When Playing Becomes Performing: Remedying College Athletes’ Experiences of Performativity in the NIL (Name, Image, and Likeness) Landscape

• In Event: AERA Roundtable Session Saturday 11:40 am Four Seasons Ballroom 2-3
  In Roundtable Session: Navigating Transitions and Well-Being in Collegiate Sports: Exploring Postgraduate Paths, Mental Health, Accessibility, and Name, Image, and Likeness (Table 8)

Abstract

Intercollegiate sports, especially football and men’s basketball, have generated substantial revenue for higher education institutions and the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) through collegiate athletes’ labor (Tynes, 2019). Historically, NCAA policies prevented players from accepting financial incentives based on their amateur status (Brooks, 2019; Solomon, 2018). Since 2021, collegiate athletes have been able to monetize their athletic abilities through Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) policies. NIL policies combined with the concurrent rise of other policies such as the transfer portal, has dramatically shifted the collegiate athletics landscape. This paper examines collegiate athletes’ responses to this evolving landscape partially through the need to perform to be able to thrive within it. Equity implications for administrators and policymakers will also be examined.

Author

• Isaiah Simmons, RAND Corporation