College Athletes | Making Money | NCAA
How The NCAA NIL Rating System Works
Easily access NCAA NIL Ratings — 21 different aspects of NIL (Name, Image, and Likeness) laws were identified and rated to determine how helpful they are for athletes.
Earlier this year, the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) officially started using NIL ratings for college institutions. The rating system was proposed after NIL NCAA rules were suggested, but hard to implement. The United States being a country that allows individual State laws, the NIL rules were often neglected or not incorporated at all.
Although individual States are still encouraged to design their own NIL laws, NIL Ratings are now introduced and are already being used widely. But before we dig into this, let’s have a look at some technical terms.
About NIL:
- NIL stands for: name, image and likeness (NIL) and is rated via a system;
- The NIL Ratings are calculated using 21 key aspects of state NIL laws and are rated per State.
- NIL Laws are designed to protect college athletes’ rights and income.
- There are currently NIL laws in 28 states.
Why Should I Research NIL Ratings?
Even if your state hasn’t signed or implemented NIL rules, all college athletes are now able to profit under NCAA’s interim policy. This means that, as long as athletes play, they are compensated, regardless of which college they are enrolled in or how well they perform.
But, this doesn’t mean that it’s okay for a State not to have NIL Laws. Even if college athletes are treated well, laws should make sure they are protected and that they continue to receive what they’ve earned in the future. Because according to Inside Higher Ed, there is a lot of money to be made as a college athlete!
How Does the NCAA NIL Rating System Work?
The National College Players Association (NCPA) identified 21 key aspects of state NIL laws that can be either helpful or harmful to college athletes’ freedoms. The states are given a rating between 0 to 100 percent.
If a state is helpful to college athletes in every category of their NIL law, for instance by allowing them the freedom to negotiate and sign NIL deals, they would score 100%. Without a NIL law, states automatically score 0%. When a state has a NIL law that is harmful to its college athletes, by limiting their freedom, their score will go down. Currently, the states’ NIL ratings range from between 43% and 90%.
Click for free access to the NCPA’s Official NIL Ratings
The NCPA is hoping that implementing the NIL rating system will encourage state legislatures to create NIL laws, or revise existing ones.
How Can I Make Money as a College Athlete?
For the first time in history, college athletes can make money off their hard work. It may not come as a surprise that student-athletes in college sports are great social media influencers. Athletes can get somewhat of a famous status, think of your favorite football player or Olympic athlete, and that way become key players in the social media world, as well as in college sports.
Not only are student athletes great examples and figures to look up to, they can also be inspiring and motivating. With social media followers ranging from hundreds to thousands, college athletes are a great help to promoting your product. And as a college athlete? A great way to make money!
“47.8 percent of total NIL compensation is awarded for posting content on social media (Opendorse, 2021).”
Learn how you can use Symposium to earn money as a college athlete from this opportunity.
Visit the Symposium website or download the app!
