Are Football Players Stealing the NIL Spotlight?

According to Opendorse, college athletes earned about $917 million in the first year of NIL, and this number is projected to reach $1.14 billion this year. However, about 49.9% of that compensation was earned by football players. Behind football was 17.0% for men’s basketball and 15.7% for women’s basketball. Since the year anniversary of NIL, the average transaction involving a college football player has increased by 179%, earning an average of $3,396 per transaction. Are football players unfairly receiving this compensation?

On3 NIL has released a top 100 list showcasing the top 100 student-athletes, whether in high school or college, with the highest NIL valuations. According to On3 NIL, this list takes into account a player’s performance, influence, and exposure when determining their “NIL Valuation.” When analyzing this list, 3 out of the top 5 players with the highest NIL valuations are football players. These three players include Arch Manning, with a valuation of $3.4 million, Bryce Young, with a valuation of $3.4 million, and CJ Stroud, with a valuation of $2.6 million. These three football players are ranked 2, 3, and 4 respectively. Who is ranked number 1 and 5? Number 1 is Lebron James’ son and basketball player Bronny James, with a valuation of $7.4 million. Number 5 is TikTok famous gymnast Livvy Dunne, with a valuation of $2.4 million.

Still don’t believe that football players dominate? We counted 67 out of the top 100 NIL valuation-ranked athletes to be football players from various institutions. Why might this be? A lot of the dollars flowing in to athletes tend to come from collectives. Collectives, which are independent of a university, are groups that most often pool funds from boosters and businesses, help facilitate NIL deals for athletes, and also create their own ways for athletes to monetize their brands.

Although collectives are meant to provide opportunities for all student-athletes at an institution, the donors tend to illustrate favoritism towards football players. For example, the Clark Field Collective at Texas is essentially paying Longhorns offensive linemen $50,000 each for being Texas offensive linemen. Not convincing enough? Earlier this year, the University of Miami made headlines after it was announced that billionaire John Ruiz is paying at least 17 Miami Hurricanes football players this year a total of approximately $550,000 to promote his businesses Life Wallet.

Why do collectives tend to favor football programs? According to Sports Illustrated and those with knowledge of player contracts, collectives at the elite Power 5 programs have developed a yearly baseline of about $50,000 per football player. Even further, Louisiana State University booster and Baton Rouge attorney Gordon McKernan states the price tag for elite recruits is often at least $100,000 in NIL salary.

Why do schools even want the best players and programs? Well, besides intense school spirit, college football is the biggest revenue producer among college sports. College football brings in an average of $31.9 million per school each year. Due to this, it is no surprise that many rely on football programs to help bring in revenue to the school and care heavily about performance.

When asked about why he feels that Ohio State will need $13 million in NIL money to keep its roster intact, Ohio State football coach Ryan Day stated, “If the speed limit’s 45 miles per hour, and you drive 45 miles per hour, a lot of people are going to pass you by.” The high price standard makes it challenging for programs that want to compete in the recruiting game. With no checks on these high deals, those who want to recruit the best talent will likely continue to offer the promise of high compensation. For that reason, football players will continue to reap the benefits of institutional competition for talent and, therefore, continue steal the NIL spotlight.

To learn more about Football Players and the NIL Spotlight, check out the CleanKonnect NIL Certification Course.