Lea: High Schoolers receiving NIL won't hurt anybody

By Chris Lea, WRAL-TV sports anchor/reporter

It seems most people who are against college athletes profiting off their name, image and likeness, or 'NIL', don't really understand it. So when the North Carolina High School Athletics Association voted to approve high school students to profit from NIL, some of those same people went into an uproar.

First off, profiting off NIL for student-athletes shouldn't be a debate because regular people with platforms profit from them every single day. What's different for athletes? In a society and economy that tries to find new ways to monetize every little thing, why are athletes the ones shut out from being able to participate?

Profiting off NIL does not mean the college or university you attend is directly paying you like a professional sports franchise would pay their professional athletes. In most towns across the country, the consistent hot ticket events often involve sports, whether on the collegiate level or the high school level. Yet, that money doesn't go to the athletes, the folks people are actually coming to watch perform.

Then there's the billions of dollars the NCAA and collegiate athletics conferences generate to televise their events. Who are people tuning in to watch?

'Amateur' athletes are the only performers expected to not receive a cut of the revenue they generate and are villainized for standing up for themselves. Musical acts, actors, comedians, pro wrestlers, etc would never accept that kind of treatment. There lies the problem.

But still, that's not what NIL is. It's simply allowing an athlete to use their influence to profit from who they are, while generating that money mostly on their own.

If high school athletes in North Carolina can officially begin profiting from NIL on July 1st, it will be the two year anniversary of college students being able to do the same. The fears of these athletes 'getting too much' money is mostly unfounded. Sure, there are athletes who have made six and seven figures, that they deserved. However, the average college athlete is only collecting a small amount of change, which is what will happen with high school athletes.

According to INFLCR the average value of all NIL transactions in it's first year was only $1,815 for college students. Power five NIL deals averaged a little higher at $2,144. Non-power five deals averaged $558.

These are the numbers college athletes, the best of the best, are generating. Do we really need legislation to stop high school kids from maybe getting a couple hundred dollars and some free meals because they're the popular athlete in town? High Schoolers are estimated to receive $60-$120 dollars per NIL transaction. If that is going to tear up locker rooms, your locker room already had issues. Additionally, we certainly don't need legislation for this. It's a waste of our taxpayer dollars.

Sure, there will be some high school athletes that will command high figured deals, but those would be the exception, the top 1% of high school athletes who are already generating national attention. Plus, there will be rules and parameters around how student in North Carolina could participate in NIL. Reading Nick Stevens' article would be a good first step in understanding that.

Why is it wrong for athletes to make money from who they are and the platforms they have created for themselves because of their skill? Schools, coaches, athletic departments, trainers and more all get a chance to make money off the backs of the athletes. Let them collect a few dollars too.