Name, Image, and Likeness: A Plan to Align NCAA Policy with its Mission of Fairness

The era of name, image, and likeness in college athletics is not even two years old, yet it is already raising numerous moral and regulatory concerns regarding the opportunities available to student-athletes. Given the NCAA’s outright commitment to fairness, as expressed in their mission statement, these regulatory and ethical dilemmas should not be possible. However, the reality of the first two years of NIL is the NCAA’s blatant disregard of their mission of fairness, and in order to create a lasting, sustainable NIL landscape, the NCAA must address these issues through policy change. This paper will introduce Name, Image, and Likeness, and explain how NIL evolved into something drastically different that what it intended to become. It will then explain eight of the most pervasive moral and regulatory issues that NIL has created and offer a two-pronged solution in the form of policy changes that will lead to more equitable and fair treatment of student-athletes within the NIL landscape.