TEXARKANA MAGAZINE
WHAT’S IN A NAME? BY KAILYN WILLIAMS
College athletics has essentially been unchanged since the beginning of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in 1906. A scholarship was awarded to an athlete to cover their education. Playing the sport was practically treated as just a plus for the student in the eyes of the NCAA in terms of compensation. Compensation was not given to anyone in any athletic department which was only an athlete in the program, other than the usual stipend checks issued to the athlete every month. In simplified terms, the only money an athlete would receive for bringing in millions of dollars in revenue for the school, attracting thousands and thousands of fans, and drawing in countless new admissions would be scholarship money. The same scholarship money, in some cases, is given to other students that are not athletes bringing in millions of dollars in revenue for the school. This situation brought backlash to the NCAA, and athletes began speaking out about their wishes to be able to profit from their image in the same way the schools benefitted from their athletic ability. On June 3, 2021, the NCAA released a statement saying that starting July 1, 2021, an interim rule would be put in place, allowing collegiate athletes to benefit from their name, image, and likeness, or NIL.
Brayson McHenry, Texas High School Class of 2022
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SPORTS & ENTERTAINMENT
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