College athletes can now make money based on their name, image, and likeness, which has begun to cause controversy in the world of sports. On June 30th, 2021 the NCAA passed a rule allowing college athletes to make an income based off of their reputation as an athlete. This change comes after years of college athletes asking for a way to generate money off of their success. Now, since the NCAA passed the rule allowing athletes to profit, the question being asked is how this affects the team and player(s).

Emma Maltais, an Ohio State University ice hockey graduate, has two viewpoints on this: “NIL can in turn give incentive for a player to perform selfishly if their morals and priorities do not continue to be the team … it all depends on the athlete, if NIL is motivating the player to be better it can help the team as well.”

With college athletes being allowed to make an income through their respected sport, the question is will it affect their decision on where they go?

Brian Walter, director of college counseling at Springside Chestnut Hill Academy, states that “Blue chip/high-profile high school athletes in revenue sports like basketball and football are absolutely being influenced by NIL deals as they choose their colleges. However, for the majority of high school athletes who are being recruited to play college athletics, the NIL is still not really part of their college process.”

Since the NCAA made the rule saying that athletes can make money based on their NIL, recruiting has become a bigger part of college sports. More and more coaches go out of their way to recruit talented athletes for their teams, which in turn creates more financial opportunities for the college.

This brings up a question many people have been asking: was it a good idea for the NCAA to allow college athletes to make money based on their name, image and likeness? Mr. Walter says that “I think it is a good idea to allow college athletes to have some sort of income; however, the “wild-west” culture of recruiting that has emerged in basketball and football especially, is alarming. Some of the top athletes are being offered upwards of $500,000 to either choose their initial college or remain at their current college and not transfer. To me, this level of professionalization in college sports is troubling but I think students making some reasonable amount of money based on their name image and likeness is healthy. I just think it’s gone too far out of control.”

For now, the NCAA allowing college athletes to make money based on their name, image, and likeness will be controversial to the sporting world. It is clearly beneficial for the players and colleges, but is it advantageous for the teams and the overall sporting world?