The research focuses on sports marketing and the growing challenge of name, image, and likeness (NIL) activities for student athletes. Name, image, and likeness (NIL) is the common term for the ruling of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) vs. Alston case centered around whether the NCAA could limit education-related payments to student-athletes. For many years, athletes argued that student-athletes should be paid due to college sports being non-amateur. Furthermore, coaches benefited from being paid high salaries based on student-athlete labor and exploitation at the price of an education. Several decades of backdoor payments to student-athletes and increased television revenues marketing deals to telecast high school and collegiate sports has opened the door for NIL activities to be introduced.
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Three quarters of National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) athletes have interacted in some level of name, image, and likeness (NIL) activity since last July 2021, which helps facilitate NIL deals (Weber, 2020; Schultz, 2022). Football and men’s basketball account for nearly 67% of NIL compensation, while male athletes lead NIL activities (62.7%) and receive 93% of donor compensation (Weber, 2020). Through 31 May 2021, the average NCAA Division 1 athlete had received $3,711 of money through NIL while some big-name players scored high-six figure deals (Weber, 2020; Gray & McEvoy, 2005; Luo & Hamlin, 2022). The market of sports products and services have noticed the need to grow business as a new era of application (Ilioni, 2020). The NCAA’s NIL policy allows students to be compensated for the use of their name, image, or likeness (Weber, 2020). Sports marketing as an independent field demonstrates an emerging demographic of increased individualization on new advanced marketing opportunities (Gray & McEvoy, 2005; Ilioni, 2020).
The inclusion of sports activities as a rule means athletes can receive endorsement deals and partnerships (Ilioni, 2020). Sports development and equity from outside organizations with distinct characteristics of creating funding source opportunities, starting brands, and individualization which present intangible service-driven investment in a competitive market (Gray & McEvoy, 2005; Masteralexis et al., 2005; Luo & Hamlin, 2022). The prospect of sports income in college before professional career starting provides a significant comprehensive promotional possibility for generating revenue (Ilioni, 2020). Student athletes can accept money from businesses in exchange for using them in products or advertisements and can also promote their brands or other companies in public appearances or through social media (Gray & McEvoy, 2005; Masteralexis et al., 2005). When eliminating football, the biggest NIL activity revenue driver in the market is basketball. However, women lead NIL activities by a slim margin. Major corporations are increasingly invested into NIL activities as a new place to spend marketing dollars (Gray & McEvoy, 2005; Masteralexis et al., 2005). When NIL activities began several major sponsors for major sports dropped out of sponsorship deals to sign collegiate athletes (Weber, 2020; Green, 2002). Corporations save more money by endorsing a collegiate athlete versus the high-profile professional athlete. The large corporations realize spending the traditional six-to-seven figure minimum to secure a professional athlete can be spent on five figures college athletes which constitutes a fraction of the cost (Gray & McEvoy, 2005; Masteralexis et al., 2005). Meanwhile, creating consumer brand engagement through an active local community (Weber, 2020).