The Guise of Amateurism and the Convenient Narrative

While our skill sets vary drastically, we all play. We cheer for our teammates, friends, family, and teams throughout every league, level, and skill group. We admire those that effortlessly run, jump, throw, catch, kick, and swim. We look for evidence of human excellence, and we celebrate athletic exceptionalism at every level of sport.

There is something magical and intoxicating when someone performs an athletic feat at the absolute peak of human capabilities. And for those that compete at the most competitive levels, they hold a unique social and cultural capital that enables them - especially in recent years - to capitalize financially from their skills.

Yet when we think about our modern sports history, we find a tale of young people selling out stadiums for their athletic feats only to receive none of those earnings. In fact, for decades the explicit policy of the NCAA was a nonpermissible clause stating, “After becoming a student-athlete, an individual shall not be eligible for participation in intercollegiate athletics if the individual: accepts any remuneration for or permits the use of his or her name or picture to advertise, recommend or promote directly the sale or use of a commercial product or service of any kind; or receives remuneration for endorsing a commercial product or service through the individual’s use of such product or service.”(1)

Billions upon billions of dollars generated and for generations, not a cent was shared with those performing on the field. Under the guise of the “purity of amateurism” that nonpermissible justification was used by those profiting most from the system to extoll the virtue of playing exclusively for the love of the game in order to avoid having to pay those who played the game. And until recently, they convinced the public of the same by claiming that advocates of fair compensation of college athletes were destroying the sanctity of sport. It's convenient that this narrative only safeguarded the powerful few’s revenue streams. 

Now, we are truly in a new era. There are life-changing opportunities for young people due to NIL. It's about time we created the tools and means for athletes to access those opportunities. That is our mission at Dealiyo: for every athlete - just like every great artist or craftsman or musician or beyond - deserves to be compensated for their excellence.

(1)  https://www.ropesgray.com/en/insights/alerts/2020/05/ncaa-moves-closer-to-nil-policy-for-student-athletes