Two high-level positions are being created to help the school position itself more favorably in the eyes of young recruits
Coming off a national championship for its football team, the University of Michigan just took additional steps to increase the school’s appeal as a destination for elite high school prospects, or young athletes even. The school’s athletic department declared on Wednesday that it has created a senior manager of business development role and an executive general manager post as part of a “strategic investment in the growth of its in-house NIL (Name, Image and Likeness) program.” Learfield, a sports marketing company, and Altius Sports Partners, an advising firm specializing in NIL deals, are helping to build the roles, respectively.
The move was hailed by the school’s athletics department as a “forward-thinking initiative” and a “strategic play to empower its student-athletes.”
“Michigan’s new structure ensures that U-M student-athletes have a centralized point of contact,” a press release stated, “and access to specialized expertise, enabling them to navigate and maximize NIL opportunities skillfully.”
In other words, they’ll have a better chance to make more money at Michigan
For many years, the schools that student-athletes have attended, and sweat and bled for between lines of competition, made billions while compensating the talented young people fans paid to see with mere grants. Beyond that, no awards were allowed, but that didn’t stop school administrators from figuratively (and possibly practically, too) putting envelopes under tables to their biggest athletes. Many people, including some members of the Supreme Court, believed that the student-athletes were not treated fairly by the system. Some who agree with them have dubbed it “exploitative.”
NIL deals have allowed student-athletes to profit off their skills and popularity rather than waiting for direct pay, which may also come soon. On the one hand, it’s simple to argue that NIL agreements and any future financial compensation plans are merely their fate. They have always looked like professionals — and were expected to behave as though they were — particularly when performing in front of packed arenas.
But these particular athletes are not, have never been and won’t ever be the age of the professionals who are paid handsomely because they, too, play in front of large crowds. There’s something unsettling about the University of Michigan’s approach — one that is sure to be mimicked by its competitors, if it hasn’t already — taking into account that the school will be using this program to make a pitch to children as young as 13 and usually 17 or 18 years old. Because of factors related to their biological development, the majority are minors and, in the larger scheme of things, do not have the same rights as adults. Put another way, we forbid kids from consuming alcohol or casting ballots in elections, yet it seems that we will let them make decisions that have millions of dollars on the line?
Hopefully, the University of Michigan and any other college that depends so much on athletics to generate cash will treat these situations with empathy and sincere concern for the welfare of the children.
