NIL

[crewu]

A whole new cottage industry is sprouting already.

[rowing]

Men's rowing still won't get asked to prom.

[crewu]

Not at the level as the revenue sports for sure.

But the top level individuals are certainly going to benefit.

Win an Olympic gold medal for Serbia? You just got a scholarship to Stanford and a tech mogul is going to throw another $50K/year at your feet. Imagine the next Clark Dean in this scenario. In the old world he has his pick of free rides at any university in the nation and picks Harvard. In the New World he has his pick of free rides anywhere in the country and a suitcase full of cash. You think Gladstone couldn't arrange a Bitcoin account for him from a Yale alum?

[rowing]

Win an Olympic gold medal for Serbia? You just got a scholarship to Stanford and a tech mogul is going to throw another $50K/year at your feet.

Why? Explain the gain for Mr. Moneybags.

Imagine the next Clark Dean in this scenario. In the old world he has his pick of free rides at any university in the nation and picks Harvard. In the New World he has his pick of free rides anywhere in the country and a suitcase full of cash.

Okay, you need some sort of intervention therapy.

You yanked a stick in the water for four years. No one noticed. No one cared.

It's over. Let it go. It only meant something to you.

You think Gladstone couldn't arrange a Bitcoin account for him from a Yale alum?

You should read up on how it all works. NCAA would love this kind of murky. It would give the hammers some nails. Just for the practice.

[rowing]

I predict the average NIL rower ends up with a free bucket hat, shades, and a box of energy bars.

[Mango]

I think there is some assumption that the only path for benefit with the NIL is through the schools, but college athletes are now free to market themselves. In the current age of youtubers, tiktokers, influencers, etc., the ability for young adults to create a brand for themselves is a marketable commodity. There is space for 6'5" 20 year old who rows to make some money with his likeness in college. As somebody posted, it is a business now and there are agencies. The US has had major difficulties in terms of marketing its athletes as individuals and pulling in revenue, but the NIL could actually be helpful for somebody like Isaiah Harrison to commodify himself early.

That said, I think from a 1000 foot view the NIL is cool, college athletes should have access to the funds generated from their athleticism. But also realize that this makes up a VERY SMALL portion of college athletics. Most likely this will just consolidate power to a select few athletic departments, which is unfortunate.

[rowing]

Mango from half court, all net!

[rowingpun]

From what I've heard and my own guess would be that college rowers will be more in the influencer market. Even if these kids aren't celebrities, they still have several hundred IG followers and maybe they could get some dough out of that. Tons of room in the fitness market for advertising. The whole idea of outside benefactors is unlikely, but I won't say impossible. That side of NIL is just what has been happening all along under the table, but now it's legal. If there haven't already been boosters/alums putting a little gravy on that acceptance the likelihood of that just popping up is slim.

[sandor]

It is the kids that go back to their small town & headline the summer swim camp that will benefit the most widely.

You need an agent/agency to actively try to make money, sure.

But when your high school coach just wants to put your name & accolades on a flyer, give you $5,000 for some facetime with the young kids, that shouldn't affect your NCAA status.

80% (400,000 out of 500,000 total athletes) have no chance of making $$ like the 85,000 men's basketball/football athletes or the "big" money of the 1700 of them that are going to go pro)


We love entrepreneurial skills in kids when it is tied to ingenuity or smarts, disdain it when it is tied to TikTok or social media influencing, and deem it illegal & punish it when it is tied to athletic dedication & ability?

The IOC removed amateur from their documents 35 years ago.

Most famously, Minnesota wrestler Joel Bauman tested the NCAA in 2013 by promoting that he was an NCAA wrestler on a music video he produced. Bauman declined to remove his name from any songs and eliminate any promotion of his status as an NCAA athlete. He got declared ineligible, a firestorm erupted, and he brilliantly turned the publicity into a marketing job.

"I knew what I was doing the whole time," Bauman said in "Indentured: The Story of the Rebellion Against the NCAA," a recent book about the college sports industry. "The NCAA is pretty predictable."

[paradox]

Why? Explain the gain for Mr. Moneybags.
.

The gain would be Mr. Moneybags big fat ego.

