By Daniel Hennes, Co-founder and CEO of EngageOn July 1st, 2021, the college athletics landscape changed forever. For the first time ever, college athletes were allowed to make money off of their name, image and likeness (NIL). A multi-billion dollar market was created overnight with the swipe of a pen as student athletes were granted the same rights afforded to pretty much everyone else in society, including pro athletes. A plethora of companies looked to capitalize immediately on the chance to earn press and eyeballs by offering to “pay all student athletes”. While a nice idea in theory, the actual specifics of those deals were often concerning. Companies were getting college athletes with tens of thousands of followers (or more in some cases) to post on their social media for as little as $30. An influencer or professional athlete with the same following would charge over 100 times as much for similar deliverables. To put it simply, companies were taking advantage of the fact that many student athletes lacked the knowledge to understand their worth, and would benefit from the extra $30 in their pocket. This set the stage for what has become a deeply concerning trend.Now, six months later, INFLCR, a leading software for athletes to disclose their deals to compliance, reports that the median compensation reported through their platform for student athletes across all three divisions is a mere $51. Part of that is certainly due to lesser known athletes across divisions doing smaller deals, but it is impossible to look at that number and not be concerned about student athletes being taken advantage of.For years college athletes were exploited by their universities and the NCAA. Many of them went to bed hungry, or did not know where their meals would come from on the weekends when they were away from the team facility. It is easy to understand why even $51 seems amazing when they are used to having zero. There are very real and deeply entrenched structural and societal issues that have contributed to the compensation being so low.In professional sports, all athletes have agents to help them negotiate deals and protect their long term brand value. In college sports, only a very select few athletes have highly qualified agents. The amount of want to be agents “representing” college athletes is a topic for another day. It is no surprise that top tier athletes with representation are able to make significant money and get deals that more resemble their professional counterparts. The lack of representation across college sports leaves a massive glut of athletes with significant followings and marketability, and no professional infrastructure around them to help them appropriately capitalize on their value.We need everyone involved in college athletics to be doing more. Many schools are launching educational programs for NIL, but they are focused on building a social media following, handling taxes, and a myriad of other topics that don’t actually include negotiating a deal or understanding an athlete’s value. The ability to negotiate and think analytically will …
