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Message: [QUOTE="UConnJim, post: 4981536, member: 1559"] I think many people are misunderstanding what is going on with NIL. I break it down into 2 buckets. The first bucket is what NIL was intended for: paying college athletes to promote companies, products, and services. In general, these are contracted directly with the athlete and it is where the largest dollars come from. Think female athletes like Livvy Dunne, Caitlin Clark, Paige Bueckers,... and the national companies, products, and services they promote. And, many athletes are getting paid by local companies to promote their businesses. Think the local car dealership, restaurant, service. The second bucket is coming from the NIL collectives which are loosely aligned with the universities and is kind of pay for play. In my opinion, the first bucket is very difficult to regulate, but the second bucket could come under scrutiny and there could be lawsuits for equal pay. In my opinion, if schools are going to pay athletes directly, they will have to pay men and women equally. So, if 100 men are getting paid by the school and/or collective, I would think the school will have to pay 100 women an equal amount. (Actual NIL deals will be get paid what you can by the market.) And, don't think people aren't already thinking about how to treat athletes in a balanced way. Look at the D'Amelio Collective. They have signed up at least one male or female athlete from each UConn team. [/QUOTE]