NAME IMAGE LIKENESS
NIL
is the new normal and UW leadership has invested heavily to aid their student athletes in realizing their marketability and potential
BY BOB SHERWIN • FOR GO HUSKIES MAGAZINE
W
hen the NCAA passed its longdebated NIL legislation last July, opening the door for student-athletes to receive compensation, the University of Washington quickly welcomed the opportunity to assist its athletes and, perhaps inadvertently, its athletics. NIL stands for ‘Name, Image, and Likeness.’ The NCAA passed the legislation after years of pressure from students-athlete advocates who believed that colleges had unfairly exploited them. The legislation, made official on July 1, 2021, gave studentathletes the opportunity to be financially rewarded, previously disallowed under NCAA rules. University officials across the U.S. have reacted with varying degrees of commitment. Some readily accepted the change and have attempted to engage and connect student-athletes with beneficial programs while some have had a slow embrace while voicing concerns. Some leading influential college coaches have shared that NIL is not a sustainable model and could lead to buying players. UW Athletic Director Jen Cohen responded rapidly to the NCAA move, saying at the time, “our university community has been strategic and col-
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laborative so that Husky student-athletes will be able to hit the ground running when it comes to NIL. Our department’s core purpose of providing holistic development opportunities for our students has always been why we exist, and this commitment is why the UW is a perfect environment for students to thrive in the NIL era.” Since no federal laws or regulations were in place to safeguard the NCAA legislation, it was up to the member institutions to fill in the blanks as they built their NIL programs. In Washington state, there are no laws pertinent to the NIL regulations. The NCAA’s primary directive was that all studentathletes must disclose any NIL activities to the university overseers for approval. “What we did is put together our own policy, working with campus, working with general counsel, providing guardrails to make sure they are set up for success,” said Jamaal Walton, UW’s Senior Associate Athletic Director for Sports Administration & Strategic Initiatives. “The biggest thing is education.”
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