The Information · Fortune Technology
Even in the era of NIL, college sports are stacked against student athletes—now lack of transparency is holding them back from
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College sports are booming —and college athletes are earning like the pros.
Key facts
- Starting kickers at Power Four schools are averaging roughly $225,000 this season, up from 60.9% from a year earlier, while some are receiving as much as $600,000, according to the Journal
- The Opendorse president pointed to former LSU gymnast and social media influencer Livvy Dunne and former Heisman trophy winner and current NFL player Travis Hunter as examples of “anomalies
- Let’s say a general manager offers an athlete $50,000 a year to play for their team,” Lawrence noted
- When NIL rules changed in 2021, the initial promise was straightforward—student-athletes would finally be allowed to make money from their own identities
Summary
The stakes of the NIL era trace back to O’Bannon v. NCAA, the landmark case that challenged the premise that student-athletes could generate commercial value for their schools while receiving nothing in compensation. But according to Blake Lawrence, a former college football linebacker and co-founder of NIL technology company Opendorse, the marketplace that followed is a complicated one that is a far cry from a fair market. “Information is necessary to create a fair market,” Lawrence told Fortune, adding that 67% of school compensation tracked by his company goes to athletes without agents. “Information is necessary to create a fair market,” Blake Lawrence, co-founder of NIL technology company Opendorse told Fortune.