My stated position on Name, Image, Likeness, "NIL" is the NCAA has stood idly by and allowed it to become unmitigated cluster. The NCAA's own website refers to its own rules and guidelines as it relates to NIL as "Interim", which to me indicates -Not etched in stone and potentially subjuct to change-, that's not helpful legally in the grand scheme of things, if the intent is to stay between the white lines and operate in a productive way to remain competitive.
I took a step back and asked myself is NIL a totally new experience to college athletics or are there already practices in place where business practices are in place that have generated revenue related to Name, Image, Likeness? Wjat came immediately to mind was the "Not for Profit" athletic associations each University has that primary function is to generate revenue for University atheltics. These associations operate totally seperate from the University system, and produce revenue on a annual basis in the hundreds of millions dollars primarily for the University sports programs. One of the ways it does this is through selling rights to its registered trademarks. In essance a example of Name, Image, Likeness adn how its used to generate revenue. My reading has led be to believe that in order to fund a NIL collective sufficiently on a annual basis, a P5 NIL would need to generate 12-25 millions dollars annually. To me a University football program the size of the University of Florida, that is a very doable number, with the right kind of marketing and business structure.
You see on the professional level athelets earn income on a Name, Image, Likeness basis, but the process is market driven. Some atheletes earn income that far exceeds the income they earn from their team related income, others not so much. Something that's become very clear with college NIL presently, its not really market driven...in fact it lacks any real business structure, which to me makes it ultimately unsustainable financially long term. Is why for me I'll only venture into the world of NIL presently, providing any of my income directly to athelets that are selling merch in their Name, Image, Likeness only. Im not providing any of my income to a venture that is unaccountable financially, and amounts to nothing more then a black hole from a business standpoint in as far as the collectives are concerned.
Is another reason I say part of Florida's present problem is a product issue, if you dont have a product that is generally marketable........how does one expect it generate revenue sufficient enough to allow it to compete for national titles or NIL revenue for its atheletes? My suggestion for those with decision making authority, is use the Atheletic Association as a business model to develop a competitive and succesful NIL........The University of Florida approach presently is to extend a hand for a handout and then just throw that money at the problem with no accountability and finally get the product issue on the football field corrected.
