[DC 86]

"The WNBA is 25 years old and its base salary for the top four picks in the draft is over $70,000..."

Can that be accurate?  They make it sound like that's a good thing. 



This article tends to reinforce the idea that 1% of college athletes will be making all the money and 99% will not profit.

So just like the greater capitalist economy in general.

Or, considering sports is entertainment, the "traditional" entertainment industry. You have a handful of mega-famous A-listers, a few handfuls of other performers associated with those A-listers that get some solid scraps of their own, and then thousands and thousands and thousands of struggling hopefuls who at least have SAG health insurance and a few small residual checks thanks to a couple local commercials and a minor part in a shitty Netflix show that got cancelled after one season.

Completely true that benefits will be disproportional and analogous to the entertainment industry. But the difference is that for student-athletes any NIL compensation is essentially gravy. The struggling actor still has to survive, meaning working a job or jobs in order to pay rent and eat, so those residual checks are only making a small dent into a losing situation (financially). A scholarship athlete who makes a few thousand dollars (or even just a few hundred) puts it in his/her pocket and is objectively doing better than he/she was doing a year ago pre-NIL. That's why I don't agree that 99% will not profit since any NIL payment is profit, and we're already seeing that plenty of non-stars are entering into NIL deals, even though most are local and presumably modestly compensated.

[DC 86]

"The WNBA is 25 years old and its base salary for the top four picks in the draft is over $70,000..."

Can that be accurate?  They make it sound like that's a good thing. 



This article tends to reinforce the idea that 1% of college athletes will be making all the money and 99% will not profit.

So just like the greater capitalist economy in general.

Or, considering sports is entertainment, the "traditional" entertainment industry. You have a handful of mega-famous A-listers, a few handfuls of other performers associated with those A-listers that get some solid scraps of their own, and then thousands and thousands and thousands of struggling hopefuls who at least have SAG health insurance and a few small residual checks thanks to a couple local commercials and a minor part in a shitty Netflix show that got cancelled after one season.

Completely true that benefits will be disproportional and analogous to the entertainment industry. But the difference is that for student-athletes any NIL compensation is essentially gravy. The struggling actor still has to survive, meaning working a job or jobs in order to pay rent and eat, so those residual checks are only making a small dent into a losing situation (financially). A scholarship athlete who makes a few thousand dollars (or even just a few hundred) puts it in his/her pocket and is objectively doing better than he/she was doing a year ago pre-NIL. That's why I don't agree that 99% will not profit since any NIL payment is profit, and we're already seeing that plenty of non-stars are entering into NIL deals, even though most are local and presumably modestly compensated.