Smokescreen or Smoking Gun?

A Boom News Flash Article

The NIL (Name – Image – Likeness) rule, implemented in 2021, is ostensibly designed to ensure that as the universities – their programs, their sponsors, and advertising opportunists – flourish based on the value-add of students, that the athletes are also compensated, with some portion of these lucrative gains.

How did we get here?

In the infancy of the twentieth-century, college football was an amalgam of ‘winning is everything’: little-to-no academic accountability, rosters partially composed of non-enrolled players, a lack of safety protocols and a fierce campaign to shut down the sport as too dangerous.

In 1905, sitting President Theodore Roosevelt went on a crusade to regulate the gladiator sport, in attempts to mitigate some of these concerns.

By 1910, a cabal of direct interest had convened and the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) came into being.

It was not until a quarter of a century later, in 1936, that scholarships were established to defray the costs of academia, in whole or in part.

These were created, in theory, to enable programs to acquire better players, aspiring youth from the surviving families of a Great Depression barely past, who were unable to meet the burden of tuition.

Where we are now…

This device, initiated almost a hundred years ago, is still being touted today – in a world where everything is a viable product – as sufficient compensation for the abilities of students generating the not-for-profit margin of the NCAA.

Consider now the extreme time-exchange of Athletes – especially in Division I – that are dedicated to mastering their craft.

Such a one is the freshman phenom Kiyomi Mcmiller, recently committed to Penn State University as a Lady Lion.

The brilliant, young Businessball Queen is a Jordan Brand player, determined to leave a legacy on the sport with both her handle and work ethic.

Another is Louisville Point Guard Hailey Van Lith, who along with her teammates cannot hold traditional jobs and report that even the few stipends available barely cover food.

Juxtapose this, with the benefits being accrued by the university that this work is contributing to.

There are others deserving mention, like Virginia Running Back Rayquan Smith.

Grant Frerking, who played at Tennessee University, had received quite a bit of coverage regarding NIL, before accusations of alleged financial foul outs sidelined talk of his progress.

With the advent of the rule and its increasing popularity (in some instances, its infamy), we see the emergence of these NIL-based businesses, such as Opendorse, that assist with the process of facilitating deals for players, teaching them strategies to build their online following (a primary driver of endorsement feasibility) and kicking open doors of entrepreneurship.

Looking at the parameters of the rule itself, there are three main facets to NIL:

1. There must be deliverables from the player to the third party.

2. It cannot be based on future performance (such as bonuses or penalties for certain plateaus).

3. It cannot be conditioned upon attending (or remaining at) a specific school.

Some criticism points to the fact that getting paid makes you a professional – which implies a disqualification from designation of amateur (read: collegiate/high school) for continued play. Yet even in the professional realm there are minors and farm leagues that are all on salary, at various levels.

Further rebuttal to the assertion, questions: is this not precisely the American way? Capitalism, entrepreneurial spirit, boot-strap-raising anecdotes, etc.?

Ahh, but capitalism is not intended to benefit the little guy, is it? At least not with these slices instead of the customary crust – or, so often the case, mere crumbs.

Sidebar: no eligibility for international players? What part of the American Dream is that?

25% of NBA players are international

30% of NHL players are not from the U.S. or Canada

Several of the NCAA top brass and coaching staffers lament what they term upheaval and turmoil, the quashing of the ‘college spirit’, claiming it brings more confusion than clarity to the locker room, and ultimately, the game.

Others, see what they interpret as an end to the long-standing exploitation of these promising young men and women; a righteous reckoning.

Renowned journalist and sports anchor Stephen A. Smith, regarding the discomfiture of the sole collegiate authority, biblically intoned, “You reap what you sow.”

In the ruling handed down by the Highest Judicial body in the land, Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh in a special concurring opinion of the case NCAA v. ALSTON , citing anti-trust concerns stated, “the NCAA’s business model would be flatly illegal in almost any other industry in America.” (emphasis mine).

Earn Your Leisure (EYL) a Financial Literacy brand, recently shared some statistics regarding the way that NIL is affecting undergrads’ decision to ‘officially’ turn Pro.

In 2025, 106 early entrants entered the NBA Draft, down from 353 in 2021.

The NFL had 70 early declarations in 2025, down from 82 in 2023.

“NIL changed the game – college athletes aren’t finding value in risking turning pro when they can earn six, seven, sometimes eight figures while still in college.”

