Why the NCAA’s (very tardy) NIL Guidance Might Not Matter to the Future of NIL, But Will Underscore the Uncertain Future of the NCAA

By Erin E. Butcher and Kasey Nielsen, of Bricker & Eckler (Editor’s Note: The following in NIL Institutional Report, a periodical co-published by Hackney Publications.) Almost a full year after the NCAA was essentially forced to permit college student-athletes to financially benefit from their NIL, beginning July 1, 2021, the NCAA will release recommendations on a way forward in college NIL.  The NCAA’s recommendations or guidance will matter, but, with the emergence of powerf