A How-To Guide and What-To-Know About NIL Payments for Student Athletes

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A How-To Guide and What-To-Know About NIL Payments for A How-To Guide and What-To-Know About NIL Payments for

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Calla Malone

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A How-To Guide and What-To-Know About NIL

Payments for Student Athletes

Calla Riley Malone

Advisor: Prof. Kim Petrone

An Honors Thesis in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree Bachelor of

Science in Business Administration in Accounting

Sam M. Walton College of Business

University of Arkansas

Fayetteville, Arkansas

May 8, 2021

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Introduction, Exact Rules, and New Legislation 3

Tax 5

Marketing/Building Their Brand 6

Being Smart with Their Money 7

Athlete Approval 9

Ethical Implications 11

Possible Conflict Among Players 12

Will School Still Come First? 13

Arkansas Athletic Department (specifically) 14

Opinion 14

Appendix 15

Works Cited 18

INTRODUCTION, EXACT RULES, AND NEW LEGISLATION

Due to a probable change in legislation that will allow college athletes to receive third

party compensation for their name, image, and likeness, Paige Bueckers, UConn’s star basketball

player, is projected to make $600,000 as a college athlete (see Appendix B) (Planos,

FiveThirtyEight). While she’s projected to be the single highest earner, other college athletes can

possibly earn hundreds of thousands of dollars like her. This thesis is an evaluation of a variety

of aspects of the new Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) legislation (also known as the Right to

Publicity); a how-to guide and what-to-know with insight from people involved. Inside, there is

interviews from student athletes and those that work closely around them and information

everyone affected by this new legislation should know.

NCAA Bylaw 12.1.4 states what is impermissible to an individual once they are enrolled

full-time as a college athlete. “Following initial full-time collegiate enrollment, an individual's

participation in the following activities or receipt of the following benefits will jeopardize the

individual's amateur status and eligibility for intercollegiate participation in a particular sport”.

The Bylaw then lists activities a-r as impermissible activities (see Appendix A). A couple of the

rules standout as the most important and most well-known. For example, NCAA Bylaw 12.1.4

(a) states that the “use of athletics skills for pay in any form in that sport” is impermissible.

When people think about these rules, this is usually what comes to mind. The student athlete is

not allowed to use the sport they are currently playing at an NCAA school to get paid in any

way. Another one that stands out is NCAA Bylaw 12.1.4 (c) which states the “receipt of any

direct or indirect salary, gratuity, or comparable compensation for participation in athletics” is

impermissible (NCAA Legislation Database). This essentially means that student athletes aren’t

allowed to receive any sort of payment from anything that came about due to their participation

in an NCAA school athletic program. For example, Hunter Woodhall, a Paralympian and

University of Arkansas men’s track star, is well-known for his athletic career. However, he is

also well-known for his social media presence and clothing company Giant Hoodies. With the

above mentioned rule in mind, Woodhall is allowed to receive payment for anything related to

Giant Hoodies, but he isn’t allowed to receive any compensation on social media that has to do

with him being an NCAA athlete.

In October 2019, InsideHigherEd.com reported that the NCAA voted unanimously “to

direct the association’s three divisions to “modernize” their rules and allow athletes to enter into

contracts with corporations and other parties to receive compensation for their personal brand or

celebrity.” Though the NCAA overwhelmingly wants change, the association is clear that they

don’t want this change to affect the collegiate model. They absolutely do not want students to be

paid by their schools. As of now, the “modernization” is directed only towards the opportunity

for athletes to be paid by third parties. “According to the NCAA, bylaws must enforce that

schools treat athletes similarly to students who are not athletes with limited exceptions, prioritize

academics and prohibit schools from directly paying college athletes for use of their name,

image, and likeness. While athletes can enter into contracts for merchandise and endorsements,

they cannot be paid for participation or performance of their collegiate sport, the guidelines say.”

The NCAA also wants to make sure “divisions will need to be transparent about rule changes

and uphold diversity and gender equality, and there must be a distinction made between college-

level and professional payment opportunities” (Anderson, Inside Higher Ed).

In the InsideHigherEd.com article, the author writes “The guidelines also state that

bylaws should “protect the recruiting environment” from being corrupted by third parties --

players cannot be coerced into attending or transferring institutions for a sponsorship. This is

intended to address concern among college athletics leaders and personnel who believe allowing

athletes to benefit from their name, image, and likeness would welcome into collegiate athletics

nefarious agents or company representatives who could take advantage of players” (Anderson,

Inside Higher Ed). This is a major concern in college athletics due to the disadvantages that it

could bring to certain schools. Corruption was already an issue in the NCAA. For example,

Southern Methodist University was caught having boosters pay football players and they

received “the death penalty” which barred the team from competing. The bylaw change could

make it easier to persuade players to attend a certain school with promises of better payment

opportunities.

The decision to finally vote for third party payments to collegiate athletes for their NIL

“came after months of accelerating pressure on the NCAA from state and federal legislators.

More than a dozen states and two U.S. congressmen began to discuss bills this year to overrule

the association’s governance -- the NCAA currently bars athletes from competition if they are

found to be benefiting from their name, image or likeness.” Senators from multiple U.S. states

have introduced state and federal bills advocating for college athletes (Anderson, Inside Higher

Ed).

