Abstract
Athletic administrators often assume a distinct stakeholder role that has the most immediate and frequent impact on college athletes’ well-being and retention. The implementation of name, image, and likeness (NIL) represents a historic transformation in college athletics. Utilizing a sport development framework, particularly the retention stage, to examine elite athlete development, how athletic administrators socially support college athletes in the new context of NIL and its impact on administrators’ work experiences were empirically assessed. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 18 athletic administrators at nine universities. The themes of Implementation Challenges, Lack of Uniformity, Holistic Benefits to Athlete Well-Being, and Mostly Unrealized Negative Outcomes identified best practices to supporting and retaining college athletes. Several practical recommendations are presented, focused primarily on the well-being benefits athletes have realized through NIL and the long-term impact NIL may have on athletic department personnel. For a more nuanced understanding of NIL, outcomes beyond financial gain must be recognized to better support holistic athlete development.
Recommended Citation
Berg, Brennan K.; Hutchinson, Michael; Wells, Janelle E.; Walsh, David W.; and Simmond, Andre
(2025)
"Supporting the College Athlete Amidst the Onset of Name, Image, and Likeness,"
Journal of Issues in Intercollegiate Athletics: Vol. 18:
Iss.
1, Article 26.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.51221/sc.jiia.2025.18.1.26
Available at:
https://scholarcommons.sc.edu/jiia/vol18/iss1/26