In the wealthiest country on Earth – where nearly 24 million Americans are millionaires and 902 billionaires call the U.S. home – college athletes, not the ultra-wealthy in America (nearly 30% of the world’s billionaires, investopedia. CNBC reports that America’s millionaire population grew by 379,000 for a total of 23.8 million, the most of any country, according to a new study by UBS. With the idea of a fiscal cap by Trump, the U.S.’s 500,000 collegiate student-athletes face a looming financial restriction.
Current U.S. President Donald J. Trump has floated an executive order that would cap Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) earnings, citing concerns about fairness, amateurism, and preserving the “spirit” of college athletics.
But behind the politics lies something more troubling: a targeted rollback of hard-earned progress for student-athletes, especially those from under-resourced communities, historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs), and non-traditional recruiting pipelines.
NIL didn’t break the system – it cracked open a long-sealed door. Now that door is at risk of being slammed shut. There are more millionaire college athletes than ever before. Last October, there were just 10 college student-athletes whose NIL earnings exceeded $1 million, according to On3’s NIL deal tracker on Market Watch. That number grew to 24 during last season’s 2024 March Madness basketball tournament, and now sits at 34.
NIL: The Latest Battlefield for Economic Opportunity
The NCAA has profited for decades off the unpaid labor of student-athletes, particularly in football and men’s basketball, which account for the majority of its billions in revenue. In 2022 alone, the NCAA reported over $1.3 billion in revenue. Student-athletes saw none of it. (ESPN)
The 2021 NIL reform changed that. It finally granted college athletes the right to earn income from their name, image, and likeness – something every other student on campus could already do.
While the NIL system is still evolving, it’s one of the most significant steps toward equity in college sports in decades.
Trump’s proposal would:
• Reinstate the pre-2021 system of zero compensation
• Strip athletes of financial self-determination
• Penalize working-class students who depend on NIL deals for basic needs
Let’s be clear: NIL earnings aren’t just for flashy cars or viral TikToks. For most student-athletes, they cover rent, groceries, tuition gaps, transportation, and help fund small businesses. NIL is not about celebrity – it’s about sustainability.
NIL Disparities Are Real – But Progress Is Still Progress
Yes, there are gaps in NIL equity. White female athletes – especially in sports like gymnastics and volleyball – lead in NIL earnings, driven by strong social media presence and marketability, according to data from Opendorse and On3. Progress has also been made at the bench in 2025 as a federal Judge in California, Claudia Wilken, as noted by the Wall Street Journal, U.S. District Court rules in favor of a 2.8 billion NIL settlement as it was legally cemented that college athletes can get paid by the colleges, thanks to Judge Wilken who approved this landmark deal. The Trump executive order could be in a position to nullify this historic progress in college sports. This move significantly reduces student-athletes’ chances of becoming financially emancipated. By limiting their ability to profit from their name, image, and likeness (NIL), Trump’s executive order funnels them back into a system of dependency. For those who don’t go pro or graduate, the implied fallback is a low-wage factory job, not financial flexibility. Ultimately, this policy doesn’t protect athletes; it protects billionaires. It strips financial independence from young athletes while safeguarding the same institutions and elites that have long profited from their unpaid labor.
Meanwhile:
• Football and men’s basketball players, predominantly Black and from working-class families, generate the most visibility but are underrepresented in endorsement dollars
• HBCU athletes earn less than 2% of total NIL funds
• Universities with massive donor bases and national media access dominate the NIL economy
Does this mean the system is broken? No – it means we need more investment and access, not less opportunity. NIL today is what DEI programs were for academia: a first, imperfect step toward equity. Ironically, white women have disproportionately benefited from both DEI and NIL compared to Black and Brown athletes.
Flawed equity is still better than none. While flawed equity is better than no equity at all, the ongoing debate around NIL (Name, Image, and Likeness) deals reveals a persistent imbalance rooted in race and resources. For HBCUs – where over 75% of the student population is African American – the barriers are not just structural but historical. NIL opportunities have rarely flowed freely to these institutions unless your coach’s name is “Prime Time.” Before Trump’s threatened executive order, the NIL space already came with a caveat: if you’re a Black student-athlete with dreams of monetizing your talent, you’re more likely to succeed in the Big Ten, SEC, or other Power Five conferences than at a Jackson State or Grambling. This mirrors the pattern set in the 1960s, when desegregation – while morally and legally necessary – led to a migration of elite Black athletes from HBCUs to PWIs, gutting the athletic and financial engines of Black institutions and communities. NIL, like the Civil Rights Act before it, opened the door – but it also created a new kind of exodus that continues to siphon talent, visibility, and funding away from Black colleges and the ecosystems that support them.
Next month, Part 2 of this article will examine the historical roots of economic injustice in higher education under the subtitle “Forgotten Foundations: Who Built These Campuses?” It will trace how more than 300 U.S. colleges –including every Ivy League school –were constructed and sustained by the unpaid labor of enslaved Africans and exploited workers, while their descendants were systematically excluded from attending them. This second installment will unpack how restricting NIL is not just a policy misstep – it’s a continuation of the long history of Black labor without Black profit.
Edmond W. Davis is an award-winning university/college professor, international journalist, social historian, a globally recognized Tuskegee Airmen scholar, and the executive director of the National HBCU Black Wall Street Career Fest. He is the author of several books and a lifelong advocate for student achievement, educational equity, and emotional wellness.