The Mr. and Mrs. Moneybags of the world already donate hundreds of thousands/ millions of dollars to college athletic programs. The Moneybags families who crave an elite rowing program at their beloved university merely have to work with the schools athletic programs (most of which are currently setting up NIL mechanisms) to pass the money to not for profit entities for the NFP to pay the elite rower for minimal service.

Don’t kid yourself the a school that can cause a mere $100K “WAM” (Walking Around Money) per academic year to be distributed among its best varsity rowers or recruits could steer a rower to the program offering the NIL opportunities versus one that has no NIL opportunities.

Note that current NCAA interpretations prohibit a school’s coach from promising or discussing future NIL opportunities, however over time it will be know that the rowers in the varsity boat at School X get $10,000 per year in NIL money but the rowers at school Z get zero NIL money.

[rowing]

Why? Explain the gain for Mr. Moneybags.
.

The gain would be Mr. Moneybags big fat ego.

They already have that, and if they want more, there are other sports with a higher profile.

I get it. You think rowing is swell. Most others don't. It's a rare sugardaddy that comes along from outside the sport.

The Mr. and Mrs. Moneybags of the world already donate hundreds of thousands/ millions of dollars to college athletic programs.

TO BE NOTICED....not forgotten in a backwater marsh somewhere.

The Moneybags families who crave an elite rowing program at their beloved university merely have to work with the schools athletic programs (most of which are currently setting up NIL mechanisms) to pass the money to not for profit entities for the NFP to pay the elite rower for minimal service.

You need a magazine, or can you fill the vial using just your imagination? Put the lid on and leave it on the shelf when you're done.

Don’t kid yourself the a school that can cause a mere $100K “WAM” (Walking Around Money) per academic year to be distributed among its best varsity rowers or recruits could steer a rower to the program offering the NIL opportunities versus one that has no NIL opportunities.

WHOA....save some for next visit. You're not getting paid by the quart, fella!

Note that current NCAA interpretations prohibit a school’s coach from promising or discussing future NIL opportunities, however over time it will be know that the rowers in the varsity boat at School X get $10,000 per year in NIL money but the rowers at school Z get zero NIL money.

Bucket hat, shades and energy bars. Don't spend it all in one place, sonny.

[rowingpun]

Note that current NCAA interpretations prohibit a school’s coach from promising or discussing future NIL opportunities, however over time it will be know that the rowers in the varsity boat at School X get $10,000 per year in NIL money but the rowers at school Z get zero NIL money.


Bucket hat, shades and energy bars. Don't spend it all in one place, sonny.

I tend to agree with the bucket hats on this one. If that money+intent existed we would/do already see it. Club teams are already scraping the barrel for fundraising, and on the other end there are schools with access to oodles of money who can't find their a$$ with both hands. But if that arrangement were to take place how is that any different than it is now with a handful of school able to pump out scholarships/financial aid? Just about every program has at least a couple bazillionaires, or at the very least an alumni list that exists in the top quintile. Every school is capable of this sort of compensation. It might even, gasp, create parity.

[rowing]

If that money+intent existed we would/do already see it. Club teams are already scraping the barrel for fundraising, and on the other end there are schools with access to oodles of money who can't find their a$$ with both hands. But if that arrangement were to take place how is that any different than it is now with a handful of school able to pump out scholarships/financial aid? Just about every program has at least a couple bazillionaires, or at the very least an alumni list that exists in the top quintile. Every school is capable of this sort of compensation. It might even, gasp, create parity.

Advancement offices are not keen on coaches working the fundraising handshakes outside the system. It still happens, but it does present risk of institutional pushback, and possibly job security. When you're on top, staying on top, and the donors give the "stay in your lane" face to the AO, everything is fine. It still might cause some friction, but the AO will keep quiet until they can deliver payback down the road. They have to send a message. They are patient.

That sort of dynamic is only likely to keep the overall rowing hierarchy exactly where it is. Any changes come from breakout diamonds in the rough, and flameouts of WTF happened legends. Maybe a few protected classes sneak through under the radar, but otherwise it's a long Cretaceous.

Need a big meteor.

From rowing's perspective, NIL is a booger.

[rowing]

Great article.

https://apnews.com/article/sports-colle ... 48a2643e58

Cue the scowls from the B/C/D finalists at IRA.