NIL

The NIL and the demise of college athletics

The LBSU student section were loud and on their feet, with a total of 4,676 people filling up the arena. UCI however overcame the LBSU crowd and upset The Beach 3-0. Photo credit: Samuel Chacko Name, image and likeness coupled with the unregulated transfer portal is causing the perfect storm that is leading to the […]

Published

2 weeks ago

May 8, 2025

Your Sports Nation

The LBSU student section were loud and on their feet, with a total of 4,676 people filling up the arena. UCI however overcame the LBSU crowd and upset The Beach 3-0. Photo credit: Samuel Chacko

Name, image and likeness coupled with the unregulated transfer portal is causing the perfect storm that is leading to the downfall of our beloved college sports.

Name, Image and Likeness

Since its birth on July 1, 2021, the NIL landscape has changed drastically from its beginning to its current state, spiraling out of control as the days go by.

It started in 2021 with the simple idea that athletes would be able to profit off their name, image and likeness– something that should have happened a long time ago– and players became influencers per se, attaching their names to brands for money.

However, on December 10, 2024, it was announced that schools can directly pay players, turning recruiting and the transfer portal specifically into the “Wild West”.

In 2025, college sports have turned into a bidding war with athletes jumping from school to school, trying to see which school will pay them the most money, diminishing the core principles of college sports.

Take former University of Tennessee star quarterback Nico Iamaleava, for example.

He led the Volunteers to the No. 9 seed in the College Football Playoff and just recently made headlines when he left Tennessee after shopping himself around in an attempt to improve on the reported $2.4 million he was set to make at Tennessee this year.

After losing to Ohio State in the first round of the CFP, Iamaleava’s representatives– including his father, Nic– were reaching out to other schools behind the back of Tennessee and eventually landed on the University of California, Los Angeles, where he will be earning less than he was set to earn at Tennessee, according to ESPN.

Iamaleava, who is now being referred to on social media as “Nico Imma leave ya,” embodies everything that is wrong with the current state of NIL in college athletics.

College athletes deserve to profit from their name, image and likeness as they are the product that the college is producing, they are the reason fans buy tickets and spend money at concessions, but how NIL is being abused is not right.

Transfer Portal

In April 2024, the NCAA made a ruling that an athlete can transfer as many times as they want with immediate eligibility as long as they meet the new school’s academic requirements.

Ever since, that rule has been taken advantage of.

As of April 21, 2025, it has been reported that there are over 2,300 men’s basketball players, up 1,363 from 2019 when the portal was introduced, and over 1,500 women’s basketball players in the transfer portal.

The new narrative in college sports is that if a player has a good season at a small school, they enter the portal and try to go to a better school that can pay them more money.

If they have a bad season or don’t play as much as they feel they should at a big school, they transfer down in hopes of having a good season to transfer back up and make more money as an established player.

This narrative creates a toxic environment that encourages players to jump from team to team and to forgo the loyalty and development process that we have been used to seeing, all in hopes of benefiting monetarily.

Because of the ever-present transfer carousel, mid-majors, like Long Beach State, around the country are losing their best players year after year to larger schools that can pay them more, causing a lack of parity from top to bottom in college basketball.

We saw this come to light in this year’s NCAA Division I men’s basketball tournament, when the Elite 8 was an almost uniform outcome with there being four No. 1 seeds, three No. 2 seeds and a No. 3 seed in Texas Tech, which was the outlier.

Six out of the eight teams’ leading scorers for the 2024-2025 season were transfers, with Michigan State and Duke University being the only two teams not to be led by a transfer.

The parity of one of the great sporting events has been stolen away by the transfer portal. It is a small sample size, but the lack of a “Cinderella team” in this year’s tournament was evident.

Whatever happened to waiting your turn? Whatever happened to developing at one school? But most of all, whatever happened to loyalty?

Loyalty to a fanbase that has welcomed you with open arms and supported you through good and bad games, and loyalty to a coaching staff that embraced you, recruited you and invited you into their collegiate families.

College fans around the country are constantly getting figuratively slapped in the face when their favorite player abandons them to go chase more money.

This “Wild West” needs to be tamed.

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Quinn Ewers wearing his teal Miami Dolphin uniform

“There’s a lot of guys out there right now, and everyone’s fighting for the same job,” Ewers said. “But you’ve got to earn the job and earn the trust of those guys as well.” When Quinn Ewers slipped on a Miami Dolphins jersey for the first time, the seventh-round rookie quarterback left the disappointment of […]

Published

49 minutes ago

May 20, 2025

Your Sports Nation

“There’s a lot of guys out there right now, and everyone’s fighting for the same job,” Ewers said. “But you’ve got to earn the job and earn the trust of those guys as well.”

