Navigating an Intercollegiate Athletes’ Transition Related to the Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) Interim Policy

Abstract

On July 1, 2021, the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) announced the Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) Interim Policy, permitting most student-athletes across the U.S. to monetize their NIL through participation in various branding activities, having a transformative effect throughout intercollegiate athletics. The purpose of this manuscript is to conceptualize NIL as a career change event and share an intervention supporting an intercollegiate student-athlete in navigating this NIL-related transition. This includes the client’s challenges related to the stress of negotiating contracts, decisions about transferring or remaining at an institution, and a lack of clarity around regulations of NIL engagements. Using the Scheme of Change for Sport Psychology Practice (SCSPP; Samuel & Tenenbaum, 2011a) as a framework, the authors conceptualize NIL as a change-event and overall career transition in which student-athletes are transitioning to businesspeople, as highlighted through the case study of Jamal (pseudonym). This manuscript offers applied considerations for sport psychology practitioners supporting intercollegiate student-athletes through this unprecedented transition.