Abstract

When do the rules of the past become obsolete? For the National Collegiate Athletics Association (NCAA), it came sooner rather than later. The advent of social media has made it seamless for athletes to build their brand throughout their college careers. Despite this money-making opportunity, the NCAA has had a vested interest in protecting the “amateurism” of college sports and prohibiting college athletes from profiting from their Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL). NIL refers to the rights of college student-athletes to earn money from their personal brand through endorsements, social media platforms, and appearances. By keeping college athletes from profiting from their NIL, the NCAA wanted to preserve athletes’ focus on their education and prevent abuse and exploitation.  
This prohibitive rule brought many a critique: how can the NCAA truncate athlete autonomy and profitability in an evolving legal landscape where athlete performance and lucrativeness is inevitable? In due course, legislators and athlete advocates pushed back against the NCAA’s goal to maintain “amateurism” for a reality where the athlete can build a brand and profit from their stellar athletic performances. This shift in philosophy by the NCAA does not come without challenges: the NIL landscape can lead to athlete abuse and exploitation, especially in an arena without streamlined regulation and a patchwork of state-by-state policies. This Note advocates for the implementation of collective bargaining and the unionization of athletes. The creation of a National College Players Association (NCPA) will alone ensure that student-athletes fully benefit from these new NIL opportunities without risking exploitation, from a top-performing school to a lower-revenue program. This Note analyzes the evolution of NIL’s legal history and establishment, draws parallels to current professional athletic unions, and evaluates the potential and challenges that unionization can face on the NIL marketplace. With a look toward the future, this Note assesses the viability of defining college athletes as “employees” of their respective universities and colleges, a further legal protection of the students behind the sport.  

Keywords: #NILRights, #CollegeAthleteUnionization, #NCAAReform, #CollectiveBargaining, #StudentAthleteEmployeeStatus