The custom of paying college athletes to play has always been forbidden. The NCAA has always tried to keep sports and athletes clean from bribery and play-to-pay schemes. However, the NCAA suffered a brutal blow from the Supreme Court last year in July 2021. As a result, the NCAA must allow athletes to profit off their own names, images, and personalities. It is called NIL. The verdict created an enormous loss of power for the NCAA, changing some major rules and regulations.

What is NIL?

NIL stands for “Name, Image, and Likeness.” It permits college athletes to make money from marketing and advertising.

College athletes can now get paid for:

• endorsement deals,
• cash in on social media,
• get paid for personal appearances,
• supporting political candidates, and
• autographs.

Since the court’s ruling, the NCAA’s preservation of the student-athlete is weak and in trouble.

SMU NIL Agreement

The SMU Mustangs disclosed their NIL agreement by saying they would pay student-athletes a salary. This agreement will pay its football and basketball players.

Each year, the payout will be $3.5 million. This will provide a salary of $36,000 to each athlete in SMU’s men’s football and basketball program every season. This is the most generous NIL deal by far.

SMU was caught in a pay-for-play scandal in the 1980s. SMU was investigated, found guilty, and severely punished for a colossal NCAA rule violation. The beneficiaries maintained a slush fund that was secretly paying athletes to play.

This illegal activity was tracked from the mid-1970s until 1986. They were caught multiple times over the years and were only given slaps on the wrist. Finally, enough was enough, and in 1986 the football program came to a screeching halt and imploded. The NCAA gave SMU the Death Penalty, prohibiting them from playing in 1987, the following season.

Due to the fall from grace, they also sat out the season in 1988 because of the crippling effect that had struck.

The death penalty was a death blow to the SMU football program. It was in ruins and shambles with a slight heat beat to survive. SMU had only one winning season in 20 years. And now, the NIL law was the defibrillator SMU needed to breathe life back into their sports programs again. What was once a severely punishable act is now legal.

The Boulevard Collective

SMU has donors with deep pockets that can provide the bankroll. They now call themselves the Boulevard Collective. The school and the donors are not paying them to play. NIL doesn’t allow pay-for-play. That is illegal. But there is nothing wrong with donors or interest groups paying for their NIL collectibles, memorabilia, and influence.

The NIL act does not have significant loopholes. It has enormous gaps that the NCAA now has no power to stop. For example, the donors can pay large amounts of money, let’s say $36,000, for autographs, jerseys, and appearances. Now, they just can’t pay $36,000 for one autograph. But they can pay large amounts of money for talks and appearances. It still needs to have standard value, but that is still easy to work around.

The Boulevard Collective’s mission says that they only want to help create opportunities for SMU athletes. They want to encourage and enhance their athletic career. And at the same time, prepare them for professional life goals and achievements.

The NCAA is now trying to gain some control of NIL by establishing new rules to limit the number of recruits a college can pay. Also, they are trying to establish regulations that will diminish the power and influence of such groups as the Boulevard Collective and the college boosters’ program.

For now, NIL seems to have leveled the recruiting playing field, although it has been secretly happening over the years. Many donors and groups are very good at moving money around. However, this will definitely be the number one influence for an athlete in choosing which college to attend.

The NIL law differs from state to state.

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