Should NIL be regulated by the government?

[Rowdy831]

I am a huge fan of college sports and look at NIL as a progression of the need for athletes being compensated to some degree for their time and efforts on the field of play. In a perfect world the landscape would be level so every team has the same amount of money to offer so money doesn't become the deciding factor for an athlete's education. As a coach who had many players move on to play in college, and the parent of a college athlete I understand the work load and time commitment, but I also understand the vast majority of athletes will not be making a living one day playing the game.

With all that said is the answer to have the government be the controlling factor in NIL? To me the government has been too unreliable in creating solutions without there being unintended consequences that in many ways are worse than the problem they were "fixing" in the first place. And if the NCAA were to cede this authority to the Congress why would they be needed going forward?

I really enjoy the comments and the ideas put forth in this forum and look forward to reading your thoughts on this matter.

 

[Bone Dog]

Short answer: No. this is a property rights question and no government regulation of such things is justified or prudent, if you ask me. I think there’d be a constitutional problem.

Long answer: the sports fan in me wants to safeguard the game I love, and this means preserving some sort of integrity in college athletics. NIL looks to destabilize the status quo. But I don’t know if it is for the worse or the better. Ten years from now we could look back on the present moment (or even the decades that preceded it) as if it were some dark tunnel we’d required young athletes to pass through and really regret it. Or we could see it as a lost sylvan age of college athletics. I don’t know how it will look from that perspective, but I’m currently inclined to suspect the former rather than the latter.

 

[hoopsfan22]

No. Anyone has the right to make money from their name, image, and likeness. That's unfair and unconstitutional that one's rights depend on whether or not they are a college student.

 

[azfan]

Short answer: No. this is a property rights question and no government regulation of such things is justified or prudent, if you ask me. I think there’d be a constitutional problem.

Long answer: the sports fan in me wants to safeguard the game I love, and this means preserving some sort of integrity in college athletics. NIL looks to destabilize the status quo. But I don’t know if it is for the worse or the better. Ten years from now we could look back on the present moment (or even the decades that preceded it) as if it were some dark tunnel we’d required young athletes to pass through and really regret it. Or we could see it as a lost sylvan age of college athletics. I don’t know how it will look from that perspective, but I’m currently inclined to suspect the former rather than the latter.

Completely agree. You're short answer provides full justification and analysis.

The unintended consequence of state-centered action interfering with essential institutions for well-being are always pernicious.

Interesting the reference on the thread to constitutionality. Rather than approaching this issue from that standpoint a more profitable analysis and conversation can be advanced from an institutional point of view.

While founding documents including the Declaration of Independence paraphrase John Locke there are very limited protections for institutions that support mutually beneficial voluntary exchange in the Constitution and those founding documents and those protections have been eroded over time by the three branches of government.

 

[LouS]

I don't particularly like NIL but it is what it is. The one thing that can make it worst is getting government evolved.