Reggie Bush was a true superstar running back at USC. He won the Heisman in 2005. But then the NCAA made him give it back, put USC on probation, and caused USC to forfeit a number of already played games – it seems that Bush accepted upwards of $200,000 from a sports agent while at USC.
College sports – football, in particular, are a big business. The University of Texas football program generated some $147 million in revenue in 2021. But while coaches and universities have raked in big bucks for years, the players were banned from receiving any money beyond the value of their scholarships.
But things are changing- and very quickly. Following a case brought by Ed O’Bannon, a subsequent Supreme Court decision, and the passage of various state statutes that were about to take effect last summer, the NCAA has now authorized players to be compensated for the commercial use of their “name, image or likeness” or “NIL.” What is happening is not limited to a player getting a few dollars for having his picture posted on the wall at the local Ford dealer. A commercial war is breaking out, involving tens of thousands, and it now seems, millions of dollars; indeed an organization associated with the University of Texas called “Horns with a Heart” has committed to giving each UT offensive lineman $50,000 annually “to make charitable appearances.”
So how exactly did college sports get here? What are the implications for the concept of the student-athlete? What exactly are the limits on compensation that can be labeled NIL? How do these changes interact with the relaxation of transfer rules? How do we expect the landscape of college athletics to change over the next five years?
Mountain Money is lucky to be joined this morning by sports attorney Mark Levinstein, a partner in the Washington DC firm of Williams and Connolly.
