NIL has had a massive impact on college sports, especially college football. NIL stands for name, image, and likeness that allows college athletes to profit from their popularity. This has been good for athletes, but not as great for the schools. College athletes graduating from high school used to pick a school based on their location, program, football team, and chances of making the NFL. Now, athletes are going wherever they can make the most money. College football and the NCAA have always prided themselves on the purity of the sport and players playing for the love of the game. It has now become all about money.
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This has also expanded to the transfer portal. Other schools and companies can offer more money if a player is upset with their playing time or situation. It has turned into free agency but into college football. The coaches don’t like this at all because they are losing their guys and losing control over the situation. It is great that college football players can make a lot of money from their name, but it has affected the purity of the sport, and players are leaving school after every year.
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Some top college football athletes make a couple of million dollars off their NIL, and some athletes aren’t making as much as they would like. Location also plays a large part in NIL. Top colleges in larger markets like California and New York have more money to give to their players. Cheating is a huge issue that can also occur under NIL. Under-the-table deals are what they call it. Programs will pay athletes a couple extra hundred thousand dollars to come to their school and play for their football team and say that this extra money was part of their NIL deal. It is hard to prove programs guilty of this. It puts the NCAA in a sticky position.
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Unethical issues can arise, and outside forces can take advantage of student-athletes. Remember that these are 17 and 18-year-old kids becoming millionaires. Most of the time, these kids have no idea about money and don’t have the correct advice they need. Athletes make so much money for schools, and I favor them getting paid. Issues must be addressed or college football will operate like the NFL, and college football fans don’t want that.
