Drew Pierce is a junior journalism major and is a columnist for The Daily News. His views do not necessarily agree with those of the newspaper. Write to Drew at dlpierce2@bsu.edu.
Picture This.
Ball State redshirt junior Drew Plitt takes a snap and rolls to his left as seconds fly off the clock. Plitt shakes off a tackle in the backfield and fires down field. Redshirt senior Riley Miller leaps over the defending cornerback and pulls down the throw with one hand while tip-toeing the back corner of the endzone. The official signals for a touchdown and the Cardinals win.
The Cardinals won because of you. Yes, you. This is because you played as Ball State on NCAA College Football 20 by EA Sports.
With a new ruling by the NCAA, college athletes will soon have the rights to their own image, name and likeness. This puts us one step closer to bringing back the beloved college football video game.
On Tuesday, a board within the NCAA made the unanimous decision to give student athletes more freedom and options when it comes to their own talent and profile.
It is crazy to think that large schools have been profiting off of the name of college athletes for decades and now the first steps in a big overhaul is taking place.
It is a great thing for collegiate athletics that this is happening. This benefits student athletes because it finally provides freedom to their name. Something that they should have had a long time ago.
To be more specific, college athletes will soon be able to profit from their own jersey sales, sign endorsements, get agents and finally get a cut of what has been making universities billions of dollars for many years.
Senior defensive tackle Chris Crumb smacks the banner as he runs onto the field Oct. 19, 2019, at Scheumann Stadium. Ball State beat Toledo, 52-14. Jacob Musselman, DN
Now, some may say that this can cause laziness on the field or court because of a monetized incentive. I could not disagree more. What is more motivating than compensation for your hard work? Not every athlete will get an endorsement, but this can push them to work harder and get better.
Another argument to be made is that it does not treat all sports equally in the fact that some of the bigger sports will make out better through this than the little sports.
That is just the nature of the beast. This new ruling is instilling a free market approach to collegiate athletics where the most exposed and the best in those sports are going to do better than an athlete in a smaller sport. All sports are not created equally when it comes to business, and it is fiscally impossible for all athletes to get the same amount of endorsements and revenue from likeness.
However, companies like Nike and Adidas have their hand in everything. Although the football and basketball type of sports are going to get the most exposure, there are still opportunities for sports like golf and soccer to produce endorsements and other ways for athletes to make a buck.
It is crazy to think that there are famous college athletes out there that can become household names without legally receiving any monetary compensation at all.
Now, this is a small step to a much larger issue, but it is about time that this step is taken. The NCAA still has to work out a long list of details and changes to make this ruling agree with organizational policy.
It is about time that student athletes will profit from their own name and own talent. And who knows, there is a great chance that the classic NCAA football video game will soon be back.
Drew Pierce is a junior journalism major and is a columnist for The Daily News. His views do not necessarily agree with those of the newspaper. Write to Drew at dlpierce2@bsu.edu
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