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The Huddle
Hello, everyone, and welcome back to The Huddle. This week, I’m talking about the pros and cons of Name, Image and Likeness (NIL) deals in sports.
The main sport affected by NIL deals is college football, and many fans are torn over them.
Looking at the pros first, there are several benefits to NIL deals, especially for the players. Universities have been making thousands — and sometimes millions — of dollars from players’ athletic performances, and the athletes deserve a piece of the pie.
It also provides athletes with some security in their careers. Let’s say (God forbid) a player suffers a career-ending injury. Everything they worked their entire life for vanishes in one play, and now they don’t even have a dime to show for something they worked so hard to achieve.
But let’s flip the coin and look at the cons of these NIL deals.
The biggest con is that it’s all a money game now. Whoever can pay the most money lands the best players, similar to free agency in the NFL.
Some of the top high school players still take the old-fashioned route, setting their sights on a school and trying to earn a scholarship. But others are only chasing the money, which creates another problem.
Let’s say a five-star recruit chooses a school that offers a lucrative NIL deal. The player arrives on campus, but the school soon realizes he isn’t as good as expected.
The school has invested thousands of dollars in a player who didn’t pan out and may feel obligated to play him because of that investment. It’s equally unfair to the athlete, who may feel pressure to live up to the dollar amount attached to his name instead of simply playing the game he loves and developing at a steady pace.
Lastly, and probably most importantly, NIL deals take away from college football. They take away one of the biggest draws of sports: competition on the field.
The richest schools will often get the best players. While there is still plenty of competition in college football, and the games remain exciting to watch, the competition is slowly moving away from the field and into the checkbooks.
