College Athletes Make Money with Name, Image, Likeness Deals

College Athletes Make Money with Name, Image, Likeness¹ Deals

The month of March is important for college basketball players in the United States. On televisions around the country, sports fans watch the big college basketball tournament for men and women.

It is an opportunity for young athletes to get attention and become famous.

The tournament games are known as "March Madness."

In the 1970s and 1980s, basketball players like Magic Johnson and Michael Jordan first became famous in March.

However, they were not permitted to make money from their fame until becoming professionals and joining the National Basketball Association². After they became professionals, they could get paid by their teams and do advertisements for companies like Nike.

Now however, thanks to a decision by the U.S. Supreme³ Court last June, American college athletes are now permitted to make money from their fame.

Cashing in

The athletes can make money by permitting businesses to use their name, image and likeness to sell a product. The agreements are called "NIL⁴" deals.

As a result, some university athletes are becoming wealthy at age 20.

Others may not become wealthy, but they want money "to fall back on." That means they will have some saved money even if they do not have a long sports career. That is the viewpoint⁵ of Deja Kelly, a basketball player at the University of North Carolina – Chapel⁶ Hill.

The NIL deals are important for female⁷ athletes who will not have as many opportunities to make money as male athletes after college.

"We can't play forever. The ball stops bouncing⁸ at some point," Kelly said.

She has six NIL deals, including one with a large coffee company and another with a large restaurant group.

How they make money

Many of the deals require the students to place messages on social media apps such as Instagram and TikTok to reach fans. In others, the students' faces appear in advertisements for businesses in return for money. Some businesses give students money so they can make clothing items with their names or faces.

"It'll set me up for life," Kelly said, meaning she hopes to not have financial worries in the future.

Most of the time it is easier for male athletes to make money with NIL deals, because their sports are seen by more people. However, some female athletes are doing well because they are very attractive.

Livvy Dunne is one of them. She is a 19-year-old gymnast at Louisiana State University. She has about 6 million followers⁹ combined on Instagram and TikTok. In a written response to questions sent by The Associated Press, Dunne said she has about 10 NIL deals.

One sports media company, Barstool Sports, is making money by paying mostly female athletes to appear in photos and videos on its Instagram page. Another company, Beautiful Ballers, has photos of female athletes wearing very small swimsuits.

Masai Russell is a track and field athlete for the University of Kentucky. She has about 20 NIL deals with companies that include media company Hulu and Walgreens, a store that has about 9,000 locations around the U.S. She gets paid to make advertisements on Instagram that show items like clothing and vitamins.

Russell said she earns more than $100,000 per year from her NIL deals, but she is trying to be careful with the money.

"I'm trying to play it out very smart...so that I'm pretty well-off in my later years."

Gloria Nevarez is the top athletics¹⁰ official for a group of colleges in the western U.S. She said she hopes the young women succeed for more reasons than just "attractiveness."

Not easy money for all

While some are doing well, not all college athletes are making lots of money.

One of them is Bailey Moody¹¹. She is a wheelchair basketball player at the University of Alabama and a member of the U.S.A. Paralympic team. She said making money from NIL deals is a lot of work. She congratulates those who do on their success.

Blake Lawrence works¹² for a company called Opendorse, which helps college athletes find NIL deals. He said most are not making that much money: a good deal might bring in about $250 per month.

International students miss out

There is one group of college athletes, however, who are not permitted to make money from NIL deals: international students who come to college in the U.S. on F-1 student visas.

Leigh Cole is an immigration lawyer in Vermont. She said breaking that rule would have serious "consequences."

Dorka Juhasz is a basketball player at the University of Connecticut. The team is often one of the best in the country. Juhasz is from Hungary, so she is not permitted to make money in the U.S. She said other basketball players who stayed in Europe are making money. Juhasz called it "disappointing" that she was not able to make money in the U.S.

Peter Schoenthal's company Athliance helps college athletes understand NIL rules. He said the system is confusing, and it is safer for international students to avoid it in order to prevent a violation¹³.

The future of NIL deals is not yet decided¹⁴. Many states now have laws that permit students to make money while playing college sports. But there may still be a discussion¹⁵ in the U.S. Congress¹⁶ about a national law related¹⁷ to the issue.