California was one of the first states that introduced new legislation regarding name,

image, and likeness payments for college athletes. According to James Moore CPA and

Consultants, “California believes it has a compromise in the Fair Pay to Play Act. This new law

allows student-athletes to make money off of their name, image, and likeness. It does not,

however, require schools to give athletes a cut of the revenues generated by sports programs”

(Davis, James Moore).

A new federal bill was introduced February 4

, 2021 that pushes for unrestricted NIL

endorsements for NCAA athletes, according to ESPN.com:

The bill, co-authored by Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Connecticut) and Rep. Lori

Trahan (D-Massachusetts), is the latest in a series of proposed national laws that

aim to help college athletes make money and reform a multi-billion-dollar college

sports industry that several members of Congress believe is fundamentally unfair.

This proposal is the only option to date that doesn't provide any means for

Congress, the NCAA or any other governing body to regulate what products

athletes can endorse.

The new bill also specifically prohibits the NCAA or conferences from doing

anything that would prevent athletes from organizing under collective

representation to sell their licensing rights as a group. This type of group licensing

is typically needed to bargain for media rights, jersey sales and items like video

games, such as the college football video game that EA Sports announced its plan

to revive earlier this week. (Murphy, ESPN)

In late 2020, U.S. Senators Cory Booker (D-NJ), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Kirsten

Gillibrand (D-NY), and Brian Schatz (D-HI) introduced the College Athletes Bill of Rights.

According to booker.senate.gov, this “groundbreaking legislation will change the landscape of

college sports and protect and expand the rights of college athletes. The College Athletes Bill of

Rights will guarantee fair and equitable compensation, enforceable health and safety standards,

and improved educational opportunities for all college athletes.” Senator Booker, who played

tight end for the Stanford University football team, says he “[knows] firsthand that college sports

can open doors of opportunity that most young people never knew existed—but the unfortunate

reality is that the NCAA is also exploiting college athletes for financial gain.” Booker then goes

on to state “under its current operation, the NCAA is preventing college athletes from earning

any meaningful compensation and failing to keep the athletes under its charge healthy and safe,

and that needs to change” (Booker, Cory Booker).

“While a national NIL bill seems many months away and the NCAA’s own legislation is

delayed, the states are taking matters into their own hands”, writes SI.com. “At least a half-dozen

states—Mississippi, Iowa, New York, Maryland, Alabama and New Mexico—are inching

toward passing bills relatively soon. The Magnolia State, in fact, is on pace to adopt NIL

legislation by the end of the month, poised to join six other states that have previously passed

NIL laws: California, Florida, Colorado, Nebraska, New Jersey and Michigan” (Dellenger,

Sports Illustrated). While this is a huge step forward, there is still much more that will happen

with NIL legislation in the years to come.

After doing all this research, I was shocked to learn that this new legislation hasn’t hit the

federal level yet. When I first chose this topic, I had read a little bit about it and thought that the

changes had already been made. Huge changes are being made and there are more to come. New

legislation is being introduced every week. It’s clear that there is a large group of people who

think the NCAA needs to allow NIL payments for college athletes.

TAX

According to James Moore CPAs and Consultants,

Under current tax law, individuals receiving income from any arrangement

involving use of their name, image or likeness must report that compensation as

income on their personal federal tax returns. This includes not only cash but also

the fair market value of items or services received. For example, an athlete given

use of a car for one year from a local dealership for appearing in their

commercials must report the value of that usage as income.

As with any other taxpayer, a return must be filed if the athlete makes at least

$400 of self-employment earnings in the tax year. The standard deduction

($12,200 in 2019) also applies, so athletes earning less than that amount will not

owe federal income tax. However, self-employment tax is still on the table— an

additional 15.3% tax on top of the income tax. This applies even if the athlete

doesn’t owe federal income tax.

Because the IRS looks at net income from these activities, athletes could take

some deductions. This is limited to costs directly related to the income-generating

work, such as travel expenses, supplies purchased, vehicle mileage, etc.

(Expenditures covered by the student-athlete’s school would not qualify for

deduction) (Davis, James Moore).

Grayce Spangler, a University of Arkansas women’s basketball player, gets paid a

stipend every month through her scholarship to pay for rent, groceries, utilities, etc. This

payment has never been taxed before. Spangler did say that she had a teammate from Africa who

got her stipend taxed (Spangler, Personal Interview). During my interview with Professor JaLynn

Thomas, a tax professor at the University of Arkansas, Thomas said that the paying of athletes

will most likely be under royalty income or self-employment income. Royalty is intangible

income similar to investment income which isn’t considered salary. It is tied to what the athletes

do. The royalty on athletes, however, will be taxed differently than a usual royalty. According to

Professor Thomas, the student athletes’ earnings will most likely be considered self-employment

income. Social media posts and personal appearances would be treated as a separate business and

that would be self-employment (Thomas, Personal Interview).

When filing your taxes, if you’re employed, you pay 7.65% withholdings, and your

employer pays 7.65% withholdings. However, if you’re self-employed you have to pay both

which is 15.3% withholding. This is called self-employment tax. Professor Thomas estimates

that the athletes getting paid will fall into the 12% - 22% tax bracket which takes 37% (including

the self-employment tax) of their money right off the top. Self-employment tax plus the regular

tax rate is the tax rate they must pay. Additionally, when someone is self-employed, they are

required to send a payment to the government every 3 months as well as file their own tax

returns. Professor Thomas said the athletes should acquire CPAs, attorneys, etc. to help them

with all of this and believes the schools these athletes attend will help teach them and get them in

touch with the necessary people (Thomas, Personal Interview).

