Fast forward to 2021 . And college athletes are still not getting paid to play . But for the first time in history , they can make money off their name , image and likeness and they're using social media to build their personal brands and businesses off the courts and outside of the lines with some of today's top athletes garnering million dollar endorsement deals with the new rules , even the playing field or destroy college sports .
So where are we today with federal regulation ? I asked the ft's Sarah Germano for the latest , what I've heard from sources on the hill is that there are quibbles over what federal legislation might look like for college athlete compensation . You have Democrats on the far left saying NL isn't enough , we need to do more than that .
A number that has more than tripled over the last 20 years and rivals professional sports around the world . But despite all the marketing and TV deals , ticket sales and merchandise sales , college athletes still aren't paid a share of the revenue . This has been a source of much controversy over the years .
Top football coaches like Nick Saban in Alabama make upwards of $10 million a year . Although college athletes still are not paid a share of the revenue . 2021 saw a major shift in the college athletic financial ecosystem to see just how some of today's athletes are taking full advantage of the new NIL rules .
Over 100 years ago , the NC A was created to regulate and control college . Their core principle was that college athletes should be classified as unpaid amateurs , barring those who compete in it from profiting off their pain . Fast forward to 2021 .