There are rules but zero enforcement of those rules. At OSU, They have a pot of money. They know how much that pot is. However, their AD has decided where that money will be spent.
I bring this up because different schools will spend their money differently. OSU may have more NIL money to spend than Purdue. But Purdue probably has more NIL money to spend on basketball players than OSU is willing to spend.
This is seldom brought up or discussed. But it is the truth. Look at HOUSTON. Their AD has decided they will spend a lot of NIL money on their track program. As a result they attract a lot of Olympic track athletes. And their football program is not that great.
While the NCAA may not regulate or enforce the NIL spending very well, the respective school ADs do and their coaches know how much they can spend.
And something that is not talked about very much. Players can always broker their own NIL deals. That’s what Pack did when he went to Miami. His handlers brokered that deal for him. Was it legal? No sanctions were imposed on pack or Miami so it must have been legal.
A question to ask and think about and discuss. The amount of NIL money schools spend is public knowledge. But what fans. Need to research and find out is How much each school spends on their respective sports. I believe you may be pleasantly surprised if you knew how much of the NIL money that Purdue spent on its basketball players verses what other schools spend on their basketball players.
Purdue will never come close to what OSU and Texas and A&M and Alabama spend on their football players. But when it comes to basketball, you may be shocked.
One last point. Look at Wisconsin. They had NIL money to spend . But they didn’t want to spend very much of it on their basketball players. So their players found better deals and left. If uw had decided to give their basketball team more nil money to spend, maybe their players would have stayed.
The NCAA may have no control over the NIL, but the schools do.
Track provides a great example to discuss NIL. A little known fact: NIL is also broken down by many schools by positions as well. Only so much NIL can be given to high jumpers verses sprinters Verses distance runners verses field events.
Swimming is another example. Purdue had 6-8 Olympic divers. Several competed for different countries. They came to Purdue Mainly because of their diving coach. Normally you would say there is no way Purdue could be giving out a lot of nil money to divers. But obviously Purdue has decided to give more nil money and scholarships to its divers than other schools.
Let’s look at golf and hockey. My guess is Purdue spends as much NIL money for its golfers as U.W. spends on its hockey players.
Once you look at it And see how NIL is used for all sports rather than just football and basketball, you realize how hard it is for the NCAA to regulate it.
Should the NCAA even try to regulate the NIL?
The future ? Ever notice how certain track athletes wear certain shoes? college athletes will soon become like nascar drivers, golfers and pro bowlers wearing their sponsors’s patches all over their uniforms. We could see college basketball players wearing longer shorts just to show off their sponsor patches!
I know this all sounds crazy. It’s not any more crazy than USC being a part of the big 10 or college athletes making more money than Purdue alumni engineers! Forget graduation and getting a job! Let’s play college sports as long as we can and make millions.
