SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Name, image, likeness (NIL) is making headlines from Caitlin Clark making more than $3 million to Reggie Bush suing to recoup money he says he could have made.
California was the first state to allow college athletes to be paid with the Fair Pay to Play Act signed into law in 2019. Then, in 2021, the NCAA opened the floodgates allowing for NIL.
Today, the odds of getting paid like a professional athlete while still in school are less of a Hail Mary and are better than ever before.
The odds of becoming a professional athlete for most sports outside of college is less than 2%, according to the NCAA. The odds of getting paid like you’re in the MLB, NBA, NHL or NFL just got a letter better thanks to NIL.
Breaking down NIL
Phillip “Red” Miller has been a sports agent for 10 years at PM3 Sports representing many big names in college football including Matthew Cindric at Cal, Alama Uluave at San Diego State and Leevel Tatum III at Fresno State.
“A few years ago, it was just your top players that were making money through NIL, whether it be the quarterback or maybe it's a draftable player or the star of the team. Now, every player is getting paid through NIL because it's part of the recruitment process,” said Miller.
Student athletes now have the right to be paid for the use of their name, photos, autographs and more. The dollar amounts are unknown as there’s no transparency requirement.
States have different NIL laws. In states where there are no laws, schools can create their own restrictions, according to the NCAA. Those restrictions include things like not allowing an athlete to endorse alcohol.
“We went from athletes not affording meals to now living the life of luxury. I've got quite a few athletes now that are making more than mom and dad combined,” said Miller.
While deals vary from player-to-player, Miller gave some estimates.
“I would say, if you're in the SEC (Southeastern Conference), you don't touch a dime the whole time you could leave with $400,000 at least, over a quarter of a million. Smaller schools you could leave school with anywhere between $30,000 to $100,000 if you don't touch anything,” said Miller.
How it works
Here’s how it works: The money the school pays players comes from what’s called a collective, a company formed by wealthy alumni essentially helping to raise funds.
Think of that like a salary. The collective can even help with other deals; popular ones are for high-end cars. Players can also have outside endorsements from big brands like Nike or Adidas.
“I completely agree with it being the wild, wild west. These collectives are 501c and so if you're going to ask them to open their books, you're asking churches to open their book. It's just not going to happen,” said Miller.
NCAA rules state money is not for recruitment, but lines have been crossed, turning 17 and 18-year old athletes into big business, and their moms and dads into agents.
“Sometimes we'll get mom and dad that want to go in there right away and throw a number out as far as a market value on their son or daughter," said Miller. "And, to be honest with you, that turns a lot of coaches away from that athlete knowing it's just about the money for them, and it's not about the love of the game.”
The NCAA requires student athletes to report deals worth $600 or more to their college within 30 days. Colleges must anonymize and report NIL data twice a year to NCAA.
NIL and Folsom High School
Locally, some of the top valued high school athletes in the state are playing at Folsom High School.
Head football coach Paul Doherty has players signed to University of Southern California (USC), Notre Dame, Texas, University of Washington and Alabama. These are considered amongst some of the biggest powerhouses in college football.
“So far this year, at games in the fall, we've had USC here, Oregon has been here, Ole Miss has been here, UC Davis has been here, Sac State has been here. They come and they watch the kids play. They come and they watch the kids at spring practice. We had 100 coaches come and watch spring practice,” said Doherty.
Doherty says his primary goal is for his players to get a quality education.
“We're going to sign 10 kids here this year, and that's an astronomical number that I think the national average for high school is one every 10 years," said Doherty. "For some of them, the NIL money, it's a very real thing."
It's a very real possibility for junior quarterback and five-star recruit Ryder Lyons.
Miller said a quarterback is probably worth a million dollars.
“He's really present," said Doherty. "He doesn't need NIL money, you know what I mean? Like he's going to be just fine. Is it going to come into play? Is it going to be a part of the conversation? Yes.”
Doherty says he doesn’t discuss NIL with his players. When he tours collegiate football programs looking to recruit his players, he says it’s also not a part of the conversation.
“To this point I haven't fielded a single question on that front. I'm glad I haven't had to, and I think that's more of a private and personal decision for the families and kids and the universities that are recruiting them," said Doherty. "If it came across my desk, I mean, I'll cross that bridge when I get to it. I think at the core of it, I work in education and I feel good about pushing those kids on to higher education."
NIL at Sacramento State
Over at Sacramento State University, Athletic Director Mike Orr says they’re advertising a quality education first but doesn’t deny NIL money is a huge factor.
“It has had an impact certainly on our recruitment and retention of student athletes, and we are doing everything we can here at Sacramento State to build up a strong name, image and likeness program that student athletes can benefit from, but we still have some work to do,” said Orr.
It’s why the SAC-12 Council, a group of local leaders, is raising money for a competitive NIL program as the Hornets look to move to a bigger athletic conference.
Raising $35 of their $50 million dollar goal in just 24 hours, the collective is now pushing for $75 million in 10 years more than quadrupling the current NIL fund at Sac State.
“(It would) certainly make us competitive almost to any Division I program on the western part of the country,” said Orr.
Sports and California politics
Recently, state senators that made California the first state to pay student athletes called for transparency with NIL deals. Gov. Gavin Newsom vetoed their bill, SB 906.
If approved, it would have required all deals over $5,000 to be disclosed. Colleges would have had to list the team, gender identity, year of and total amount provided to athletes. Newsom issued this veto message.
“I was an agent for a player out in California, if I was a parent of an athlete, I don't want anyone else knowing how much my son or daughter is making," said Miller. "The athletes get enough scrutiny through the media as far as game performance, and you throw them in a city where somebody else knows how much they're making? You're just opening the door for crime...It's just not safe.”
Those ABC10 spoke with say while a school may be willing to invest in you now, it can all disappear. It’s all still a longshot.
“I tell athletes you're never going to see this money again come this easily. All you have to do is you wake up and go to school, you work out, you play on Saturdays. That's the best job in the world,” said Miller.
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