U.S. Citizenship Supremacy: How Immigration Laws and NCAA Policies Exclude International College Athletes From Monetizing Their Name, Image, and Likeness

• In Event: Sheraton Roundtable Session Seventeen
  In Roundtable Session: Emergent Issues in Sport and Education (Table 7)

Abstract

Pressured by state laws and Supreme Court loss, the NCAA lifted many restrictions on college athlete name, image, and likeness (NIL). On July 1st, 2021, college athletes received economic freedoms denied to them since the 1950s (Byers, 1995). Although the change was welcome and historic, international college athletes (ICAs)—21,000 or 12% of college athletes—cannot adequately monetize their NIL (NCAA, 2021). This scholarly paper situates NIL within the broader context of US nationalism, anti-immigrant sentiment, and college sports. We find that exclusionary US immigration laws combined with NCAA amateur policies prevent ICAs from engaging in NIL opportunities. We conclude with reform suggestions at the legal, policy, and practice levels that will not only benefit ICAs but also international students and immigrant workers.

Authors

• Simran Kaur Sethi, University of Oklahoma
  Presenting Author

• Kirsten Hextrum, Oregon State University
  Presenting Author