As NFL Hall of Famer Ray Lewis, blithely points out, if you benefit from the brand of a Fortune 500 company, then like the psuedo-fictional Frank White, you better believe, they want in.

So should the athlete benefitting the program they are promoting by their very presence, leading to more recruitment, more prestige, more corporate sponsorship for the school.

EYL creators Rahad Bilal and Troy Millings noted that Quinn Ewers turned down an $8M NIL offer to enter the draft early. He was picked in the 7th round and is now set to make under $1M/year. He therefore lost over $7M by leaving college.

Then we have Shedeur Sanders, who made $6.5M in NIL last year. As a 5th-round NFL pick, the most he can make now is $1.16M/year – and the ‘conspiracy’ or alleged ‘joke’ that devalued his clear first round viability goes to the heart of the NIL issue.

It sounds like, ‘You can get ‘paid’ so long as we still control the hoops you jump through to get to it.’

My presumption in attributing this mindset to the embodied powers that frame the off-field rules, lies in the obvious safeguards to the primary benefactors of these endowments, who simultaneously endeavor to set roadblocks before the players.

I’ll address those in a moment. First, allow me a personal digression that illustrates the player’s plight.

Okay, so boom – In high school, I had a wicked jumper (let me tell it). I also had a wicked misconception about life. I was making in the street what I thought was some money. So in my adolescent mind (I started high school at 13), I was in Benjamin Cardozo High School, for what? To get into a top-rated college. Why? To graduate and get a ‘good’ job. Why? To make ‘enough’ money. Why? To provide for myself and my family.

So it follows – to my still developing mind – that if I’m already making money, working for myself… why jump through the system’s rings of fire? Obviously, for me, that concept failed to find gold in the silt.

The valid point, however, is that taking care of loved ones – especially for ‘inner city’ youth – is part and parcel of the dream. To illustrate:

When asked on The Bird & Taurani Show how the presence of NIL would have affected his decision to leapfrog from High School to the NBA, future Hall of Fame inductee LeBron James explained that the entire crux of his declaring for the draft was weighted by his environment, his desire for providing a life of security for his mother.

It can certainly be said that the university model is outdated and outmoded. Yet, the aspects of ‘college living’ are unique and in this Writer’s experience unreplicated for both negative-corrective feedback as well as positive lessons.

My specific reasons are beyond our scope here. I mention it because it resonates with the King’s statement. “I would have liked to step on a college campus.” He admitted that he would have enjoyed that experience, not to mention the March Madness hunt. However, he says, “Moms trumps everything.”

Why must they sacrifice one or the other? The ‘dream’ or the money? The owners don’t. Why not have both?

As Jalen Rose expounded, prior to the introduction of NIL, in spite of the empirical evidence that you can go from high school to the League (never mind leaving college early) and not only survive, but be one of the greats, someone saw to it that restrictions were placed on such activity.

Why? To prevent these guys – and gals – (in the first 100 days of NIL the highest earners were from women’s basketball, volleyball and gymnastics) from getting the bag for a few extra years before age, injury, or league incompatibility cause a transition in their function in the sports industry, or on to another field.

Those extra years, during the height of their capabilities, equates (especially considering the effects of compounding) to quite a few bags at today’s rates.

Noteworthy and arising from the same EYL episode is the fact that these hindrances were primarily instituted in the sports where so-called Black & Latino youth make up the majority of the rosters. Below is a summary of the statistical breakdown.

National Football League

Black/African American: 53–54% (recent data, with some sources citing higher historical figures, but current official figures are in this range).

White: ~26–28% (non-Hispanic white, with slight variations by year). Hispanic/Latino, Asian, and Other: ~2–9% (varies by source and year, and some players report two or more races). -

Note: Positional breakdowns vary, with some positions (like cornerback, running back) almost exclusively Black, while others (like quarterback, kicker) are predominantly white.

Sources https://www.statista.com/statistics/1167935/racial-diversity-nfl-players/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_players_in_professional_American_football

https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/43701663/black-nfl-players-share-number-black-coaches-survey

National Basketball Association:

Black: 78% (2025 data) White: 19% Hispanic/Latino: 2% Asian: 1% - Note: This is standard NBA reporting; exact percentages may vary by season but are consistently around these figures.

National Hockey League:

White: 93% (2011 data, most recent available; likely still near this figure) Other: 7% (includes Black, Asian, Hispanic, Indigenous players).

