NSIC Ranked 12th in NIL Deals

[SW_Mustang]

Saw this article about Minnesota State - they show at the bottom that the NSIC has the most NIL deals of any non-D1 conference, and are ranked #12 overall:

252 Minnesota State athletes signed NIL deals in first year (keyc.com)

We're also ranked #17 in total compensation.

[WPHB]

Cool thing about that is the representation of female student-athletes (at least at Minnesota State). I was opposed to NIL for lots of reasons, one of which was that I assumed that all the money would flow to Football and Men's Basketball. I am still leery of the big school consortiums basically paying kids to play at a certain school, but am somewhat relieved to know that I was wrong and that smaller schools and non-revenue generating sports are seeing non-football and basketball athletes prosper from the rule as well. I know they are micro-transactions compared to big-money sports, but this is a good stepping stone towards better things.

[Tundra_Man]

Ok, I have to plead completely ignorant here. What does "NIL" stand for?

[SW_Mustang]

Ok, I have to plead completely ignorant here. What does "NIL" stand for?

"Name, Image, Likeness"

Sponsorship deals, in other words.

[Tundra_Man]

"Name, Image, Likeness"

Sponsorship deals, in other words.

Ahhh.... gotcha.

For some reason I was thinking the "L" stood for "League" and I was wracking my brain trying to figure out what league was giving out deals to students. lol

[SW_Mustang]

Cool thing about that is the representation of female student-athletes (at least at Minnesota State). I was opposed to NIL for lots of reasons, one of which was that I assumed that all the money would flow to Football and Men's Basketball. I am still leery of the big school consortiums basically paying kids to play at a certain school, but am somewhat relieved to know that I was wrong and that smaller schools and non-revenue generating sports are seeing non-football and basketball athletes prosper from the rule as well. I know they are micro-transactions compared to big-money sports, but this is a good stepping stone towards better things.

I predicted this would happen at the D2 level - I call them "lunch money" deals. Starting QB signs a deal to advertise for a local restaurant for a few hundred bucks, or something. What I didn't predict was how popular it would become with other sports other than football/basketball at the D2 level.

I think the reasoning is simple - D2 athletes don't have anywhere near the marketability of major D1 athletes, but they still have some. At SMSU, I can probably name a good 10 athletes that made a name for themselves locally. They also tended to have a larger-than-average following on social media. Lots of opportunity for local advertisers.

It's why I was excited for NIL - I think it's a benefit to D2 athletes without being a drawback for the schools. I highly doubt athletes will pick where to go in D2 based on NIL money, and boosters won't be as involved, yet athletes can still earn money for whatever name they make (even if it's not a lot).

[SW_Mustang]

Ahhh.... gotcha.

For some reason I was thinking the "L" stood for "League" and I was wracking my brain trying to figure out what league was giving out deals to students. lol

Ha, that's funny! Honestly - the acronym gets tossed around so much I had to stop and think about what it stood for before responding.

[Purple Mav Man]

Cool thing about that is the representation of female student-athletes (at least at Minnesota State). I was opposed to NIL for lots of reasons, one of which was that I assumed that all the money would flow to Football and Men's Basketball. I am still leery of the big school consortiums basically paying kids to play at a certain school, but am somewhat relieved to know that I was wrong and that smaller schools and non-revenue generating sports are seeing non-football and basketball athletes prosper from the rule as well. I know they are micro-transactions compared to big-money sports, but this is a good stepping stone towards better things.

[WPHB]

Seems logical as to social media and local marketability. Plus, it's pretty cool to see the NSIC being highly ranked in the overall numbers.

[ApatheticSportReport]

Are NIL deals public knowledge/record? Not sure what the proper wording would be. I honestly don't know where the NIL money comes from, if it's a university expense or boosters? Glad to see athletes make a buck off their ability, even if it's small and local for D2 kids. College sports has been a big business for a long time and now it's just more recognized.

[SW_Mustang]

(1)Are NIL deals public knowledge/record? Not sure what the proper wording would be. (2)I honestly don't know where the NIL money comes from, if it's a university expense or boosters? (3)Glad to see athletes make a buck off their ability, even if it's small and local for D2 kids. College sports has been a big business for a long time and now it's just more recognized.

1. Good question. I'm not entirely sure, but I'm guessing they have to be run through compliance to make sure the money is coming from "legal" channels. In MSU's case, the data was shared by the compliance office, so they definitely know who is getting what. Can you or I just look up each individual athlete and see what deals they've signed? Probably not.

2. Technically, the university can't pay the players. That's a major violation. NIL money is mainly coming from sponsorship deals with companies. This does leave a major loophole though, as boosters can sponsor college athletes. We're basically in a wild west phase - I'd argue that the rules are so lax, the university doesn't need to pay players. I think the rules will be tightened up in the near future to prevent recruiting with booster dollars.

3. Agreed. I remember being in my first class and I did a project with a football player. He told me that if a coach gave a player $10 for food on a road trip because said player was broke, that would be a major violation. It's hard for athletes to hold down a PT job with their schedules, and D2 guys aren't generally on track to make the pros. This is good for the lower levels no matter how one looks at it.

[UMary1]

Saw this article about Minnesota State - they show at the bottom that the NSIC has the most NIL deals of any non-D1 conference, and are ranked #12 overall:

252 Minnesota State athletes signed NIL deals in first year (keyc.com)

We're also ranked #17 in total compensation.

I think the NIL deals are great and are long over due as Colleges have gained a ton of money on the backs of young athletes who have sacrificed so much. I wouldn't put too much stock into these rankings at the DII level as the details are not released and NIL has very vague policies. An example I heard is that a star player is allowed a steak dinner at a local restaurant once a week and then tweets it out.

[SW_Mustang]

I think the NIL deals are great and are long over due as Colleges have gained a ton of money on the backs of young athletes who have sacrificed so much. I wouldn't put too much stock into these rankings at the DII level as the details are not released and NIL has very vague policies. An example I heard is that a star player is allowed a steak dinner at a local restaurant once a week and then tweets it out.

They split the rankings between total # of deals vs. total compensation, but yeah I agree. The info about the national picture does come from a data company, but I also haven't been able to figure out where they get that data from.

Though, we are a large conference with a solid following, so I wouldn't be surprised if we actually did fit in around there.