While the idea of college athletes getting paid has been around for a few years now and seems to have a positive reputation, NKU may have a different perspective.
June 21, 2021 was the official date that the Supreme Court ruled unanimously in favor of all NCAA divisional student-athletes receiving compensation for their name, image and likeness (NIL). It has created a revolution within college sports, leading to a change where student-athletes choose to play because of the financial benefit they could reap. Some of the best student-athletes in the nation are valued at well over $600,000 since this ruling was official, with the 100th ranked student-athlete valued at $672,000, according to On3’s NIL 100 list, which gives the top 100 student-athlete NIL valuations.
NKU Athletic Director Christina Roybal joined the school almost a year after this huge shift in student-athlete treatment, but she has already seen so many different deals being made.
“Name, image and likeness is impacting college athletics at all levels, and I have even started hearing about it at the local high school level as well. At NKU, we have student-athletes that are making NIL deals with a variety of companies and business leaders,” said Roybal. “NIL is an opportunity for student-athletes to build their brand.”
This new era has been a long time coming, as there have been many legal cases in the past that have started due to a student-athlete taking or wanting compensation in exchange for an appearance, a signature or for wearing a specific brand. One of the most popular examples would be O’Bannon v. NCAA, in which former star UCLA basketball player Ed O’Bannon filed an antitrust class action lawsuit against the NCAA in 2009 for the use of a player that was vividly similar to him in the EA Sports’ NCAA Basketball 2009 video game.
Joy Banks is a senior outside hitter for the NKU volleyball team, and she has spent all her time at NKU. Nearly the entirety of her career has been spent in the NIL era, and her dominance on the court has given her lots of opportunities with brands and businesses.
“My experience with NIL has been pretty successful, I think,” said Banks. “I think especially here at NKU, the athletes themselves have to find NIL opportunities and take charge of the process rather than the opportunity being presented to us like other big schools.”
The effort that can go into NIL deals from the student-athlete’s perspective is something that may surprise many. In a small market like Northern Kentucky, there are fewer opportunities for athletes due to the lack of big Division I sports in the area, whereas areas like Lexington and Louisville have more, since they are major schools with nationally-ranked sports. Norse student-athletes tend to get brand deals more centered around “receiving products, for example smoothies and groceries, for making posts on social media. Some student-athletes are taking deals where they receive money for attending an event and signing autographs,” Roybal said.
The small area of Highland Heights can hurt Norse athletes despite how good NKU sports teams can be.
“I think it is a real concern, particularly at some institutions where there is a greater difference between what student-athletes receive based on the sport and position played. I have heard of cases when this has created problems with team culture,” Roybal said. “I am not sure that the issue can be resolved without some type of a cap on what a student-athlete can earn through NIL, but imposing a cap would create some legal challenges.”
Shay Shipley is a junior midfielder for the Norse women’s soccer team. She has also spent all her time at NKU. She talked about the lack of notoriety that her sport receives and how it affects her chances of profiting.
“I think that in comparison to other sports, women’s soccer is pretty low on the totem pole. We definitely still have opportunities but in comparison to more popular sports like football and basketball, we aren’t anywhere near,” said Shipley. “The most surprising thing I think is that you get out what you put into it. It’s not always companies reaching out to you, you have to do work to find deals and reach out to people too. The input from an athlete equals the output they get from it.”
However, women’s sports have seen quite a rise in popularity. The names Angel Reese, Caitlin Clark and Olivia Dunne have been some of the NIL era’s highest-valued players via On3’s previously mentioned Top 100 list. This has not only impacted their sports value, but it has impacted women’s collegiate sports as a whole.
“I think that these female athletes have completely changed the horizon of women in sports. I do think it has benefitted me as well as all other female athletes,” said Shipley. “We are finally receiving the attention we deserve, mainly thanks to these girls, and I do believe this attention will continue to rise.”
Recognition is the theme as well, as the NCAA saw booming results in terms of viewership with their female sports. According to an article by Nielsen, the women’s college basketball championship game has doubled in viewers in the past two years, including the 2024 championship being the most viewed basketball game since 2019.
“The rise of women’s sports definitely is benefitting all female athletes because we are getting more recognition or more views and I think it’s just the beginning for women’s sports and it’s definitely going to get better,” said Banks.
Despite the issues that can arise from playing at a small school, NIL deals are still possible. The beginning of collectives has created opportunities at schools that may not be created without them. A collective is a group that fundraises for a school and provides compensation to the athletes who attend the school. This is something that isn’t offered based on school popularity, but rather the will to pay student-athletes.
“There has been some NIL activity with local businesses mainly through the Highland Heights Hype collective, use of the Opendorse platform and some of our Learfield partners,” Roybal said. “We have been having more conversations with local business leaders about how they can support NKU Athletics through a variety of ways, including: buying season tickets, becoming a sponsor, giving philanthropically and making NIL deals with our student-athletes.”
Michael Bradley spent his fifth year of men’s collegiate basketball eligibility at NKU in the 2023-2024 season, as he transferred from Division II Mercyhurst University. While NIL is possible in Division II, Bradley talked about how it “was truly a blessing” to achieve it at NKU.
“NIL was a game changer for me personally, I felt as if it was just an added bonus to an already surreal experience getting to play Division I basketball at NKU,” said Bradley. “In terms of feedback there aren’t many negatives I have. I really like it, and think that players should be able to profit off of their own personal brand and it shows them the business side of things much earlier.”
The student-athletes interviewed were more than willing to discuss their love for it, but there is a “culture” that comes with NIL, as Roybal described. There has been lots of pushback against this new-day collegiate sports experience.
Clemson’s Head Football Coach Dabo Sweeney said far prior to this era that NIL is “where you lose me. I’ll go do something else because there’s enough entitlement in this world as it is.”
Sweeney was not the only coach, or personality, in sports to talk poorly about this opportunity for student-athletes. However, there are just as many, if not more, supporters of this revolution.
“NIL refers to student-athletes’ rights to profit from their personal brand, including their name, image and likeness, independent of their participation in collegiate sports. When NIL deals are done according to that premise, I think NIL is a great thing,” said Roybal. “Student-athletes, like anyone else, should be able to create a brand and business. True NIL is not pay for play or a recruiting inducement. True NIL is quid pro quo where a student-athletes is being compensated for doing something outside of playing their sport.”