Blaze News investigates: The shocking truth about NIL deals in college sports

College athletes always wanted to get paid, and now they are.

The current regime, in which college athletes are allowed to be paid for name, image, and likeness rights, originated from a federal appeals court decision in 2015 that rejected the decades-long argument offered by the NCAA; that college athletes were in fact “amateur athletes,” which exempted the schools from being subject to antitrust laws.

After fighting to maintain the status quo for decades, the dam finally broke in July 2021, when name, image, and likeness compensation officially became an option for college athletes after more than 70 years of NCAA resistance.

'We're trying to learn from everybody else who got caught.'

How do NIL payments work?

Before 2021, opportunities for college athletes to make money off their likeness were not just slim, they were nonexistent.

This led to high-level athletes being coaxed into shady deals that risked their entire future.

Movies like Spike Lee’s “He Got Game” starring Denzel Washington have chronicled the dark side of the persistent pressure athletes are under from bidding schools, family members, and avid supporters.

In the film, a basketball player — played by NBA champion Ray Allen — is offered a car by his uncle, persuaded by his girlfriend to attend a certain school, and is even asked by his father to commit to a different school in order to get him out of prison.

Unfortunately, stories like this mirror real life.

In 2011, college quarterback Cam Newton was accused by NCAA investigators of seeking $120,000-$180,000 to commit to Mississippi State University. The investigation concluded that Newton’s father was acting as his scholarship agent and floating offers on the player’s behalf without his knowledge.

In 2013, Texas A&M’s superstar quarterback Johnny Manziel was allegedly offered a “five figure” payment in exchange for signing photos and memorabilia, a clear violation of NCAA rules.

Years later, Manziel admitted to some of the accusations, saying that he was paid $33,000 for thousands of autographs. The first $3,000 was for 10,000 autographs, a rate of just 30 cents per signature.

He said the transactions were “sneaky,” and he was trying not “to get caught.”

“We're trying to learn from everybody else who got caught,” he said, according to Sporting News.

While Manziel was under the microscope for his alleged payments, his school’s athletic department made $119 million in revenue that same year while having to pay its players nothing.

By 2024, Texas A&M’s revenue has ballooned to $193 million, the seventh highest in the nation.

The five highest earning schools in the country all make over $200 million per year in athletics, with Ohio State University at a whopping $251 million.

Now, the tables seem to have completely turned as the schools are the ones kept out of the signing room.

Technically, schools aren't allowed to be directly involved in a player’s NIL deals. Instead, it's up to a program or collective that is closely tied to the school to broker the deals between the student-athletes and the brands.

Jill Savage, who spent eight years on the PAC-12 Network, clarified that NIL deals “cannot be tied to performance.”

“Even if a player gets injured or gets less playing time than expected, they still have to receive the deal in full. However, NIL does allow student-athletes to market themselves and build their brand in ways never done before,” she told Blaze News.

This helps student-athletes avoid “getting caught up in bad situations,” former Kentucky swimmer Kaitlynn Wheeler added.

“It can make them less vulnerable to unethical offers, too,” she continued.

Savage noted that the new NIL payments ensure deals are “done on the record instead of in private, shady deals.”

The new deals

The era of NIL payments kicked off with a pair of silk pajamas branded with the logo of television-recording device TiVo.

In September 2021, 90 Georgia Tech football players received the pajamas in exchange for promoting TiVo on social media. The athletes also received prepaid debit cards worth $404 and upgrades to the school’s audio and visual equipment in team facilities. All told, the deal was worth more than $100,000 for the program.

“This is the beginning of what we’re going to do in this space,” TiVo’s Matt Milne told ESPN at the time.

With the benefit of hindsight, the Georgia Tech deal now seems like a robbery compared to 2024 standards.

Reviewing any recent NIL agreement shows just how far payments for student-athletes have come in a few short years.

Whether it’s Ohio State safety Caleb Downs inking an $817,000 deal with American Eagle Outfitters, or Texas quarterback Quinn Ewers' $1.7 million deal with Hulu, the list of regional and national endorsements are seemingly endless; even high school athletes are getting paid.

Website On3, which debuted just a month after NIL payments started rolling out, hosts a database of student-athlete endorsements and deals. The website keeps track of social media followings and monetary value of contracts, then gives each student-athlete a score and valuation estimating how much their likeness is worth.

No. 1 on that list is legacy athlete Shedeur Sanders. Sanders is the son of Hall of Fame NFL cornerback Deion Sanders, who is also his coach at Colorado University.

With over 2.5 million social media followers, Sanders tops the list of endorsable athletes with an NIL evaluation of $4.7 million. His endorsements include Google and Topps trading cards.

