A recent policy change by the NCAA has enabled college athletes to benefit from their name, image, and likeness (NIL). Many college athletes have taken this opportunity and been given sponsorships which has created compensation for third-party endorsements, without school or conference involvement. This legislation was made official on July 1. Since then, successful college athletes have been recognized by many brands; well-known examples include Barstool Sports, Liquid IV, Premier Protein and various energy drink brands. 

Supporting the measure is a developed framework of University guidelines, which allow individuals to engage in NIL activities that are consistent with the law of the state where the school is located. Colleges and universities may be a resource for state law questions, and college athletes who attend a school in a state without an NIL law can engage in this type of activity without violating NCAA rules related to name, image and likeness; individuals can use a professional services provider for NIL activities; and student-athletes can report NIL activities consistent with state law or school and conference requirements to their school. If student-athletes break these guidelines, they could potentially receive consequences that could hurt their relationship with their team at their current school. 

Barstool Sports has made a massive investment into this new policy. Adelaide Halverson, a volleyball player at Jacksonville State, was the first ever Barstool Athlete. Barstool Founder Dave Portnoy tweeted in response to the first Barstool Athlete that “Barstool Athletes Inc. is the most Barstool thing ever. No thought put into it. No clue what we were doing. And two hours later the most powerful student athlete organization in the country. Still no clue what is happening.”  This student athlete organization started only two months ago and has over 5,000 student-athletes that are sponsored. Barstool Athletes receive free merchandise and recognition for their D1 experience. This organization continues to grow everyday, along with many others. 

According to the official language of the NCAA announcement, “under the new arrangement, college athletes will be allowed to engage in activities, including endorsement deals, leveraging social media for pay, and getting compensated for coaching, making personal appearances and signing autographs.” This new arrangement will allow college athletes to have the freedom and choice of profiting from their fame in their own unique ways. With the amount of hours college athletes continue to put into their sport, they are finally being recognized for their hard work and effort. 

This new policy has affected many Bison student-athletes. University students have been recognized by many brands, small and big, and have been given the opportunity to create sponsorships. Our very own student-athlete, Madison Hatcher ’22, has been given the opportunity to be a Barstool Athlete. Hatcher expressed her feelings on this experience by stating, “Being a Barstool Athlete is pretty cool! It’s all still so new, but we are getting merchandise to promote Barstool! It seems super fun and I can’t wait to see what else is in store for being a Barstool Athlete!” Hatcher is not the only Bison athlete that is represented by Barstool, many athletes have been recognized by this opportunity. This policy has heightened the athletic world and continues to shape the everyday experience of a D1 athlete.