At the end of every year, the student athletes will receive a 1099 statement from the

company they marketed for. A 1099 statement reports earnings from self-employment income.

This will aid the athletes when filing their taxes and for example, if they are filling out a

Schedule C form for a personal appearance, they have the exact amount paid, who paid them,

etc. from the 1099 statement (Thomas, Personal Interview).

In an article from InsideHigherEd.com, Senator Richard Burr, a Republican from North

Carolina, states “if the NCAA allows college athletes to be paid through sponsorships, he [will]

introduce a bill that subjects athletes' scholarships to income taxes. He said the legislation would

apply to athletes who decide to participate in third-party compensation.” Representative Mark

Walker tweeted out a response to Senator Burr posting “If scholarships are income, that makes

them employees, not student-athletes. This isn’t about income. It’s about basic rights that every

other American has to their own name. #StudentAthleteEquity” (Anderson, Inside Higher Ed).

MARKETING/BUILDING THEIR BRAND/AGENTS

Social media will take on the biggest role in building an athlete’s brand. It is the fastest

way to become well-known by the largest number of people. Consumers are on social media at

all hours of the day. Chase Claypool, a rookie wide receiver for the Pittsburgh Steelers, joined

TikTok in October of 2020 and has already amassed a following of 1.4 million people. Due to

this, Chase has becoming extremely popular among sports fans and non-sports fans alike. This

has brought him brand deals with companies like Snickers and Jordan Brand. It’s true that he

would’ve been a semi well-known figure just due to being an NFL athlete, but now he’s known

all-around the world and is beloved by fans of all sports teams, not just his.

The power of social media is real. Once an athlete can market themselves on social

media, they will skyrocket in popularity. Plus, social media is a time to showcase individuality

and basically show-off. If the athlete wants people to know they volunteer at charity events a lot,

then they can post about it all the time. Ezekiel Elliott, running back for the Dallas Cowboys,

always posts when he is doing events with the Salvation Army or hosting football camps for

kids. Due to this, he is seen as a charitable person.

Another example of social media being powerful is shown through the Auburn basketball

team. More specifically, the bench players. The Auburn basketball team bench has a TikTok

with a following of over 97,000 and they’ve collaborated with the NBA on TNT show, Charles

Barkley, and Madison Prewett from The Bachelor. With these new changes, it’s likely that only a

small percentage of the student athletes from every school will have the opportunity to receive

payments for NIL. However, the Auburn Bench TikTok has made the bench players so popular

that they will most likely be given those opportunities as well.

Will this legislation lead the way to brand deals like shoes and sports drinks for college

athletes? As soon as Zion Williamson became eligible to make money, he signed a shoe deal

with Jordan Brand. Clutchpoints.com wrote in an article, “in 2019 before ever playing a single

[NBA] game, Zion inked a deal reportedly worth $75 million dollars through 7 years, to be a

member of the Jumpman family” (Salao, ClutchPoints). Is there a possibility that a star college

player could get a similar deal while still being a student athlete?

Student athletes are required to sign a bunch of papers (i.e., contracts, etc.). In an

interview, Grayce Spangler talked about the HIT (Hogs In Transition) course that all student

athletes take that is required by the athletic department. In this course, the athletes are taken

through their contract and specifically told what they can and cannot do (Spangler, Personal

Interview). It’s a huge perk that the University of Arkansas has this course because I can’t

imagine how tough it is to understand a contract you signed when you’re 18 years old. The hope

is that all athletic programs have this kind of course or something similar in place. If not, I can

see student athletes signing away certain things that they don’t know about. Does this lead the

way for the possibility of allowing agents to make sure the athletes are being represented well?

Callie Conway, the Director of On-Campus Recruiting for the Arkansas Razorbacks football

team, believes there will be some sort of representation provided to the athletes, whether it’s

through the school or an outside company (Conway, Personal Interview).

Social media is such a huge part of the world now that anyone can market themselves as

long as they have an account and a strategy. Some student athletes will figure out how to build

their brand on their own, but there will definitely be a need for someone to help those who don’t.

My hope is that the schools will provide these experts for their student athletes.

BEING SMART WITH THEIR MONEY

Knowing how to handle an influx of money will be difficult for some athletes. The hope

is that each institution will provide the necessary people to help collegiate athletes. However, if

this is not the case, here are some financial tips for college athletes once they earn their money.

From interviews with legends like Shaquille O’Neal, these athletes can learn how to use their

money with long-term ideas in mind instead of short-term.

According to Business Insider, star NFL tight end Rob Gronkowski retired with his entire

NFL career earnings ($54 million). Gronkowski told Business Insider that he only lived off

endorsement earnings. “He followed a simple rule: keep it simple by saving surplus money”.

Gronkowski saved every penny he made from the NFL and only spent his surplus income from

commercials, endorsements, brand deals, etc. This allowed him to retire comfortably and not

spend his career earnings unwisely (Hoffower, Business Insider).

