JUDY WOODRUFF: The college football season is getting under way this week. Players are
returning to the field for what they hope will be a more normal year, after a COVID-plagued
2020 season.
But there is another difference for student athletes this year.
As John Yang reports, it has to do with their financial opportunities off the field.
JOHN YANG: On the football field, D'Eriq King has a high profile and a big name.
D'ERIQ KING, Miami Hurricanes Football Player: It's a big responsibility being the starting
quarterback at the University of Miami, right? So, just me trying to do everything right.
JOHN YANG: But until this year, King, a potential Heisman Trophy candidate, couldn't earn a
penny from his fame.
D'ERIQ KING: We couldn't make money off anything. I couldn't go to a local restaurant and get
a free meal, but a regular student, they can go make a TikTok and get famous off of it
and make a lot of money. We couldn't do that.
JOHN YANG: That all changed this summer, when the NCAA, under pressure from new laws and
court rulings, rewrote its policies to allow college athletes to sign paid endorsement
deals.
Now King is a leader in the new field of college athletes profiting from their names, images
and likenesses, what's called NIL.
D'ERIQ KING: I think it was a long time coming. When I first got in college, I never thought
I would see this day.
I know people talked about it a lot and this and that, but I never thought it's actually
come to -- come true.
JOHN YANG: The day the new rule went into effect, King signed a $20,000 deal with a
moving company and a car dealership. He's partnered with a sports memorabilia company,
and became the first college athlete to sign a sponsorship deal with a pro sports team,
the NHL's Florida Panthers.
He will appear at games and have a concession stand meal named for him. He's also co-founded
Dreamfield to help athletes connect with NIL opportunities and navigate this new landscape.
D'ERIQ KING: College football is -- college athletics, in general, there's so much money
going through it. And I know people want to say, like, you guys get free education and
you get full-ride scholarship.
And we understand that. But for us to make money, I think, just makes sense. It's no
other industry in the world where you don't make money for what you do.
JOHN YANG: Being an athlete in a major sport at a major university is more than just a
few months of competition. It's a full-time, year-round job, training, conditioning, practicing,
all on top of being a full time college student.
The pressure on the NCAA has been building for years. In 2014, a federal judge ruled
that NCAA policies against name, image and likeness violated antitrust laws. In 2019,
California enacted the first legislation giving athletes NIL rights.
NCAA President Mark Emmert called it an existential threat to the collegiate model. But more than
20 states followed California's lead, forcing the NCAA's hand. The rule change took effect
July 1.
DAN MATHESON, University of Iowa: This year, money spent on NIL deals could be above a
billion dollars.
JOHN YANG: Dan Matheson directs the University of Iowa's Sports and Recreation Management
Program. He's a former NCAA associate director of enforcement.
DAN MATHESON: So many of these student athletes are not going to go on to lucrative professional
playing careers. They're at the height of their fame.
And capitalizing on their NIL rights gives them a chance to pay for current expenses,
but also potentially build themselves a nest egg for when they get out of school and are
starting out as young professionals.
JOHN YANG: And more than just big-name football and basketball players are poised to benefit.
DAN MATHESON: Any student athlete who is able to develop a following, a brand on social
media is -- has the potential to generate revenue for themselves.
JOHN YANG: University of Nebraska volleyball player Lexi Sun more than 75,000 Instagram
followers put her in a good position to take advantage of NIL.
She partnered with a volleyball apparel company to launch a clothing brand. Her Sunny Crew
sweatshirts sold out in days. Sun, who also signed a deal with a Nebraska-based jewelry
company, is in a master's program for advertising. She says NIL is about more than just money.
LEXI SUN, University of Nebraska Volleyball Player: I'm just able to have these hands
on and real life experiences and conversations with companies about negotiating deals and
just having these business opportunities and getting this experience, because, as athletes,
we're super busy and don't always get the opportunity to have a job before we end our
sport.
And so I think just being able to get this experience is going to be something that I'm
going to take away from it and continue to learn from.
JOHN YANG: The limits of the new rules are already being tested. A Utah-based protein
bar maker offered deals to all 123 Brigham Young University football players. For players
not on scholarship, the payment would be the equivalent of a year's tuition.
The NCAA says it's up to Congress to sort it all out.
MARK EMMERT, President, NCAA: We are urging Congress to pass legislation creating a single
national NIL standard that would ensure that NIL payments are not a proxy for pay-for-play,
that a national recruiting environment for college sports is maintained, and that students
are not employees of their universities or their colleges.
DAN MATHESON: The NCAA is at a crossroads right now.
JOHN YANG: Dan Matheson of the University of Iowa points to other challenges ahead for
college sports.
DAN MATHESON: There are questions about, what is the NCAA needed for? And how does it need
to look different for the next generation?
The amateurism issues that are the center of discussion now have opened up a much broader
evaluation of exactly what shape is the NCAA going to take going forward.
JOHN YANG: Lexi Sun and D'Eriq King say they're used to balancing busy schedules, so the new
opportunities of NIL won't distract them from either the classroom or competition.
For the "PBS NewsHour," I'm John Yang.