Financial gravy being poured on college hoopers via event; Is it digestible?

In this Thanksgiving season, some college athletes have much for which to be thankful.
You see, there’s about to be financial gravy on their plates.
It just may be hard for traditional college sports fans to stomach.
Beginning today, Tuesday, Nov. 26, eight men’s basketball teams will be eligible for a total of $9 million in Name, Image and Likeness (NIL) money via the Players Era Festival, according to a Daniel Libit story on Yahoo! Sports.
It’s as close to pay-to-play action as we’ve seen, even in the shifting world of NIL collectives and universities.
No. 6 Houston, No. 9 Alabama, No. 20 Texas A&M, No. 21 Creighton, San Diego State, Oregon, Rutgers and Notre Dame play 12 games between today and Saturday at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas with each school promised $1 million in NIL collective money.
“Everything we do is about delivering value to the players, and our guiding principles continue to be paying the players fair market value for their NIL and creating captivating content for fans,” EverWonder Studios CEO Seth Berger told Libit.
An additional $1 million worth of NIL opportunities will be available to players across all eight schools.
During my time as a sports writer, I covered events in Las Vegas at this time of year. And it seems hard to believe $9 million could be available. But as Sports Business Journal first reported, Players Era enlisted Eli Lilly & Company and Starbucks to serve as presenting sponsors, along with MGM, so apparently, it’s possible. EverWonder, according to its agreements with the schools’ collectives, owes the $1 million within 15 days of the tournament’s conclusion.
You can decide how this hits you. It certainly blurs the lines between NIL and pay-for-play, which remains forbidden by the NCAA.
But if schools like WVU wish to stay relevant and competitive they must not only accept such invitations, but seek them out.
According to writer Jeff Tracy, “the Players Era Festival wants to eventually expand to 18 teams, add a women’s tournament and potentially apply this framework to other sports. In all, they plan to distribute more than $50 million in NIL opportunities over the next three years.”
Again, the NIL game is shifting. Collectives may start moving under universities’ umbrellas. But whatever the case there, schools like WVU must be on top of that NIL game more now than ever.
Happy Thanksgiving everyone.
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Mitch Vingle covered sports in West Virginia for 38 years. Follow Mitch on Twitter at @MitchVingle and be sure to check out the rest of Wheelhouse Creative’s website for your marketing and advertising needs. If interested, call us at 304-905-6005.