One of the big conversations recently has been about NIL, and the fact that Indiana still has no NIL Bill is bad news for Notre Dame Football.
Name and Image Likeness, or NIL, bills are coming, with states like Florida set to push forward these bills into law on July 1st. That’s not next year, or down the road. For Notre Dame Football, which plays in Indiana, there is no NIL Bill, which is bad news for the program.
This will absolutely reshape the world of recruiting, just as it is reshaping the public’s views on amateurism.
Think about it from the point of view of a major recruit from Florida, or being recruited by schools in Florida. They can go play at Miami, Florida, Florida State, even a G5 school like UCF who more or less owns the city of Orlando right now. While they’re doing that, they can compete for the newly expanding College Football Playoff, enjoy warm winters, and even make some money off the sale of their autograph or a local ad.
How does a school like Notre Dame compete with that in a recruiting pitch? The short answer, they don’t, and the pool of potential recruits shrinks even further.
Notre Dame is preparing for NIL to come to college football too. That much is obvious.
They loudly stated that they won’t participate in the new EA college football video game, at least for as long as players can’t make money off their likeness in the game.
The Irish have also been aggressive in their use of NIL in recruiting.
All of that’s before you consider the countless quips from Brian Kelly about being in support of player’s rights.
Now, put aside your personal feelings on NIL. It’s happening and it’s a great thing for Notre Dame in recruiting. Think about it. The Irish are still, and will always be, a marquee program in college football. They’re a national brand, which means that key players on Notre Dame, like the starting quarterback or an All-American linebacker, will be known throughout the country and worth a lot as far as NIL is concerned.
They’ll be worth more than if they go to a lot of other schools who may also be recruiting them, where their NIL potential is more localized. In other words, Notre Dame can truly thrive in this environment.
Notre Dame Football will be hurt by no NIL Bill in Indiana
Of course, none of this matters if Indiana doesn’t pass any legislation on NIL. Nothing is coming at the federal level for the foreseeable future, and the NCAA is playing ostrich. Meanwhile, 19 states signed NIL into law, with the earliest becoming law on July 1, 2021.
An additional four states are waiting on the governor’s signatures to pass NIL into law. That will make 23 out of 50 states. That’s before you consider the next 16 states that have at least introduced a new NIL bill.
Indiana is not one of them. This means players at Notre Dame, without a federal or state law, can not make money off NIL. It also means that Notre Dame will be at a distinct disadvantage when it comes to recruiting.
The simple reality is that you need to be one of the top-tier teams, year in and year out, to realistically compete for a National Championship. If you can’t do that, you can’t expect to win anything. If Indiana doesn’t have a NIL bill, Notre Dame can’t recruit at the level they need to. In other words, Notre Dame can’t win a National Championship.
Now, no two bills are the same, and they have different levels of significance in different parts of the country. Some bills are decidedly better than others, which means that those states will have more desirable schools for recruits.
Still, something is better than nothing. Right now, in Indiana, Notre Dame has nothing.