Major League Baseball:

White: 61% Hispanic/Latino: 31% Black: 5% Asian: 2% Other (including American Indian): 1%

Major League Soccer and Professional Golf Association: - No official racial breakdown published

The above underlines Rose’s implications that sports with a predominantly Melanated make up are deliberately impeded from scaling to a place of reciprocal xcompensationx.

Fortunately, stepping into this disparity are several companies and platforms supporting Black athletes and brands through NIL initiatives. Here are some notable Black NIL companies and agencies:

Tykoon Sports Agency: The first Black-owned NIL marketing agency, helping student-athletes with marketing consulting, brand partnerships and postgraduate development.

Dream Big Sports : Uses AI to empower Black brands and athletes by matching them for NIL opportunities.

Black Nile: A marketplace providing a platform for Black entrepreneurs to showcase their offerings.

The Mecca Society Collective (Howard University): Partners with Black-owned brands like Last Shot energy drink and Black Girl Vitamins for NIL deals, offering unique compensation and educational opportunities for athletes.

Additionally, Black-owned companies and collectives are increasingly signing these NIL deals with athletes, as seen with J5 Caffe, a Black-owned coffee company onboarding top recruits.

These efforts are expanding opportunities for Black athletes and entrepreneurs in the NIL space.

The great Deion “Prime Time” Sanders explained the idea of collectives –

groups of wealthy individuals that come together to enhance their preferred programs with funding. This naturally bends the rim against certain schools, such as HBCUs (Historically Black Colleges and Universities).

I note here that there are melanated icons that willingly give back. All-star Steph Curry, along with his wife Ayesha, contributes to and runs (as the Assistant GM) the eight-figure NIL fund at his Alma Mater, Davidson. Unconfirmed reports have the legend Erving “Magic” Johnson “dipping in the stash” for Michigan State.

Unfortunately, these admirable efforts actually exacerbate the imbalance, as HBCUs suffer steadily decreasing attractiveness to incoming players seeking the best lift to the summit of their chosen mountain.

Returning to Coach Prime, he further voiced his reasonable concerns about the mental states of some of the youth entering the draft early, that will now in all regards be dealt with as fully grown men and women. Not only by seasoned competitors, but especially by the Press Corps, accelerating pressure due to a breach in the perceived monetary barrier between Professional and amateur.

This, they believe, gives them carte blanche to ‘turn up’ their expectations and normalized assaults, as they prod for reactions and responses for the best hot-take stories in the process of pursuing journalism in this era of new media.

A further complication presented to the aspiring baller seeking to take advantage of the apparent leveling of the court, is what amounts to a ‘non-compete’ in the student’s letter of intent.

Reportedly, the fine print disallows the wearing of a product that is a competitor to the school’s sponsors. So the imposed choice is to advertise the school’s corporate partner for free, as you cannot promote the brand that is paying you – resulting in a de facto breach of that contract – or wear nothing.

Should the player be forced to enter the transfer portal to a program more amicable to the athlete’s preferred sponsor? Or is there another solution?

Could the school take some of that brand’s funding and disperse a minor percentage to players? Of course it could.

The NCAA quietly boasts a revenue of $14 Billion, second in sporting only to the NFL. It is certainly within their means.

But that would be tantamount to owners in the National Football League profit-sharing with their rookies.

How likely is that?

Players face a machine that preferred to discontinue their own profits entirely – as in the case of the NCAA video game series including Bill Walsh College Football (1993, the first in the series) – rather than relinquish any portion of it to the producers of that demand.

As this piece enters the final shot clock, consider the legendary Fab 5 that made Michigan forever famous, making history in spite of missing the pinnacle.

What if they had a residual from the now-classic Hirachi, or a lightly branded set of black socks? What would that mean for their legacy; for their lineage; for the few players that made “The League” but did not necessarily enjoy a fruitful, lengthy tenure?

NIL represents a certain ‘coming of age’ for athletes whose profitability (both intangible and material) for their programs (and said programs’ sponsors) is finally being rewarded.

With this year’s NBA Draft at the threshold, these questions are certain to be burning through the risk/reward matrix in the minds of many a young player, along with their families and advisors.

Do you remember that board game? What commercial was that again? Was it Life? “Decisions, decisions - Oh! Pay me!“

In this time and climate, is it a decision at all?

#okaysoboom #BoomNews

What are your thoughts on all of this?

So, Wha'cha doin' fi de good ah you'self?