California Sports Lawyer® Founder and Managing Attorney Jeremy M. Evans column about the effect of name, image, and likeness (NIL) and the transfer portal on college basketball during March Madness and beyond the tournament.
You can read the full column below. (Past columns can be found, here).
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As the Sweet 16 of the yearly NCAA men’s basketball tournament is upon us, March Madness has been in full swing for a week. March Madness is one of the most successful sporting events and tournaments in terms of viewership, gambling dollars spent, and highlighting college programs across America. March Madness is also one of the few sporting events where Cinderella stories are commonplace from mid-major schools. In no other post-season tournament is there an opportunity for as many schools and players to get to taste the sweetness of competing for a national championship that is generally reserved to the Power Four conferences.
Name, image, and likeness (NIL) payments and opportunities, and the transfer portal have changed the complexity of college sports and even more so for college basketball. More schools are affected by losing basketball players to schools that can afford to pay more NIL dollars through recruiting and the transfer portal compared to other sports. Since 2024, nearly half of all college basketball players have used the transfer portal. It is an astronomical number when compared to other sports. The transfer portal and NIL is also set to receive more freedom in doing business as the House settlement was agreed to last week by several State Attorneys General, with the final settlement hearing set for April 7, 2025.
With head coaches and athletic department personnel being incentivized to win and advance with bonuses, it makes sense that there would be a push to bring in more talent through the transfer portal and NIL dollars, not less. The rules of sports are often changing and the best coaches and teams will find a way to win within the set rules and regulations. The coaches that do not change are those that fail to improvise, adapt, and overcome.
There is also the question of timing for the transfer portal. Under current rules, the transfer portal will open for 30 days starting after the end of the Round of 32. In other words, the transfer portal opens during the Sweet 16 and rest of March Madness. The transfer portal was previously for 45 days and occurred after Selection Sunday, which arguably makes more sense as athletic departments and coaches make roster decisions after the college “draft”. The changes highlight the point that head coaches have already begun to rely less on Selection Sunday to sign players, e.g., incoming freshman, and focus on players with more experience through the transfer portal.
Speaking of improvising, adapting, and overcoming, as actor Clint Eastwood once said in the film Heartbreak Ridge, NIL and the transfer portal also raise questions about roster and coaching instability, tampering, pay-for-play, parity and competitive balance, student academic concerns, and fans becoming disinterested in college basketball in an already short window of success with the one-and-done rules. The list of new challenges for college coaches and athletic departments are growing and becoming more complex. Without the NCAA’s leadership and guidance on fair rules and regulations as opposed to the current approach of release and see what happens, college basketball will constantly be in a state of flux. While college athletes making money seems like a great thing, it is always the details that matter.
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About Jeremy M. Evans:
Jeremy M. Evans is the Chief Entrepreneur Officer, Founder & Managing Attorney at California Sports Lawyer®, representing entertainment, media, and sports clients in contractual, intellectual property, and dealmaking matters. Evans is an award-winning attorney and industry leader based in Los Angeles and Newport Beach, California. He can be reached at Jeremy@CSLlegal.com. www.CSLlegal.com.
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