The Supreme Court's Decision in <i>NCAA v. Board of Regents</i>: Did the NCAA Really Misread It So Badly?

Today, college athletes like LSU gymnast Olivia Dunne and Alabama quarterback Bryce Young can earn hundreds of thousands of dollars a year from social media and product endorsements. However; it was only a couple of years ago that the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) declared University of Central Florida football player Donald De La Haye ineligible to play because he refused to stop monetizing his videos on YouTube, thereby losing his scholarship. The purpose of this paper is to examine the impact the Supreme Court's 1984 decision in NCAA v. Board of Regents has had in the NCAA, going from a complete prohibition on college athletes profiting off their Name, Image and Likeness ("NIL") rights, to the current wild west market, in which athletes are able to cash in on their social media and athletic fame, and collectives and directives are operating in a system that looks like pay-for-play.