By: Mahala Treish, Photo Editor
The NCAA announced on June 30, 2021 that they were going to allow students to profit off of their name and fame.
This new change of rules was applied because the Supreme Court unanimously decided that student- athletes could receive education related payments. This will give student athletes the opportunity to have endorsements, gain money from their social media profiles and sell products or anything that is using the likeness of their name.
Universities are still not allowed to pay the student athlete directly other than the tuition or other cost of attending the school. There is a difference between the school’s rules and NCAA rules. Student-athletes still must report the use of NIL (Name, Image and Likeness) to their school to make sure they are following school and state laws.
“ I would like to work with brands to profit off of my NIL but it depends on how much profit I would make and depending on what the company stands for. I wanna make sure I’m promoting something I stand for.” Zion Sellers, junior who plays for UNCP Soccer team said
Sellers would love to work with the brands Clean Eats, Pura Vida and Adidas. Products she is most interested in selling for her brand are sweats, athletic shorts, graphic tees, jersey and tennis shoes. Sellers’ preferred audience would be high schoolers, college students and young adults.
“ Yes, I think I could benefit a lot from working with different brands and help the people around me like my teammates and help promote my boys once I get a little bigger with the brands that I work with.” Jaden Richeson, sophomore on the UNCP football team said.
Richeson, if possible in the future, would enjoy working with Nike, Jordan, Adidas, Off-White, VLONE, Chick-Fil-A and Mitchell & Ness. Products he would like to sell with the apparel brands are cleats, slides, sneakers, jersey, graphic tees, jackets, joggers, sweats and fitted caps. Richesons’ preferred audience would be kids, college students, high schoolers and babies.
Allowing student-athletes to profit off of their NIL brings revenue to Universities, brands and players. This networking allows athletes opportunities that may have not been possible without the NCAA allowing them to profit off of their NIL.