Donor-fueled groups that raise money and funnel it to college athletes through the name, image and likeness opportunities they facilitate probably won’t disappear entirely if NCAA President Charlie Baker’s proposals for athlete pay become a reality. But changes will be inevitable.
Baker recommended allowing Division I schools to enter into direct licensing deals with athletes, essentially paying them to be ambassadors for the school. He suggested that wealthier schools could be required to pay half their athletes at least $30,000 a year. For a school like Texas, which has about 700 athletes, that amount could amount to about $10 million.
The groups, which technically operate independently of the schools they serve, have sprung up around the country since the NCAA began allowing athletes to make money from celebrities two years ago. The groups — about 200 of them — seek donations from supporters, alumni and fans, then arrange opportunities for athletes to get paid for endorsements, public appearances, signing autographs and posting branded content on their personal social media channels.
Sports groups could be absorbed into sports departments to provide some of the same services they provide now, or they could continue to operate independently, experts said.
Fundraising by outside collegiate groups would not be necessary if donations targeting athletes were allowed to be made directly to the school, said Jason Belzer, founder of Student Athlete NIL, which runs several trade groups for schools across the country.
Corey Stanischia, director of the Fowler Ave Collective, which supports USF athletics, said he “welcomes the day” when NIL’s work can be done through the schools themselves.
“Allow organizations to contract with athletes even just for their advertising rights to sell direct merchandise, co-branded billboards and bobbleheads to fans,” Stanischia posted on X. “That’s actually not moving mountains here. It’s not too difficult.”
Opendorse CEO Blake Lawrence, whose company partners with schools to help initiate, track and monitor NIL deals, said there would be a place for collectives in the environment Baker proposed.
“There will be third-party compensation for non-exposure activities that the organization does not control,” Lawrence said. “It would be very difficult to remove that element. I think there might be less pressure on the collectives in terms of how much they’re tasked with sourcing athletes and third-party payments. But they’re not going away.”
Collegiate groups could be integrated into athletic departments rather than for funding, said Jim Kaval, co-founder of Athletes.org, whose organization seeks to give athletes a voice in planning for the future of college sports and a leader in the NIL as developer of the INFLCR platform. Raise but instead to activate and serve NIL deals.
NIL activity directly related to schools can raise liability issues and will almost certainly bring Title IX implications. As it stands, with NIL groups operating outside the schools they support, federal civil rights law prohibiting discrimination on the basis of sex by schools receiving federal funds does not theoretically apply.
Becker’s proposal “could be a huge win for mathematics,” said Thomas Thomas Jr., co-founder and CEO of NIL software company Basepath.
Cassandra Ramsey, a Washington-based sports attorney who specializes in nil cases, said if a school has “significant involvement” with the NIL, it will have a responsibility to ensure there are equal opportunities for men and women. However, she said that doesn’t mean male and female athletes have to get the same amount of money.
“I think the opportunity to make money and get zero deals is the same,” she said.
Equal pay between men and women, let alone players on the same team, would be nearly impossible, Lawrence said.
“The value of not losing to an athlete is a very individual value, and it is really difficult to understand how a school can pay an athlete the true value of not losing while ensuring Title IX compliance,” Lawrence said. “It would be a coincidence if you could really achieve a perfect balance between zero value for men’s and women’s sports.”
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As the debate over whether college athletes should be paid continues to rage on, a new question has emerged: if college athletes are able to make little to no money from their schools, what impact will this have on donor-supported associations, particularly in sports like soccer? With the NCAA’s current rules prohibiting athletes from receiving compensation for their athletic endeavors, donors and supporters of college sports teams may begin to question the value of their contributions, as the athletes they are supporting are unable to benefit directly from their success. This issue raises concerns about the sustainability and future of donor-supported associations in college sports, particularly in soccer where the potential for professional opportunities may be even more limited.