By Pete Donovan, The Lott IMPACT Trophy
The most important letters in the world of sports today are not NFL or MLB or certainly not NCAA. Not even ESPN.
It’s NIL.
That’s Name, Image and Likeness. And is changing the landscape of college football like a thunderbolt.
The Supreme Court has ruled that collegiate athletes can now benefit financially from their Name, Image or Likeness.
Walla, Open the flood gates, here comes the money. Tons of it, barrels of it, truckloads of it,
EVERY athlete on EVERY team in EVERY university is hereby granted permission to join the free-market world of capitalism.
Maybe it’s not only flood gates opening, but also the proverbial can of worms.
There is nothing to prevent a billionaire booster of his favorite team from offering the hot shot high school quarterback a million dollars to work (wink) for his company, a job that would be attached to his other job – being a quarterback at good ol’ State U.
It’s a far-reaching and breathtaking ruling from the high court and the beleaguered NCAA has failed (again) to step in and place a much-needed cap on potential earnings from the athletes. The, er, student athletes.
And if you think, like I did originally, this financial windfall is only for the high profile athlete at the high profile school, think again.
One of the first endorsement deals to be announced came from Fresno! Twin girls (Haley and Hanna Cavinder) on the Fresno State basketball team will soon be cashing checks because they have large followings (estimated at 3.3 million) on various social media platforms.
From Michigan to Miami, boosters are stepping up to the bank window, offering money to potentially all players on the football teams.
In Alabama, who some may say is already a professional outfit, Nick Saban says one of his quarterbacks (who has yet to play a down) is approaching $1 million in endorsements.
One thing for sure, the ramifications of the ruling will change the landscape of college sports dramatically.