College athletes have gotten a major boost to their earning power in recent years, as dozens of state laws and a Supreme Court decision last summer allowed them to strike NIL (or “name, image, and likeness”) deals with sponsors. Some of these contracts are incredibly lucrative. University of Alabama quarterback Bryce Young is one of a number of football stars to hold multiple endorsement deals. The Crimson Tide's own head coach, Nick Saban — who made a salary of nearly $10 million last season — is wary about the possibility that students could make their enrollment decisions purely on the back of endorsement deals. “I just hope that it doesn't get to where name, image, and likeness deals are created, you know, for high school players, to get them to go to a particular institution.” LZ and Will talk about how the college recruiting landscape is changing as players entertain the highest bidder — and whether there’s anything wrong with that.