In an interview with Business Insider, NBA Hall of Famer and legend Shaquille O’Neal

details the time when he spent a million dollars in one day. He bought 3 cars, diamond rings,

TVs, and more. The next day, his bank manager called him and said that professional athletes get

a lot of money but once their career is over, they are left with nothing because they blow it all

and I don’t want you to be one of those guys. That day, Shaq hired a money manager and has

since become smarter with his money (Flanagan, Business Insider). In an interview with CNBC,

one of Shaq’s financial tips is to save 75% of what you earn and spend 25% as you please.

Throughout the whole interview, Shaq harps on saving. “Save, save, save” is his advice for

managing money (White, CNBC).

Grayce Spangler, a member of the Arkansas women’s basketball team, has a full ride

scholarship at the University of Arkansas. Through this scholarship, she has her tuition paid in

full and gets paid a little extra on the side for room and board. Every month she receives a

check. Student athletes who live on campus are given $4,000 a year to pay for food, etc. Student

athletes who live off campus are given $11,000 a year to pay for rent, utilities, groceries, etc.

Since they are busy with their sport, they are unable to hold jobs to pay for necessities like this,

so this is how they pay for it. Spangler said that some student athletes send some of the money

they receive to their families to help out at home. Freshman year, it was hard for Spangler to

budget the $4,000 she received because she had never had her own money before. She was given

$400 a month and would spend it all almost immediately. Luckily, the women’s basketball

program has a person on staff who is there solely to help make sure athletes are budgeting

correctly (Spangler, Personal Interview).

A CNBC article discussing a famous wealth manager of superstar athletes states a

professional athlete “[needs] an enthusiastic, supportive and trustworthy individual to guide them

when it comes to their personal finances, especially as most are overwhelmed with the sport and

don’t have time to properly manage their money” (Booth, CNBC).

According to Joe McLean, wealth manager of superstars in the NBA, NFL, PGA,

MLB and NASCAR, when it comes to professional athletes, “the commonality is

that with great abundance comes less discipline.”

McLean is the founder of financial services firm Intersect Capital, which

specializes in servicing the unique financial planning needs of business owners,

entrepreneurs, athletes, and entertainers.

A three-bucket strategy:

To become financially secure, McLean requires that all his athletes fill three

buckets. “There’s a safety and security bucket, which is an entire season’s worth

of cash to support your fixed costs.” If a player owns a home, this strategy

includes a plan to pay it off before the end of the [contract]. Finally, “life

insurance or things you have to do to take care of yourself goes in that safety and

security bucket,” he said.

Once the athlete has filled that, McLean then moves on to the growth bucket.

“This teaches people that cash is not king but cash flow is king. How are you

going to create income that will come to you when all of these checks stop

coming? That may be teaching about diversification and what dividend-paying

stocks are, what type of income-producing real estate you can be in, what are tax-

free bonds. We start filling that bucket to produce income that they can live off

later.

The last bucket, he said, is the dream bucket. “That’s typically the second or third

car that they shouldn’t buy but they can, the second home, or if they want to go

out and be an entrepreneur and learn about other businesses.” (Booth, CNBC)

Another resource for athletes could be found from current MBA programs. According to

Financial Times, there are MBA programs for professional athletes to improve their business

acumen and broaden their understanding of the business world. In a sense learning how to handle

money and go into business after playing their sport. In the article, New Orleans Saints

linebacker Demario Davis spoke about his experience with one of these programs. He “learns

alongside non-NFL students” and “studies during the offseason.” Davis “thinks [it’s] important

to have a broad understanding of business to make the most of the opportunities available to

players. “You are your brand, you are your business,” he says”. Programs like “Harvard Business

School’s semester-long Crossover Into Business program for professional athletes follows a

2017 pilot, which paired 10 National Basketball Association players and recent retirees, who

wanted to improve their business acumen, with MBA student mentors. Tuck School of Business

at Dartmouth College in [Hanover] will host 35 sportspeople in April for the third session of its

two-week Next Step: Transition to Business general management certificate program for elite

athletes and military veterans” (Youde, Financial Times). These programs are being provided for

professional athletes to transition to business. Why can’t there be a program for college athletes

on improving their business acumen?

ATHLETE APPROVAL

In an article from Bleacher Report, star NFL running back Adrian Peterson said he

believes college athletes should be paid. Peterson spoke to Bob Goessling of ESPN.com:

They're trying to make basketball players go two years in college. Wow. I wonder

why? Think about it -- just imagine if LeBron James had been in college for two

years. How much money would that college have made off LeBron James? They

would have made so much money off LeBron James. It's about the freedom to do

as you want and make your own decisions.

Nobody wants to live in the dorms for four years. You see the guys who are older,

and they have responsibilities. I feel like, as much money as universities make,

some of that should come down to the players, as well. (Polacek, ESPN)

According to The Washington Post, LeBron James is a huge advocate for college athletes

getting paid for their NIL. If LeBron would’ve gone to college, he would’ve attended Ohio State

University. In the article, he says this:

“That No. 23 jersey would have gotten sold all over the place without my name

on the back, but everybody would have known the likeness,” James told reporters

at Lakers practice Monday as he imagined a pit stop in Columbus. “My body

would have been on the 2004 NCAA basketball video game. And the

Schottenstein Center would have been sold out every single night if I was there.

Me and my mom, we didn’t have anything. We wouldn’t have been able to

benefit at all from it. The university would have been able to capitalize on

everything.” (Golliver, The Washington Post)

Many former college athletes advocate for NIL payment opportunities for collegiate

athletes. In 2016, current and former college athletes received money for the first time due to

their likeness being profited on. This money came from a settlement in the case of O’Bannon v.

