The Ohio State Buckeyes won their ninth national championship title over the Notre Dame Fighting Irish on Monday night as the first victors in the new 12-team college football playoff format.
They did so as one of the programs with the most NIL money and resources in college football, with a reported $20 million dollar purse for the Buckeyes football team.
However, the actual definition of NIL as being about name, image, and likeness has been lost in the plot—no collectible memorabilia was made for fans of the CFP national champions.
The only NIL memorabilia available for purchase, according to Cllct, is an autographed Will Howard football inscribed “CFP MVP.”
Name, image, and likeness (NIL) are the three prongs that make up an individual’s “right of publicity.” Legally, it either prohibits or permits an individual to promote a product or service. It covers anything that identifies them as well as third-party sponsorships and endorsements.
For example, an athlete who was previously photographed wearing Nike or another notable athletic brand could not control the brand’s usage of that photo to promote themselves. In the NIL era, that requires consent from the athlete to not violate their right of publicity.
The goal of the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to grant athletes NIL rights was to safeguard them and give them control over their promotion.
What exactly are the national champions supposed to promote with no goods available for purchase to celebrate their victory?
It puts a spotlight on the realities of NIL and the fact that they don’t have much to do with merchandise and memorabilia at all, notwithstanding a perhaps misleading name or title.
Despite the Brandr Group’s aggregation of Ohio State players’ rights, fans have not received tangible items. That applies to every college football program. There’s simply no effort on the part of the NCAA to change things from the previous era. The focus of schools is on NIL funds that directly go to players—up to $20 million in the Buckeyes’ case.
Fans can purchase their favorite player’s jerseys, including Caleb Downs, Jack Sawyer, and Jeremiah Smith. However, you won’t find any national championship gear.
Insiders told Cllct that licensees can easily make the items, but that they cannot put players in team colors on national championship items. What is the rationale for limiting licenses that would benefit both fans and the program they support monetarily?
After a season dominated by discussions of NIL and the transforming college sports landscape that athlete rights continue to strengthen, the complete lack of memorabilia that goes to the fans is arguably a slap in the face.
It’s challenging to persuade fans to continue contributing to NIL funds for players who, given current circumstances, are unlikely to last more than one or two seasons. It seems quite easy, if not expressly desired by them, to provide goods for purchase that will perpetuate memories past current rosters.
