KANSAS CITY, Mo. — College athletes are the driving force behind fans’ favorite moments. The players who hoist the trophies over their heads will be remembered forever.
Two years ago, they started making money on their recognizable name, image and likeness. Those deals are known as NIL.
“I think this has been a net positive for college athletics,” Mitch Lightfoot, a forward on Kansas' 2022 national championship team, told KSHB 41.
Lightfoot was one of the first players in the country to sign an NIL deal.
“Technically, that is my job to go out there and produce in the classroom and also on the court,” Mitchfoot, who recently signed to play for Kangoeroes Basket Mechelen in Belgium, said as if he is still playing college basketball. “It will be interesting to see if there’s any regulations put on it in the future.”
Regulations and a stream of court cases are likely the future of NIL, according to lawyer Mit Winter.
“College sports is a big business,” said Winter. “The athletes have not been considered part of that business. That viewpoint is changing right now.”
The National Labor Relations Board general counsel published a memo stating student-athletes could be considered employees under the National Labor Relations Act.
Other court cases or federal bills could answer this question: Are some student-athletes employees?
“There is definitely a lot of commercialism that goes with college sports these days and I think you see a lot of that with the conference realignment that’s happening now,” Winter said. “Every school is looking for the conference where they can make the most money so they can stay competitive.”
College sports fans have seen growth in conferences like the Big 12 with realignment.
Longtime metro fandoms are now sharing space with schools in Florida and Utah.
Local clothing brand Charlie Hustle completely leaned into NIL deals within the conference.
“Right now, we are going pretty heavily in that direction,” said Charlie Hustle founder and CEO Chase McAnulty. “It’s been a lot of fun.”
Charlie Hustle started off with shirts based in the Kansas City metro. They’ve expanded to 19 schools — many in the Big 12 — inking a total of 32 NIL deals since the first of the year.
“I hope other companies look at us as kind of one that’s paving the way,” McAnulty said.
The Charlie Hustle brand now sells apparel for the following schools: Arkansas, Baylor, BYU, Houston, Illinois, Iowa, Iowa State, Kansas, Kansas State, Missouri, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, TCU, Texas, Texas A&M, UCF and West Virginia.
“That’s a big piece of our strategy,” McAnulty said. “A eight to 10 states, own the middle of the map.”
McAnulty teased another big signing during out interview, joking to stay tuned for the team’s 33rd deal of the year.
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