NCAA (Solomon, CBS Sports). In July 2009, former “UCLA basketball star Ed O’Bannon and

thousands of former Division I men’s basketball and football players alleged that the NCAA, its

members, and its commercial partners violated federal antitrust law by unlawfully foreclosing

former players from receiving any compensation related to the use of their names, images, and

likenesses in television broadcasts, rebroadcasts, and videogames” (United States District Court,

Northern District of California, O’Bannon v. NCAA, Hausfeld). Many athletes were sent checks

once the lawsuit was settled and paid for the first time for their likeness being used without their

permission. In an article from CBS Sports, the NCAA chief legal officer Donald Remy said in

2014 “in no event do we consider this settlement pay for athletics performance” (Solomon, CBS

Sports). The EA Sports NCAA game was cancelled due to this lawsuit but as of recent date, it is

being revived. This could be due to the new NIL legislation being voted on.

In 2016, SI.com issued a story about how the Northwestern University football team

almost unionized. Ramogi Huma, a former UCLA linebacker and founder/president of the

National College Players Association (NCPA), and Kain Colter, Northwestern’s starting

quarterback (at the time), had a plan to unionize the Northwestern football team. The pair’s

biggest concern when detailing why they were unionizing was issues with long-term healthcare

for athletes. In a press conference, Colter stated “the current model resembles a dictatorship,

where the NCAA places these rules and regulations on these students without their input or

without their negotiation” (Nocera and Strauss, Sports Illustrated).

Grayce Spangler welcomes this new legislation. She thinks that it will be a great triumph

for athletes who have earned the ability to profit off of their name, image, and/or likeness

(Spangler, Personal Interview). Callie Conway believes that this will help out student athletes a

lot. When asked if any coaches or athletic staff oppose the new legislation, she responded “if

they do, they will never admit it.” This change is a long time coming and it will only benefit

players, so for any coaches to be upset about it would be wrong (Conway, Personal Interview).

Many athletes from all different sports support the changes that are happening in the

NCAA. Through my research, I read and heard from coaches, players, recruiters, etc. and every

one of them agree that college athletes should be able to profit off of their NIL.

ETHICAL IMPLICATIONS

There will be student athletes that aren’t paid. This legislation will allow for the athletes

to get paid if their name, image, and/or likeness is used for profit. Not every athlete will have

their NIL used for profit, therefore they won’t receive any payments. This is fair because the

athletes that are paid earned their money. Universities like the University of Arkansas will most

likely have more student athletes earning money from NIL than schools such as UCLA or

Pittsburgh because the Razorbacks are all the state of Arkansas has when it comes to sports.

States like California or Pennsylvania have many professional sports teams that will more than

likely take up a lot of the advertising gigs. This will result in colleges like the University of

Arkansas most likely having a recruiting advantage over schools like UCLA. Another thought is

there will definitely be programs where no athletes will get paid at all. Small colleges in big

cities will probably go unseen by the masses so a company won’t want to make any sort of brand

deal or pay them for advertisements. Could this new recruiting advantage (i.e., better payment

opportunities at certain schools) lead to more corruption in the NCAA? As previously

mentioned, schools like Southern Methodist University have been given “the death penalty” for

paying players. There is a major possibility that these colleges will be able to use this new

legislation to pay players “legally”.

Is it ethical for coaches, athletic directors, schools, etc. to make money off of the players

while the players earn nothing? After Johnny Manziel won the Heisman Trophy in 2012, Texas

A&M University, where he was the quarterback, announced a record donation total of $740

million dollars in 2013. That was $300 million dollars more than the previous year’s donation

total. According to NFL.com, The Chancellor of Texas A&M, John Sharp, credited Manziel for

the new influx of donations, saying “[when] you have a young man like our quarterback who has

been a media magnet and you have the success you have, I do think that euphoria does spill over

into success in fundraising” (Goodbread, NFL). This shows that an important reason A&M was

given more money was due to Manziel. Yet, he wasn’t given a single dime.

For example, the Duke men’s basketball program is one of the most famous and highly

watched teams in the country. In the 2019 season, Zion Williamson was the face of the team.

Only 18 at the time, he was posted on every Duke social media account, his face was on banners

that hung all over campus, and ESPN used his highlights to draw in viewers. Duke’s jersey sales

more than doubled the year Williamson was on the team and tickets for Duke road games went

up 200% (Dodson, Forbes). Since he was an NCAA athlete at the time, he got zero

compensation from any of this.

In 2019, James Wiseman, a freshman basketball player from the University of Memphis,

was punished by the NCAA because his family accepted $11,500 from Penny Hardaway, former

University of Memphis star player, to help Wiseman move to Memphis in 2017. Hardaway, at

the time, wasn’t a staff member at the University of Memphis and wasn’t paying Wiseman for

recruiting purposes but the NCAA deemed Hardaway a university booster due to his $1 million

donation to the university in 2008. Wiseman was ordered to pay back the $11,500 and suspended

12 games. However, he couldn’t pay that back because he was a normal college student who

didn’t have any money even though he was the face of the University of Memphis basketball

team. The NCAA rules are too strict and make it hard for their athletes to thrive given the

demands of the program. The full scholarship doesn’t pay for everything in terms of food, living,

and other costs. Some people argue that student athletes are getting paid in education but for

sports like basketball and football, these players aren’t 100% focused on their education. In

2006, the NBA made a new rule that states that players must be one year removed from high

school before they can enter the draft, so a lot of players go to college (Wojnarowski, ESPN).

