In times past, student-athletes played for their respective schools without earning a dime. Then in 2021, NCAA adopted an interim policy suspending name, image, and likeness (NIL) rules, allowing college athletes to profit off of themselves.
Since then, leading athletes across all sports have inked endorsement deals with all leading footwear brands. What is more, athletes playing at high levels are also benefiting from such deals.
Jasmine Jordan, daughter of the legendary Michael Jordan, in recent comments, claimed that her father could have made trillions of dollars if NIL was available to him during his college career at the University of North Carolina in the 1980s.
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“Maybe that first Nike deal wouldn’t have been as low as it was,” Jasmine told Footwear News. “It would have changed the game. He would have potentially approached his contracts with Nike differently.
“Looking at his Funko Pop collectibles or the fact that people still wear his UNC jersey, to reap the benefits from it today, we’re talking making trillions at this point.”
Jasmine, who is also the basketball field rep for women’s sports marketing at Jordan Brand, highlighted a new perspective of what she thinks the women’s athlete roster should look like for the brand.
“Our approach to NIL has been focused on women. Also, it’s a full-fledged, long-term relationship for us. It’s not about collecting whatever check that you can because you did a quick post on Instagram. If we’re signing you, we’re signing you for your college years or resigning you from high school into college and a maybe pro,” Jordan said.
She further adds that NIL allows athletes the opportunity to consider who they are from a business perspective.
“It’s about partnership and being valued and appreciated. I’m constantly drilling that into young athletes because I never want an athlete to feel deceived. Also, NIL can really just be college. You don’t have to enter your pro years with a brand. That allows you to either focus solely on college or it allows for longevity entering the pro years,” Jordan said.
At the peak of his NBA career in college, Jordan accomplished great feats while on campus as per Yardbarker, including 1982 ACC Rookie of the Year, 1982 national champion, 1982 All-Tournament Team, 1982 Freshman All-American 1983, and First Team All-ACC.
He also accomplished 1983 East Regional Team, 1983 consensus All-American, 1983 National Player of the Year (The Sporting News), 1984 First Team All-ACC, 1984 ACC Player of the Year, 1984 ACC Athlete of the Year, 1984 consensus All-American, 1984 consensus National Player of the Year and 1980s NCAA Tournament.
Others include All-Decade Team, NCAA Tournament All-Time Team, the No. 1 male athlete in ACC history, and the top-15 player in the 75 Years of March Madness Celebration.