Second on that list is Louisiana State’s gymnastics sensation Olivia Dunne. With over 13 million social media followers Dunne has found herself landing monster deals with subscription platforms and sportswear brands like Nautica.

Her $3.9 million valuation comes with a loyal base of fans that have made her competitions must-see events.

Texas quarterback Arch Manning recently signed deals with EA Sports and trading card brand Panini on his way to a $3.1 million valuation, putting him at third on the list.

'He's not one of those athletes that needs to focus on making money.'

With such lucrative contracts, the weight of expectations on these college-age athletes is greater than it has ever been.

For a player like Sanders, he started fumbling with the added fame and fortune fairly quickly.

“His conduct with nice cars and fancy watches has only spawned more questions about the quarterback's maturity,” OutKick’s Alejandro Avila commented.

Sanders needs to prove, not disprove, that his fame isn’t a distraction, Avila continued.

“Think about it, Shedeur's dad (and coach) is Deion Sanders ... he's not one of those athletes that needs to focus on making money,” Avila added.

Indeed, the 22-year-old is seemingly succumbing to some of the influences of celebrity life, which was showcased, for example, by his participation in a Louis Vuitton fashion show in Paris in January 2024.

That appearance came shortly after a miserable 4-8 season for the Colorado Buffaloes, which only fuels the idea that young athletes may not be built for such extravagant lifestyles.

'Most student-athletes forget why they ever attended school in the first place.'

For a gymnast like Dunne, her money doesn’t stem from TV ratings or even from her performance in her sport. Her NIL value is largely attributed to her online popularity. This is a different kind of influence that can quickly put athletics and education on the back burner for a student, even more than before.

“This has changed the way students are picking their schools, and how programs are recruiting,” Wheeler explained. “It’s about going to the school that is going to give athletes the best deal.”

Wheeler added that she felt the money athletes are making definitely takes away from a focus on education.

Broadcaster and former college athlete Gary Sheffield Jr. said that “most student-athletes forget why they ever attended school in the first place,” outside of athletics.

“Realistically, at the very least they’ll become more financially literate. The student side can’t get any worse,” Sheffield said.

At the same time, Texas quarterback Manning proves young athletes are capable of smoothly operating through the system while still making a buck. Manning isn’t a social media powerhouse nor a frequent public speaker at all.

Still, he secured himself a lucrative deal to market a video game while mostly remaining on the sidelines. When the time comes, he will have to prove himself athletically, but if his uncles Peyton and Eli are any indication, he should be able to do that easily.

From the perspective of many athletes, meanwhile, the NCAA owes them for years of profiteering on the backs of their involuntarily free labor.

This includes Hall of Fame running back Emmitt Smith, who has demanded “reparations” from the University of Florida from his time with the school in the 1980s.

As well, much of the 1983 North Carolina State basketball team wants compensation for the continued use of their highlights over the years.

The NCAA has faced several class action lawsuits that could lead to payouts to former athletes that might reach billions of dollars.

This is happening due to years of “ineptitude and stupidity by the NCAA,” BlazeTV’s Jimmy von Thron, a former Princeton safety, said.

Von Thron said he understood the frustration that former players feel about payments and added the NCAA is now facing the music.

Still, he hopes that future athletes won’t have to deal with the same restrictions he did as a student.

“We had teammates get in trouble for ‘autographing’ a wall of a local restaurant because it was considered endorsement. I was also told that if a stranger offered to buy me a dessert because he was a Princeton football fan, I was supposed to say no because it was an impermissible benefit,” he recalled.

Von Thron also remembered fines for “going back for seconds” at a team meal, as it was also seen as an “impermissible benefit.”

The question will remain moving forward: Will NIL payments be what ultimately ends pay disparity between programs and players, or will they fundamentally alter the loyalty between a player and their school?

The answer may lie in the NCAA’s transfer portal, which has already spawned a new freedom of movement for players to seek greater exposure.

Players like Angel Reese, now in the WNBA, made a huge splash when she transferred from Maryland to Louisiana State University.

Reese started getting high-profile deals right as her junior year with LSU started, including contracts with Sonic, Bose, and Raising Cane’s.

Her NIL valuation now sits at $1.8 million.

Men’s basketball player Hansel Emmanuel went from a relative unknown to a $1.2 million valuation after transferring from Northwestern State to Austin Peay in 2023.

Emmanuel’s highlights went viral for his high skill level despite having just one arm due to a childhood accident.

His endorsements from Champs Sports and Oakley serve as an inspiration for athletes who now have a bevy of opportunities at their fingertips thanks to the new NIL rules.

If a player wants to move to a bigger or different market, he or she has that opportunity to capitalize on different fan bases and lifestyles.

At this point, it seems unimaginable there was ever a time when it would be considered an offense nationwide for a student-athlete to make 30 cents per autograph.