I think the school’s involvement in NIL has tainted what it was meant to be. There never should have been restrictions on a collegiate athlete signing an endorsement deal with a major corporation like Nike or doing a commercial for a small local company and getting paid for it. The NCAA had no right to own a player’s name image and likeness, that doesn’t fundamentally make any sense.
They (the NCAA) finally lost that battle which was a great thing. These kids have every right to earn compensation using their own popularity, and now they can with no restriction. Where the issue is, is that they now expect the university to not only facilitate that but also put up the money. If an executive at Nike approaches a player and tells him he’ll pay him NIL but only if he plays for Oregon, well then that’s their right because it’s their money and it’s then the players right (and probably in their best interest) to go to Oregon. But the university themselves should not be facilitating that interaction, and that is absolutely happening now.
Utah @ 
Baylor 