When Quinn Ewers slipped on a Miami Dolphins jersey for the first time, the seventh-round rookie quarterback left the disappointment of draft weekend behind and focused on the opportunity ahead. “I didn’t expect to fall as low as I did, but it is what it is at the end of the day, and I have the same opportunity as everybody else does, and I’m beyond thankful for that,” Ewers said as the Dolphins opened rookie minicamp.

Ewers, selected 231st overall in the 2025 NFL Draft, enters a quarterback room led by Tua Tagovailoa and recent free agent signing Zach Wilson. Despite being the last of 13 quarterbacks drafted, the former Texas Longhorns star is determined to prove himself at the professional level. “I just want to go in there and play my game at the end of the day and learn and develop as a quarterback,” Ewers said.

The transition to the NFL marks a new chapter for Ewers, who finished his college career with 3,472 passing yards and 31 touchdowns in his final season at Texas, leading the Longhorns to back-to-back College Football Playoff appearances and an SEC Championship game. Ewers’ collegiate success placed him among the top quarterbacks in Texas history, but questions about consistency and injuries may have contributed to his draft slide.

Off the field, Ewers is already making headlines. Just a month into his Dolphins tenure, he secured a $3 million exclusive autograph trading card deal with Panini, a figure nearly matching his four-year, $4.3 million rookie contract with Miami. “Thank you [Panini] for helping me tell my story and continuing our relationship! I can’t wait to see my first NFL trading cards!” Ewers posted on social media.

The endorsement helps offset speculation about the NIL money he left behind by declaring for the draft rather than transferring for a final college season. Ewers also had a prior NIL deal with Panini.

As Ewers dons the Dolphins’ aqua and orange, he faces the challenge of climbing the depth chart and earning the trust of teammates and coaches. For now, the rookie is focused on learning, developing, and making the most of his opportunity in Miami. “There’s a lot of guys out there right now, and everyone’s fighting for the same job,” Ewers said. “But you’ve got to earn the job and earn the trust of those guys as well.”

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Quinn Ewers’ honest take on ‘unconventional’ NIL experience

Quinn Ewers’ college journey is over as he was drafted by the Miami Dolphins last month. Ewers had an eventful path throughout the past few years after being the #1 overall recruit in the 2021 recruiting class. He originally committed to Ohio State, and he spent one season with the Buckeyes before transferring to Texas. […]

Published

3 hours ago

May 20, 2025

Your Sports Nation

By the time Quinn Ewers’ college career came to a close, he held a $4.5 million NIL valuation. It’s safe to say that aspest of Ewers’ college days was a success.

“The way that it’s kind of been set up for me has been nothing short of unconventional, I think I would say,” Ewers said, according to an article from On3. “Skipping my senior year to enroll at Ohio State early, and then be there for not even a whole calendar year and then decide to go back to my home state of Texas and really, turn around a program that hadn’t really won anything in years, consistently. For me, I go in and lose one game on the road my entire career, go 11-1 on the road. Win a Big 12 title game, go to the College Football Playoff two years in a row and win a Peach Bowl, win multiple Playoff games. It’s nothing short of special.”

Ewers popularity and NIL valuation would make some people think that he was a first-round draft pick. When he started his college career, he was expected to be. Instead, Ewers went in the seventh round, but he isn’t complaining at all.

“I do not take it for granted at all because I know a lot of people would love to be in the shoes that I’m in,” he said. “I guess that’s kind of a ‘why’ for me. Why I do these things. I know the draft didn’t go the way I wanted it to, but at the end of the day, I have the same opportunity everybody else does. What better place to start the journey than in Miami and playing under a really, really good offensive mind in Coach McDaniel?”

When NIL opportunities started to show up, Quinn Ewers immediately took advantage. He signed his first deal with Panini, and he was off and running.

“I feel like I signed about as early as I could,” Ewers said. “I’ve always been with Panini, and it’s been a great relationship that’s continuing to build. Super, super happy that they brought me on as early as they did. It’s just been a great relationship.”

NIL is a huge part of college sports now, and athletes want to make money. Ewers’ biggest piece of advice? Don’t focus on the NIL money, and the NIL money will come.

“I think the biggest lesson that I like to tell people and kind of how I feel is, if you keep the main thing, everything else will really fall in line,” Ewers added. “Because as soon as you lose what you do to earn the NIL, you lose all the NIL. You just continue to play football and remain present and remain focused on the objective – which isn’t NIL, by the way – that’ll come with the success that you have.”

Ewers is a firm believer in staying focused and letting the rest take care of itself.

“Just be present, especially if you’re in high school and you’re not receiving as much offers or whatever it is – coaches aren’t recognizing you as much,” he said. “Just remain present and continue to be consistent. As long as you stay consistent, you’re going to end up where you want to be, at the end of the day. That’s just how it goes. I was lucky enough to be a highly recruited guy, but I just tried to stay as consistent as I could as long as I could, which, at the end of the day, helped me a ton. That’s all it is about – remaining present and taking care of business and letting all the other stuff fall in line, because it will if you really put the work in.”

