These College Football Stars Are Cashing in the Biggest NIL Deals

Sports

Published: September 11, 2024 11:30 am

Until 2021, it was illegal to pay college athletes for their name, image or likeness. This meant as long as an athlete played under the National Collegiate Athletic Association, they did so without the option of brand deals, sponsorships or endorsements as you may see from professional athletes. Instead of the athlete being compensated for their talent, the NCAA was pocketing excessive amounts of money off things like jersey sales.

The NCAA made moves to change their policy and pay out almost $3 billion to former college athletes after a Supreme Court decision related to antitrust laws was handed down. The Court accused the NCAA of pocketing massive amounts of money on the merits of student-athletes who received very little financial compensation for their efforts. They likened it to American businesses not paying workers a fair wage, and in their opinion, determined that no other business is allowed to get away with what the NCAA was doing.

That decision was handed down after a decades-long lawsuit was filed by Ed O’Bannon, a former basketball player for UCLA. His argument was that college athletes should receive compensation any time their image or name was used in video games.

What Does NIL Mean?

Companies like Gatorade can now pay college athletes to promote or represent their brand.

NIL stands for name, image and likeness. Giving the athletes control over NIL deals means they have the chance to make money on different types of deals. Some of these include:

Endorsements: College athletes can receive money for lending their image or name to a company to endorse a specific product or service.
Sponsorships: College athletes can be compensated for deals with companies to promote a service or product in things like logo placement, social media promotion or product placement.
Social Media Marketing: Athletes can make deals with companies to promote their products through the athlete’s social media channels.
Personal Appearances: Athletes can speak or make appearances at events and be paid for them.

Effects of NIL Deals

Caitlin Clark made close to $3 in endorsement deals while playing basketball for Iowa.

One of the concerns about NIL deals is the fact that the athlete’s deals are regulated by state laws in the state where their college is located, and those laws at times are unclear or conflict with federal laws. It’s expected that over time, these issues will be worked out. One thing is clear – it is still unacceptable for the schools themselves to pay the athletes.

There were mountains of concerns about how this decision would affect college sports, but many athletes have found great success. For the purposes of this article, we focused on college football, because it is one of the most lucrative industries in the nation. Some college players have made upwards of a million dollars, and time will tell how these changes affect the overall program. Here you’ll find some of the highest-paid athletes in college football, where they play and an estimate of how much they make.

Unsurprisingly, big names in college football made the list, including Alabama, Ohio State, Oregon, Texas and Ole Miss. Most of the athletes on our list play the quarterback position. They are more influential because they are often seen as the team’s leaders and the players the media sees the most. A few wide receivers also made the list, and you may recognize the last name of a few of these athletes, as their relatives have played huge parts in the sports world.