The benefit of NIL isn’t just the deals and sponsorships, the best advantage created is that athletes are now able to start their entrepreneurial journey much earlier during what is typically the prime for 99% of NCAA athletes who won't play professionally.
The ultimate sign of the important of entrepreneurship and ownership comes from viewing the behaviors of the most influential, successful and powerful athletes on the planet. All enter the realm of ownership, investing, and entrepreneurship as their means of growing their wealth.
The most successful athletes have surrounded themselves with the most successful people and have access to the money printers aka billionaires. Owners take the biggest cut, but it typically takes athletes being able to maneuver into spaces that allow this realization to manifest into them being able to capitalize and maximize every economic opportunity instead of believing that sponsorships and endorsement are the prize.
A common theme of JRZY Lists is how the world's most influential athletes all turn to ownership and investing to grow their wealth.
see: Athlete Venture Capitalists
The biggest misconception with NIL is how sponsorships and endorsements are presented as the biggest prize. A sponsorship is driving for Uber, entrepreneurship is owning it.
This huge opportunity for marketing, publicity, and revenue that playing in primetime is being primarily wasted. Being in business isn’t easy, and many fail which makes it even more important that this opportunity for a kickstart, with a network and rabid crowds to support a business opportunity makes it the best time to start a venture.
“You can work for me but you cannot work for yourself'' sounds very anti-everything we stand for in society doesn’t it?
Women and minorities are most likely to benefit the most from even small boosts that decrease the hardships faced in bridging wage gaps and making economic mobility more accessible. These are also groups that are featured very prominently in the most high profile revenue generating sports in the NCAA. Instead of robbing athletes of billions, this revenue could be the lifeline for athletes and seed generational wealth building opportunities.
Every amateur star doesn’t make it to the pros, they need to be able to get paid when the opportunity is present, and we actually don’t know when this time actually is. Athletes must be set up to capitalize on it whenever their dunk goes viral, they win the championship, or are interviewed on national television.
It just seems fair, and this is without even considering the NCAA isn’t even sharing revenue from the efforts of these athletes.
see: Capitalism for NCAA, Socialism for Athletes: Unveiling the NCAA's Double Standard
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