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What changes need to take place with NIL?
TL;DR
The NCAA is facing chaos in college athletics due to the introduction of NIL (Name, Image, Likeness) rights and the transfer portal without proper regulations. Many suggest implementing a salary cap to create more balance among schools with varying financial resources.
Feb 26, 2026; Indianapolis, IN, USA; A NCAA logo flag at the Hall of Champions at the NCAA National Office. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images | Kirby Lee-Imagn Images
The NCAA has spent a lot of years trying to figure out how to properly navigate the college athletics landscape. For many years, the league decided that amateurism meant that players should not receive any kind of compensation for their name, likeness, or image when it came to advertisements, video games, general sponsorship, and more. Many people spoke out against this model claiming that the NCAA makes way too much money off players for the athletes to make nothing. Now that has changed, but the model is pure chaos.
Once Congress got done with the NCAA, Charlie Baker decided to take the approach of Michael Scott from The Office. See, there was an episode where Michael was instructed to hand out some leads of potential clients to the salesmen. When he was asked to do so, he said that if that was what he was required to do, then he would do exactly that. Of course, when he did “exactly that,” what he actually did was handed out the leads to non-sales people in a very rebellious manner. That is essentially how things have went with Baker — he gave athletes the gift of NIL, but he also gave them the transfer portal, and neither have any real guardrails to keep things orderly. He did “exactly” what he was told to do.
We currently exist in a landscape where some schools have bottomless amounts of money to throw around because of donors and boosters, and other schools are trying to keep up but may not have the means to do so. The NCAA could stand to implement some type of “salary cap” in order to keep things somewhat controlled. The NBA and NFL have salary caps, so why wouldn’t the NCAA? That feels like the best idea for dealing with what is essentially the Wild Wild West, but perhaps there are better ideas out there.
So, today’s question of the day is: what changes need to take place with NIL? We would love to hear your thoughts and opinions on the topic. Feel free to sound off in the comments below.
Q&A
What is the current state of NIL regulations in college athletics?
NIL regulations are currently chaotic, with athletes able to profit from their name, image, and likeness, but lacking any formal structure or oversight.
How could a salary cap impact college athletics?
A salary cap could help level the playing field among colleges by limiting the amount of money schools can spend on athletes, similar to models used in the NBA and NFL.
What challenges do schools face with NIL and the transfer portal?
Schools face significant challenges in competing for athletes, as some have access to unlimited funding from donors and boosters, while others struggle to keep up financially.
