIL has pushed talented athletes to transfer from lower-tier to higher-tier schools in return for cash compensation.
NIL has had both positive and negative effects on college sports, but it isn’t worth risking the culture and tradition of college sports for financial gain. Money may be the short-term solution, but culture is forever-lasting.
