Chip: It's about time college athletes get paid for use of their name, image or likeness

BleedGopher

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per Chip:

Here’s how it could work:

If a local company wants Gophers receiver Rashod Bateman to pitch a product, he can get paid for it. If a company wants to pay All-America softball pitcher Amber Fiser to advertise on her social media account or make an appearance, show her the money.

Former Gophers wrestler Joel Bauman quit competition in 2013 after the NCAA ruled that he could not profit off his name as an aspiring music artist. It was ridiculous that the NCAA forced him to make a choice. Thankfully, athletes won’t be put in that position anymore.

It comes down to basic fairness. If every other student on campus can earn money doing those exact same things, why shouldn’t athletes be afforded the same opportunity?

The NCAA expressed concern about NIL being used as a recruiting tool and unscrupulous booster influence. News flash: That will happen. And guess what? Those outside influences happened before NIL, too. It will be nearly impossible to separate boosters and recruiting from a process that enables athletes to capitalize on their talent.

Unintended consequences undoubtedly will spring up, but allowing athletes to benefit from their names and images in a way that can be monitored by compliance offices (not an easy task, admittedly) will not become a boogeyman that ruins college sports.

“Even though I was on a full-ride scholarship, I didn’t have much money,” Maroney said. “If I was making $10,000 or $5,000, think about how much money I could have sent home to my family and my mom to pay her bills and make sure she’s straight.”

The NCAA said there will be no cap on earnings but also noted that compensation must be fair market value. Who’s to say what a fair market would have looked like for, say, Zion Williamson during his one season at Duke? If a company offered to pay him $100,000 to endorse a product, would the NCAA deem that excessive? If so, why? Based on what? The distinction between free market and rogue booster influence could become difficult to sanction. Realistically, third-party deals will be available to only a handful of athletes on campus. Endorsement opportunities are not in endless supply. The most likely avenue for athletes to earn money will be through social media, a digital frontier that is still hard for some of us old folks to comprehend. Athletes with large social media audiences bring value to marketers through engagement. Jim Cavale, CEO of a social media app called INFLCR that helps colleges and athletes build their brand, estimates that high-profile college athletes potentially can earn hundreds of thousands of dollars in this platform.


Go Gophers!!
 

I'm probably in the minority on this, but I see more problems than benefits with this approach.

1. potential for abuse by boosters - promising a recruit endorsement $ if he signs with School X.

2. Who determines whether players are being paid a fair amount, and what enforcement mechanism is in place if Booster Fred pays QB Joe some ridiculous amount for a commercial or appearance.

3. The plan creates winners and losers. A few star players will get a lot. a second tier of players will get some. And a lot of players will get nothing. Creates potential for issues if one player is getting squat while QB Joe Studly is raking in big bucks. This will also further the disparity between the revenue sports and the non-revenue sports.

4. Schools in markets with more business and media opportunities may have an advantage. Imagine a coach telling a recruit - don't go to Podunk U; come to Big-Town U and you'll get a lot more endorsements.

If you want to compensate players, then make it across-the board or not at all.
 

I'm probably in the minority on this, but I see more problems than benefits with this approach.

1. potential for abuse by boosters - promising a recruit endorsement $ if he signs with School X.

2. Who determines whether players are being paid a fair amount, and what enforcement mechanism is in place if Booster Fred pays QB Joe some ridiculous amount for a commercial or appearance.

3. The plan creates winners and losers. A few star players will get a lot. a second tier of players will get some. And a lot of players will get nothing. Creates potential for issues if one player is getting squat while QB Joe Studly is raking in big bucks. This will also further the disparity between the revenue sports and the non-revenue sports.

4. Schools in markets with more business and media opportunities may have an advantage. Imagine a coach telling a recruit - don't go to Podunk U; come to Big-Town U and you'll get a lot more endorsements.

If you want to compensate players, then make it across-the board or not at all.
I completely agree with you -- you are right on the money. Something like an NCAA Football game for Playstation which uses likenesses and player attributes revenue could be evenly split for all members. I am also concerned about the abuses you could see from all this, too. If left unchecked, this could really get out of hand.
 

I totally disagree with the OP. Endorsements will go to the very few gifted athletes only. Out of about 750 athletes at the U of MN only a handful would fall in this category. It will exclude virtually all non-revenue sports, except for family and girl/boy friends, etc. Women's sports would be grossly under represented. Think here of Title IX challenges. It would exclude all those athletes in FB and BB who are not stars but train tirelessly and support. the star athletes such as the third string OL or DB, the lower level BB player, etc. Maybe a few hockey players might benefit from this but most wrestlers, swimmers, baseball, track and field athletes, etc. would not get any benefit from this. I see more issues than benefits. Bad, bad idea.
 

Things have changed from the maroney days players now get stipends on top of scholarship. I dont want college football to change into kids choosing what school they go to based on endorsments and how much money they can make its not the Pros.
 


Because there weren't near enough tattoos and diamond jewelry on college athletes. Priorities.
 


Things have changed from the maroney days players now get stipends on top of scholarship. I dont want college football to change into kids choosing what school they go to based on endorsments and how much money they can make its not the Pros.
Right - the Alabama players that sit down to sign autographs for $100,000 each. That's what Chip's plan would lead to.
 

About time freedom to make money is back in vogue.
Should amateur hockey and baseball leagues be required to pay players also?
 






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