The big story of the early signing period for college football recruits this year wasn’t who signed where. Thanks to so-called NIL deals, it was for how much.
NIL refers to “name, image and likeness” rights. We just went through the first batch of recruits signing with teams since the NCAA allowed athletes to trade on those rights. Meanwhile, NIL is also playing a role in the movement of players via the transfer portal, with coveted prospects like (former?) Oklahoma Sooners quarterback Caleb Williams incorporating their marketing value into the calculus of where they will play next.