Student athletes or university employees? The shifting status – and compensation – of college athletes

Since 2021, college athletes have been able to profit off their name, image and likeness (NIL) through brand deals and endorsements. However, starting July 1, 2025, due to a legal settlement with the NCAA, athletes will be able to be paid directly through their universities. This brings up a lot of new questions about the business of college sports. In this episode, George Headley speaks with journalist Laine Higgins about the future of college sports as she sees it. Higgins has been covering the NIL era of college sports for the Wall Street Journal for the past few years and has closely watched the myriad of changes in real time. Here is what she has to say about her experience and what other reporters can expect to see moving forward.

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Student athletes or university employees? The shifting status – and compensation – of college athletes is an episode from How to Cover Money by BizJournalism.

This episode is 16:59 long.

This episode was published on Aug 26, 2025.

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