Words in This Story

tournament –n. a sports competition or a series of contests that continues for weeks or several days leading to one winner

athlete –n. a person who is trained or good in sports

likeness – n. a picture of a person

bounce¹⁸ –v. to cause a ball to hit against a surface and quickly move in the other direction

attractive – adj. having a pleasing appearance

app – n. a computer program that performs a special function, often used on mobile¹⁹ phones

gymnast – n. a person who performs various physical exercises on a mat or special equipment as part of an athletics competition

vitamin –n. a substance found in foods or pills that can be taken to help your body be healthy

consequence –n. something that happens as a result of another action

confusing –adj. something that is hard to understand

1 likeness   

n.相像，相似（之处）

参考例句：

• I think the painter has produced a very true likeness.我认为这位画家画得非常逼真。
• She treasured the painted likeness of her son.她珍藏她儿子的画像。

2 association   

n.联盟，协会，社团；交往，联合；联想

参考例句：

• Our long association with your company has brought great benefits.我方和贵公司的长期合作带来了巨大的利益。
• I broke away from the association ten years ago.我10年前就脱离了那个团体。

3 supreme   

adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的

参考例句：

• It was the supreme moment in his life.那是他一生中最重要的时刻。
• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。

4 nil   

n.无，全无，零

参考例句：

• My knowledge of the subject is practically nil.我在这方面的知识几乎等于零。
• Their legal rights are virtually nil.他们实际上毫无法律权利。

5 viewpoint   

n.观点，看法，见解

参考例句：

• He explained his viewpoint that taxes should be increased.他解释了他认为应该增加税收的观点。
• My viewpoint is in coincidence with you.我的观点与你的一致。

6 chapel   

n.小教堂，殡仪馆

参考例句：

• The nimble hero,skipped into a chapel that stood near.敏捷的英雄跳进近旁的一座小教堂里。
• She was on the peak that Sunday afternoon when she played in chapel.那个星期天的下午，她在小教堂的演出，可以说是登峰造极。

7 female   

adj.雌的，女(性)的；n.雌性的动物，女子

参考例句：

• We only employ female workers.我们只雇用女工。
• The animal in the picture was a female elephant.照片上的动物是头母象。

8 bouncing   

adj.精力充沛的；精神饱满的；活泼的vt.“bounce”的现在分词

参考例句：

• a bouncing baby boy 茁壮的男婴
• He kept bouncing up and down like a yo-yo . 他像个悠悠球似的蹦蹦跳跳。

9 followers   

追随者( follower的名词复数 )； 用户； 契据的附面； 从动件

参考例句：

• the followers of Mahatma Gandhi 圣雄甘地的拥护者
• The reformer soon gathered a band of followers round him. 改革者很快就获得一群追随者支持他。

10 athletics   

n.运动，体育，田径运动

参考例句：

• When I was at school I was always hopeless at athletics.我上学的时候体育十分糟糕。
• Our team tied with theirs in athletics.在田径比赛中，我们队与他们队旗鼓相当。

11 moody   

adj.心情不稳的，易怒的，喜怒无常的

参考例句：

• He relapsed into a moody silence.他又重新陷于忧郁的沉默中。
• I'd never marry that girl.She's so moody.我决不会和那女孩结婚的。她太易怒了。

12 works   

n.作品，著作；工厂，活动部件，机件

参考例句：

• We expect writers to produce more and better works.我们期望作家们写出更多更好的作品。
• The novel is regarded as one of the classic works.这篇小说被公认为是最优秀的作品之一。

13 violation   

n.违反(行为)，违背(行为)，侵犯

参考例句：

• He roared that was a violation of the rules.他大声说，那是违反规则的。
• He was fined 200 dollars for violation of traffic regulation.他因违反交通规则被罚款200美元。

14 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

15 discussion   

n.讨论，谈论；论述

参考例句：

• It is certain he will come to the discussion.他肯定会来参加讨论。
• After months of discussion,a peace agreement is gradually taking shape.经过几个月的商讨，和平协议渐渐有了眉目。

16 Congress   

n.(代表)大会；(C-:美国等国的)国会，议会

参考例句：

• There were some days to wait before the Congress.大会的召开还有几天时间。
• After 18 years in Congress,he intented to return to private life.在国会供职18年后，他打算告老还乡。

17 related   

adj.有关系的，有关联的，叙述的，讲述的

参考例句：

• I am not related to him in any way.我和他无任何关系。
• We spent days going through all related reference material.我们花了好多天功夫查阅所有有关的参考资料。

18 bounce   

n.弹，反弹；冲劲，冲力；v.(使)弹起(跳起)

参考例句：

• She's got a lot of bounce.她浑身都是劲。
• The ball gave a high bounce.那球弹得很高。

19 mobile   

adj.可移动的，易变的，机动的；n.运动物体

参考例句：

• The old lady sits on a mobile chair every morning.那位老妇人每天上午坐在一把可携带使用的椅子上。
• She's much more mobile now that she's bought a car.自从她买了汽车后，活动量就大多了。