Change is coming to college athletics, according to Ganesh Setty (2019). In 2019, the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) started the process of amending regulations that allow student-athletes to be compensated for their names, image, and likeness. This came after a unanimous vote, though the NCAA’s three divisions will be left to carve out the specifics (Ganesh Setty, 2019). This new issue in college sports comes after California signed the Fair Pay to Play Act in 2019 that allows college players to sign endorsement deals and hire agents. This law, however, is set to take effect in 2023.
There are concerns raised about this trend, however. The NCAA, for instance, stipulates that even after allowing for compensation and free representation, there should be a clear distinction between collegiate and professional opportunities (Ganesh Setty, 2019). Other entities have also expressed the views that if college athletes are allowed to be compensated for their likeness while studying, especially when negotiating scholarships, then said scholarships should be treated like income (Ganesh Setty, 2019). Following this trend, other entities like the NFL Players Association and the National College Players Association chipped in with commitments to explore compensation strategies for college athletes for the sale of their name, image, and likeness.
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The importance of this trend to sports sales and promotions have been mixed so far. It is undeniable that there is some potential with this issue. For instance, college athletes will be allowed to be their brand, thus attracting targeted endorsements and sponsorship deals. The trend will also liberalize the market for college athletes, where a player will be free to choose deals that are most profitable to them. Currently, college athletes are forced to go with brands associated with their schools. However, this will change as more companies will have direct access to the athletes and create personal relationships instead of going through the school.
The concern, however, is that allowing college athletes to capitalize on their abilities, names, and likeness would impact existing sales and promotion trends. For instance, EA Sports had to discontinue a paying college football game franchise in 2013 after Ed O’Bannon challenged the use of his likeness in a college basketball video game. In a similar manner, existing sales and promotion records will be disrupted as the industry adjust. The project is that after 2023, sales and promotions will grow to new levels. For instance, more video games using the likeness or names of different athletes will explode and making them more popular than ever.
However, this influx of income will not be equally distributed. Instead, most of the compensation will go towards well-known college athletes. The unknown athletes might get some windfall, but it will be insignificant compared to the others. Additionally, there is a concern that with the introduction of the compensation, sports quality will degrade as the rewards will be going towards the famous athletes without regard for their talent or athletic ability. There will also be an influx of college players who will be motivated not by the game but by the possible financial benefits. The outcome would be that if left unchecked, sportsmanship will suffer. Therefore, in the three years left to the start of the compensation schemes, all stakeholders should join hands and put in place policies and regulations that will preserve the integrity of college sports.
References
Ganesh Setty, J. (2019). The NCAA will allow athletes to profit from their name, image and likeness in a major shift for the organization . CNBC. Retrieved from https://www.cnbc.com/2019/10/29/ncaa-allows-athletes-to-be-compensated-for-names-images.html.