Now, Quinn Ewers is done earning NIL money, and he is on to NFL contracts. He signed a four-year, $4.33 million dollar contract with the Dolphins. He earned more during his time in college, but that’s not too shabby for a seventh-rounder on a rookie contract.

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BREAKING

Dive into the latest on NIL policies and their potential legal battles, as well as the impact of bloated conferences on college athletics. Author: kcentv.com Published: 2:17 AM CDT May 20, 2025 Updated: 2:17 AM CDT May 20, 2025 1

Published

4 hours ago

May 20, 2025

Your Sports Nation

Dive into the latest on NIL policies and their potential legal battles, as well as the impact of bloated conferences on college athletics.

NIL

BREAKING

Dive into the latest on NIL policies and their potential legal battles, as well as the impact of bloated conferences on college athletics. Author: wkyc.com Published: 3:17 AM EDT May 20, 2025 Updated: 3:17 AM EDT May 20, 2025 1

Published

5 hours ago

May 20, 2025

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Dive into the latest on NIL policies and their potential legal battles, as well as the impact of bloated conferences on college athletics.

NIL

TABLE

Published

5 hours ago

May 20, 2025

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PUMA India Inks Multi

National, May 20, 2025: Sports brand PUMA India continues to deepen its investment in the country’s growing running movement by joining forces with the Mumbai Half Marathon and the Wipro Bengaluru Marathon as their Official Sportswear Partner. The multi-year deal with race organisers NEB Sports Entertainment reinforces PUMA’s commitment to deliver a holistic race experience […]

Published

6 hours ago

May 20, 2025

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National, May 20, 2025: Sports brand PUMA India continues to deepen its investment in the country’s growing running movement by joining forces with the Mumbai Half Marathon and the Wipro Bengaluru Marathon as their Official Sportswear Partner. The multi-year deal with race organisers NEB Sports Entertainment reinforces PUMA’s commitment to deliver a holistic race experience at every leg of a runner’s journey—from training to race day and beyond.

The 8th Mumbai Half Marathon is scheduled for August 17, while the Wipro Bengaluru Marathon, in its 12th edition this year, will take place on September 21. Through this strategic tie-up, PUMA India will deliver a 360-degree experience that includes access to expert-led training runs, race-day performance gear, and on-ground support to participants during and after the race. With this, the sports brand has strengthened its presence in India’s rapidly expanding running community—one that is evolving from a recreational activity into a lifestyle and a cultural force.

Commenting on the partnership, Karthik Balagopalan, Managing Director of PUMA India, said, “The sport of Running is transforming India—shaping lifestyles, building communities, and redefining competition. Our partnership with NEB marks PUMA’s deeper commitment to fuel this momentum. India has an extremely vibrant community of close to 3 million registered runners and double-digit growth in marquee events like the Mumbai and Wipro Marathons. We think it is a fantastic opportunity to empower them to chase their goals and go the distance. This partnership further strengthens our commitment to push and elevate the evolution of running in the country.”

PUMA’s investment in running is backed by the success of one of India’s best-selling performance shoes, NITRO. Since October 2024, over 50% of elite podium finishers across five key Indian races have worn PUMA NITROs, underscoring the franchise’s dominance and trust among top athletes. The sports brand’s Running business unit is also growing faster than PUMA India’s overall business—signaling strong consumer demand.

India’s distance running landscape is experiencing rapid growth within the burgeoning sports ecosystem. In 2024, the emerging sports business experienced a 19% year-over-year growth, with marathons accounting for 23.5% of the overall segment. Tapping into this dynamic momentum, PUMA leverages this upswing through diverse initiatives promoting participation, performance, and the cultural importance of running nationwide.
Speaking on the occasion, Nagaraj Adiga, CMD – NEB Sports, said, “We are thrilled to welcome PUMA India on board as our official sportswear partner. At NEB Sports, we have always believed in creating inclusive, eco-conscious sporting experiences that go beyond the racetrack. This association marks an exciting chapter in fostering a culture of health and wellness across communities. Together, we aim to inspire more people to lace up and hit the roads with passion and purpose.”

PUMA’s contribution to the running ecosystem in India goes beyond sponsorships. The brand has powered iconic races like the Vedanta Delhi Half Marathon, challenged high-altitude conditions at the Ladakh Marathon, and expanded its reach through the Adani Marathon. In 2024 alone, PUMA India executed over 250 Training Runs across cities and introduced unique formats like the PUMA x Bumble Singles Run — cementing its position as a sports brand deeply invested in India’s running culture.

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