This is the most popular option because it gives players a year of games, practice, and notability.

This is another rule that stops exceptional players from getting paid when they should. They

instead go to school for free and make no money when they could be signing multi-million dollar

brand deals and contracts.

Similarly, according to an SI.com article, in 1995 All-American UCLA linebacker

Donnie Edwards “told a local radio station that he didn’t have enough money to buy food.” A

few days later, there was a bag of groceries left by an agent on Edwards’ doorstep worth about

$150. The NCAA found out and Edwards was suspended for one game. “The suspension had a

profound impact on [Ramogi] Huma: UCLA could sell Edwards’s jersey in the campus

bookstore for $50, but he couldn’t afford dinner?” (Nocera and Strauss, Sports Illustrated). Is

that ethical?

I say no. It isn’t ethical for schools, faculty, and coaches to profit off players while the

students doing the hard work are not allowed to share in the profits. It’s not fair for student

athletes to have long days and jampacked schedules along with schoolwork and then be unable to

pay for their dinner. The changes that are happening are only beneficial to the players.

POSSIBLE CONFLICT AMONG PLAYERS

During my meeting with Callie Conway, she informed me that there wouldn’t be any

more jealousy than there already is. Jealousy is already a thing on every team. With the football

team in particular, players get interviewed and put in the spotlight quite frequently and there are

always players who believe they should be in that position. For example, Hudson Clark, a

redshirt freshman who plays cornerback for the team, had 3 interceptions in the Razorbacks win

against Ole Miss. Due to this, he received loads of attention and publicity the week after the

game. This attention is the same as the attention the players will receive with brand deals and

such. In Callie’s eyes, it’s no different (Conway, Personal Interview).

Grayce Spangler would agree with Callie. Before the NIL laws have been put in place,

there already is jealousy among the women’s basketball team. Chelsea Dungee, the star of the

team, is a projected top 5 pick in this year’s WNBA draft. She is targeted way more often than

the rest of her teammates when it comes to tv close ups, highlight reels, etc. Spangler said it

sometimes gives her teammates a negative attitude because they think they deserve some of that

attention just as much as Dungee does (Spangler, Personal Interview).

The evidence gathered from interviews suggests that yes, there is a possibility of conflict

among players if they are paid for their NIL. However, it won’t be much different from the

conflict already among these players. Jealousy stemming from playing time and media attention

is already happening on college sports teams. NIL payment opportunities could bring out more

jealousy, but it won’t change how the team acts with their players due to the familiarity of team

jealousy.

WILL SCHOOL STILL COME FIRST?

One issue I keep seeing pop in articles is that once athletes are paid, they won’t focus on

school as much anymore. Critics say that these athletes will essentially become “professionals”

once paid and won’t worry about doing well in school. This could be combatted by having a

GPA requirement to play or making class attendance mandatory.

In an article in the Chicago Tribune, the author argues against NCAA’s stance that

paying student athletes will disrupt their education:

There's no connection between cash in a player's hands - or a W-2 form in their

mailbox — and their ability to open a textbook or show up to class. But that hasn't

stopped the NCAA from making this case in the court of public opinion and, more

recently, in federal court.

The NCAA is telling Wilken that paying players would have "staggering and

destructive implications" for college sports — and for the educations of campus

athletes. "Maintaining amateurism," the organization says on its website, "is

crucial to preserving an academic environment in which acquiring a quality

education is the first priority."

How so? According to the NCAA, paid players would study less and play sports

more. As its former vice president Oliver Luck once explained, paychecks and the

"opportunity to do an autograph signing, or an endorsement" would "distract"

campus athletes from "what's really important, which is the educational

component."

Moreover, the NCAA asserts that permitting pay would make athletes less

integrated into their campus communities. If an "athlete was being paid and it

changed significantly their lifestyle," NCAA President Mark Emmert testified in a

previous federal antitrust case, "they probably would not be living in a residence

hall. They probably would not be eating in the cafeteria, they probably would not

be as — as active a member or participant in the life of a campus.” (Hruby,

Chicago Tribune)

Callie Conway believes this will be a positive change for the athlete’s education. There

has always been eligibility rules, but the eligibility rules will move over to “if you don’t have the

grades, you aren’t allowed to make the post.” She told me that the department is talking about

doing something like “if you have a certain GPA, you will get incentives” (Conway, Personal

Interview).

Grayce Spangler believes that attendance won’t be an issue when it comes to student

athletes. Every freshman athlete has to be checked into every single one of their classes. The

class checkers, usually athletic department staff, have every athletes’ schedule and makes sure

they attend every class. After freshman year, most athletes don’t have class checkers unless you

have a low GPA in which case you are still assigned one. Another way athletes will be able to

keep up with their studies is the team academic advisor. A perk of being a student athlete is that

you get to pick your classes before every other student. This allows the athletes to get the best

classes that work with their schedule (Spangler, Personal Interview). If promoting on social

media or anything like that becomes a big part of the athlete’s life, then I’m sure the academic

advisor will help them plan out their class schedule to best suit their activities.

