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5-star 2023 CFB recruit reportedly lands $8 million NIL deal: Media, fans react
By Andrew Olson
Published:
On Friday, The Athletic shared some eye-popping college football recruiting news: a 5-star prospect in the class of 2023 has already signed a deal to be compensated $8 million for his name, image and likeness.
A portion of The Athletic report can be read above the website’s paywall. It details that the 2023 5-star signed with a “school’s NIL collective.” The article does not name the prospect or the affiliated collective.
From Stewart Mandel:
On Friday, a five-star recruit in the Class of 2023 signed an agreement with a school’s NIL collective that could pay him more than $8 million by the end of his junior year of college, The Athletic has learned. He’ll be paid $350,000 almost immediately, followed by monthly payouts escalating to more than $2 million per year once he begins his college career, in exchange for making public appearances and taking part in social media promotions and other NIL activities “on behalf of (the collective) or a third party.”
NCAA rules say that NIL deals cannot be “pay-for-play” in exchange for a prospect signing with a school. In the paywalled article, Mandel details that the $8 million deal avoids violating the rules by not mentioning a requirement to enroll at any specific university. The deal does not mention any school by name, per Mandel’s report.
Reactions from fans and media varied. Some applauded the athlete for inking a big payday, while others expressed concern about college football’s future.
Here’s a sample of the social reactions:
Only a handful of states allow HS players to profit off their NIL & stay eligible. If this player plays HS in 2022, pretty good chance he's from Cali. And given only one position would command that type of money … well, I'll just leave the rankings herehttps://t.co/dGko8PBLAP https://t.co/Wc7S8A12ya
— Chris Hummer (@chris_hummer) March 12, 2022
After reading the story, my unpopular opinion here is that i don't actually think this stuff is great for athlete welfare. Bad conracts and terrible regulations will lead to some people getting hurt https://t.co/qmTLA6bGtK
— Matt Brown (@MattBrownEP) March 12, 2022
There are only two players in the 2023 class who I could see this going to. https://t.co/WmbSKeQKel
— Clint Cosgrove (@IamClint_C) March 12, 2022
awesome. get that money https://t.co/8sAuTAm1re
— Timothy Burke (@bubbaprog) March 12, 2022
The NIL space is getting scary. You deny compensation to athletes for 50 years, then swing open the doors without any legit parameters and now collectives are flat out buying recruits. Legally. https://t.co/m329YEYyKg
— Michael Spath (@MichaelSpathITH) March 12, 2022
The future of big time NIL? https://t.co/kjHty75Z8u
— Coach1984 (@Coach1984) March 12, 2022
If you aren’t used to this yet, you better start. https://t.co/rxSUiXqYXh
— Kevin McGuire (@KevinOnCFB) March 12, 2022
Sport might be cooked https://t.co/HrkGL7PUQN
— ?Dερrεssεđ ?Ɉ? (@MiniMeSmitty18) March 12, 2022
https://twitter.com/FracturedFetus/status/1502464015955550211
yea college football a washed sport https://t.co/ifsOAMctor
— alex (@ColemanA_) March 12, 2022
Given the $, guessing its a QB. I get it, people got $ to burn but it seems like a bad investment, have you see the HS QB bust rate/transfer rate? https://t.co/McjdfRr2V4
— SkinsHoops86 (@SkinsHoops86) March 12, 2022
Let the speculation about the player and the program begin!
Andrew writes about sports to fund his love of live music and collection of concert posters. He strongly endorses the Hall of Fame campaigns of Fred Taylor and Andruw Jones.
