Follow any financial markets these days and you will surely come across a discussion about Bitcoin or the latest trend in crypto-commerce: Non Fungible Tokens (NFTs).
NFTs are digital assets that are unique in nature. Examples include digital artwork, music, or trading cards. Recently, Twitter CEO sold his first tweet as an NFT for $2.5 million.
That tweet? "just setting up my twttr" posted at 2:50PM on March 21, 2006.
Some of the most popular NFTs are NBA Highlights sold on NBA Top Shot, a marketplace for digital collectibles. So its only natural to think that NCAA athletes should be able to sell their highlights (for example) as digital collectibles as well.
With new rules around NCAA athletes being able to profit from their name, image, and likeness (NIL), the NFT revolution could have arrived right on time.
According to the NCAA, new rules allow athletes to receive the following:
- Compensation for third-party endorsements related to athletics, without school or conference involvement.
- Compensation for other student-athlete opportunities, such as social media, new businesses, and personal appearances, without institutional involvement or the use of trademarks/logos.
However, the NCAA / Athletic Conference / University still own the rights to the video, highlights and media produced.
NCAA athletes entering college in the fall were born in 2004 (the same year Facebook was founded). They have been managing their online profiles, digital presence, and personal brand for most of their lives. It won't take long for them to figure out how to sell digital highlights.
It would be wise for the NCAA to work with student athletes to allow them to benefit from the sale of their highlights. By managing the marketplace for the sale of digital assets, the NCAA can take a percentage of each transaction, allow the athletes to promote their own brand, authenticate ownership, and ensure the integrity of the sale.
Both the NCAA and the student athletes win.
As it stands, the NIL rules will only benefit a handful of athletes (mainly football and basketball players) at top schools. Giving students ownership rights to their highlights can broaden that benefit pool to other sports and lesser known players.
Imagine how much people would pay for highlights from Tiger Woods' time at Stanford or Michael Phelps at Michigan? Who's the next iconic American sports figure buried in the NCAA sitting on a treasure chest of digital assets?
I'm sure he or she can use some support as they strive to turn professional.
