Changes In NIL Deal Rules Have Turned College Sports Into Pro Sports |
Changes In NIL Deal Rules Have Turned College Sports Into Pro Sports
There’s only a minimal pretense now that a player is “true to his school” and getting a consistent education. It’s all about the money.
Will O'Toole | March 11, 2026
Arkansas announced this week that Tyson Foods is paying to have a patch on every Razorback’s uniform, with 90 percent of the money from the deal going to athlete NIL (“name, image, likeness”) deals. Arkansas is the second Power Conference school—after LSU—to announce its jersey patch sponsor since the NCAA voted in January to allow them.
How soon will the colleges and universities surrender their institutional names and be called by their sponsors instead? Will Arkansas become Tyson University, home of the Razorbacks and Chicken Wings?
College football and basketball have opened Pandora’s Box, courtesy of the NIL deals and the SCOTUS decision in NCAA v. Alston. This, in turn, has unleashed a plethora of problems for schools’ athletics. Moreover, trying to involve the government in the solution will only make things worse.
For years, colleges have operated essentially as minor leagues for professional sports, especially football and basketball, with schools having the upper hand in compensation. Most of the time, schools offered an education, room, and board in exchange for the athlete’s four years of loyalty and devotion. Athletes, of course, hoped to see their sports dreams fulfilled while pursuing a fruitful, non-athletic career in the workforce.
Because academia was meant to be about education, players were supposed to devote the majority of their attention........