ARKANSAS ATHLETIC DEPARTMENT (SPECIFICALLY)

I met with Callie Conway and spoke to her about the impending NCAA legislation.

Conway told me that the University of Arkansas has created a new Administrative AD position

to be the head of all things related to NIL. According to WholeHogSports.com, Hunter

Yuracheck, the University of Arkansas Athletic Director, and the University’s athletic

department has advertised for a new senior athletics director role that will “serve as a facilitator

for athletes in their personal branding.” “The position will be called a senior associate athletic

director for athlete brand development and inclusive excellence” (Murphy, WholeHogSports).

According to Callie Conway, this new position will entail things like setting up informative

classes for the athletes (for example: how to network yourself on and off social media). She also

said that the athletes will need some sort of representation whether provided by the university or

through an outside company. Conway mentioned that the NCAA could also pass legislation that

has to do with the athletes being able to hire agents (Conway, Personal Interview).

Callie Conway said that she believes social media will be the biggest part in all of this.

Most athletes will get deals to do brand-sponsored Instagram or TikTok posts rather than

commercials. She told me she thinks it will help out the female athletes a lot because they are

better at social media management compared to the male athletes (Conway, Personal Interview).

A lot of athletes won’t be affected by this legislation. Doug Case, the men’s track coach

at the University of Arkansas, told me that he only knows of one athlete in particular who will

affected by this: Hunter Woodhall. Woodhall is a Paralympian and track athlete at the University

of Arkansas as well as a strong social media personality. He’s well-known for his TikTok and

YouTube channel. With the NCAA’s rules before this new legislation, its made it difficult for

Woodhall to post anything related to Arkansas track without making sure it doesn’t break any

rules (Case, Personal Interview).

Grayce Spangler has been approached by different brands and companies to post paid ads

on social media and to promote their products. With the current laws, Spangler isn’t allowed to

accept these offers due to her contract with the school. She won a half-court shot raffle at a high

school basketball game and couldn’t collect the prize money of $150 because she was “using her

sport to make money” (Spangler, Personal Interview).

I’ll be interested to see how the University of Arkansas handles these changes and how

involved the new administrative athletic director in charge of NIL is with the whole process. The

University has many marketable athletes from Woodhall to Moses Moody, a Razorback

basketball player and projected top-10 NBA draft pick. The university will have a lot of work cut

out for them, but it seems like all of their moves so far have been headed in the right direction.

OPINION

One reason cable giants like ESPN still pay for the rights to broadcast college games is

the players. College athletes are some of the hardest working people in this country. College is

hard enough but adding travel, practices, and games to the already rigorous course load is

sometimes too much to handle. I believe that athletes should be compensated but not as many

would think. Personally, I think college athletes should be allowed to financially benefit if their

NIL is used for profit either from a company, their school, or the NCAA. I don’t think college

athletes should be paid a direct salary by the school. The schools have an approach to provide

benefits based on expected contributions and skill-level in the form of scholarships, dorm

options, coverage of meal plans, etc.

If schools paid athletes a regular salary, it would create a few problems that would be

very difficult to solve. First, some schools have more money to spend than others so some

athletes might choose schools based on payment alone instead of the program itself. Second,

colleges get most of their athletic revenue from football and basketball. Does this mean they

should pay the football and basketball players more than the soccer and volleyball players? It’s a

tough question to answer and one many colleges would have to resolve. Third, if colleges paid

every single athlete a lot of schools would accumulate debt because of how many players they

would have to pay. These are valid arguments considering programs are dependent on the

revenue they get from athletics and this new expense would mean a huge additional expense to

the budget. My position is that college athletes should be compensated if they are personally

being used to promote university athletics for profit. In conclusion, I don’t think student athletes

should be paid directly from their schools as a sort of salary or income. Now, if the student’s NIL

is used for profit such as a banner hanging around school that is meant to bring in people to buy

tickets then I think the school should pay them for their NIL being used. If they are asked to

promote a product on social media or make an appearance at an event then they should be

allowed to receive compensation from that company. Every student is allowed to get paid for

their NIL being used except if that student is an athlete. It’s interesting that students who work

the hardest are deprived a right that ordinary students possess.

APPENDIX

(A)

(a) Use of Athletics Skill for Pay. Use of athletics skills for pay in any form in that sport.

(b) Acceptance of a Promise of Pay. Acceptance of a promise of pay even if such pay is to be

received following completion of intercollegiate athletics participation.

gratuity or comparable compensation for participation in athletics.

(d) Receipt of Any Division or Split of Surplus. Receipt of any division or split of surplus (e.g.,

bonuses, game receipts).

(e) Contract to Play Professional Athletics. Signing a contract or commitment of any kind to

play professional athletics, regardless of its legal enforceability or any consideration received.

(f) Receipt of Funds From a Professional Team. Receipt, directly or indirectly, of a salary,

reimbursement of expenses or any other form of financial assistance from a professional sports

organization based on athletics skill or participation, except as permitted by NCAA rules and

regulations.

(g) Competition on a Professional Team. Competition on any professional athletics team (per

Bylaw 12.02.6), even if no pay or remuneration for expenses was received.

(h) Agreement With or Benefits From an Agent. Entrance into an agreement with or receipt of

benefits from an agent.

(i) Educational Expenses.

