Notre Dame football: Key Irish players quickly jump on NIL opportunity
The Notre Dame football program saw many players jump at the chance on the first day of the new NIL policy, including Kyle Hamilton.
The Notre Dame football program is a national brand, and those players who star for the team are known all over the world. When it comes to the new NIL policy, it is a no-brainer that some of the current Irish stars would take advantage, and that became a reality on Thursday.
July 1st was going to be the day that saw some states make earning money of a college athlete’s name, image, and likeness legal. The NCAA, meanwhile, had kept punting the issue, hoping for a way out.
That was until the eleventh hour when they finally made it so that NIL would be allowed for any NCAA student-athlete.
This is great for Notre Dame, who has both been prepping for NIL to become reality for over a year, despite Indiana trailing behind other states in terms of legislation. Now, several football players have already announced that they’re going to be taking advantage of various NIL opportunities. This includes several players who have made posts with Yoke Gaming per Pete Sampson of The Athletic.
- Kyle Hamilton
- Houston Griffith
- Myron Tagovailoa-Amosa
- Clarence Lewis
- Braden Lenzy
- Xavier Watts
- Osi Ekwonu
Yoke Gaming is a platform that allows you to play video games online with athletes, and it was actually founded by former Notre Dame football running back, Mick Assaf. NIL is a big deal for them, as now college athletes who love video games can get paid to play with fans.
They made this post as the clock struck midnight and July 1st came:
Of course, this is just one of the many opportunities that student-athletes now have under NIL rule changes. Athletes can make money to do things like be in a video game, sign autographs, and get a cut of their jersey sales.
Furthermore, they can charge appearance fees now too. For instance, if you wanted Michael Mayer to show up to your fun run, you can now pay him to do so. The list of opportunities doesn’t stop there, either.
Some players are announcing concert tours and monetized YouTube channels, both of which were against NCAA rules until Thursday.
These changes aren’t about ending amateurism or changing the game as we know it, they’re about letting student-athletes do what every other student, including students on other types of scholarships, can do. It’s about being as fair as possible to the student-athlete. There is a chance it does have an impact on recruiting, but the great coaches are going to be ready for it, and Notre Dame and Brian Kelly are now in a position to thrive.