Serious question on NIL

I don't even know what this question is asking.

Who started paying players? I don't know, maybe like John Wooden?

When did NIL start? July 1, 2021. The NCAA "Started" it.

I’m thinking a few years ago California courts ruled that players in California could be paid because the players “work” without getting paid was unconstitutional. The flood gates opened after that.

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don't even know what this question is asking. Who started paying players? I don't know, maybe like John Wooden? When did NIL start? July 1, 2021. The NCAA "Started" it.

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Buddy I think I said NIL. John Wooden didn’t start NIL .

Why was NIL really created?

It wasn’t just about fairness — it was survival.

The NCAA was facing lawsuits, state laws, and public pressure that made the old amateurism model impossible to defend. Athletes were generating billions for schools and networks but couldn’t earn a dime from their own name or image.

NIL gave them that right — and it also helped bring booster payments out of the shadows.

For years, under-the-table deals were an open secret in college sports. Now, with NIL, much of that money flows through legal, more transparent channels.

Everyone was doing it, but some were doing it biggly!! lol

Except the O'bannon case specifically cited the licensing of players NIL to video games and included Electronic Arts and the Collegiate Licensing Company as original co-defendants with the NCAA.

Both settled outside of the lawsuit with a $40 million settlement that could net as much as $4,000 to as many as 100,000 current and former athletes who had appeared in EA Sports' NCAA Basketball and NCAA Football series of video games since 2003.