(1) Receipt of educational expenses not permitted by the governing legislation of this

Association (see Bylaw 15 regarding permissible financial aid to enrolled student-athletes).

(2) Receipt of educational expenses provided to an individual by an outside sports team or

organization that are based in any degree on the recipient's athletics ability [except for financial

aid that is received from a team or organization that conducts a competitive sports program by an

individual who is not a member of that team or organization (see Bylaw 15.2.2.3)], even if the

funds are given to the institution to administer to the recipient.

(j) Receipt of Cash Award for Participation. Receipt of cash, or the equivalent thereof (e.g.,

trust fund), as an award for participation in competition at any time, even if such an award is

permitted under the rules governing an amateur, noncollegiate event in which the individual is

participating. An award or a cash prize that an individual could not receive under NCAA

legislation may not be forwarded in the individual's name to a different individual or agency.

(k) Expenses or Awards Not Permitted by Amateurism Rules Governing Events. Receipt of

expenses incurred or awards received by an individual that are prohibited by the rules governing

an amateur, noncollegiate event in which the individual participates.

(l) Expenses Above Actual and Necessary Expenses From Outside Amateur Sports Team or

Organization. Receipt of expenses from an outside amateur sports team or organization in

excess of actual and necessary travel, room and board expenses, and apparel and equipment (for

individual and team use only from teams or organizations not affiliated with member institutions,

including local sports clubs as set forth in Bylaw 13.11.2.4) for competition and practice held in

preparation for such competition. Practice must be conducted in a continuous time period

preceding the competition except for practice sessions conducted by a national team, which

occasionally may be interrupted for specific periods of time before the competition.

(m) Expenses From Nonpermissible Entities. Receipt of any expenses, including actual and

necessary expenses or any other form of compensation, to participate in athletics competition

(while not representing an educational institution) from an agent, representative of an

institution's athletics interests or professional sports organization. (Revised: 1/21/17)

(n) Unspecified or Unitemized Expenses. Payment to individual team members or individual

competitors for unspecified or unitemized expenses beyond actual and necessary travel, room

and board expenses for practice and competition.

(o) Payment Based on Place Finish. Any payment, including actual and necessary expenses,

conditioned on the individual's or team's place finish or performance or given on an incentive

basis, or receipt of expenses in excess of the same reasonable amount for permissible expenses

given to all individuals or team members involved in the competition.

(1) Exception -- Prize Money Based on Place Finish -- Individual Sports. In individual sports,

a student-athlete may receive prize money based on place finish or performance in an open

athletics event. The competition must occur outside the institution's declared playing season

during the institution's official vacation period. In addition, such prize money shall not exceed

the student-athlete's actual and necessary expenses and may be provided only by the sponsor of

the event. Actual and necessary expenses shall not include the expenses or fees of anyone other

than the student-athlete. (Adopted: 1/21/17)

(p) Prize for Participation in Institutional Promotional Activity. Receipt of a prize for

participation (involving the use of athletics ability) in a member institution's promotional activity

that is inconsistent with the provisions of Bylaw 12.5.

(q) Pay for Competition Involving Use of Overall Athletics Skill. Participation for pay in

competition that involves the use of overall athletics skill (e.g., "superstars" competition). (See

Bylaw 12.5.2.3.3 for exception related to promotional contests.).

(r) Preferential Treatment, Benefits or Services. Receipt of preferential treatment, benefits or

services because of the individual's athletics reputation, skill or pay-back potential as a

professional athlete, unless such treatment, benefits or services are specifically permitted under

NCAA legislation.

SOURCE: NCAA

(B)

TWITTER/INSTAGRAM

ATHLETE, SCHOOL

SPORT

TOTAL

FOLLOWERS

POST

VALUE

POTENTIAL

EARNINGS

Paige Bueckers, UConn

WBB

502,512

$20,962

$670,783

Trevor Lawrence, Clemson

CFB

578,027

11,371

454,855

Justin Fields, Ohio St.

CFB

525,058

12,721

407,087

Haley Cruse, Oregon

SOF

290,150

4,210

117,891

Anthony Edwards, Georgia

MBB

192,763

3,865

92,749

Obi Toppin, Dayton

MBB

70,102

1,589

50,832

Spencer Lee, Iowa

WRE

122,422

1,645

26,316

Dana Rettke, Wisconsin

VOL

25,475

438

12,251

TWITTER/INSTAGRAM

ATHLETE, SCHOOL

SPORT

TOTAL

FOLLOWERS

POST

VALUE

POTENTIAL

EARNINGS

Austin Martin, Vanderbilt

CBB

32,264

519

10,372

Rhyne Howard, Kentucky

WBB

12,439

268

6,441

Kendyl Lindaman, Florida

SOF

9,719

164

3,282

Yossiana Pressley, Baylor

VOL

9,550

158

3,165

Patrick Glory, Princeton

WRE

12,560

211

2,533

Spencer Torkelson, ASU

CBB

8,501

155

2,478

Catarina Macario, Stanford

WSOC

11,341

117

2,332

David Egbo, Akron

MSOC

1,923

495

Giovanni MontesDeOca, UNC

MSOC

1,200

355

Mikayla Colohan, BYU

WSOC

2,629

267

Numbers of total followers on Twitter and Instagram are as of May 13, 2020.

SOURCE: OPENDORSE

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