What You Need to Know About NIL as LSU Athletes Can Begin Capitalizing on Name, Image and Likeness

It's a new day of college athletics as the NCAA Board of Directors lifted restrictions on athletes that previously prevented them from making money on their name, image and likeness, allowing student athletes to capitalize financially for the first time in college sports history.

A monumental moment for college athletics across the country and certainly at LSU, where some of the top athletes reside, there are some important facts that need to be known. For starters, what is NIL?

Name, image and likeness rights are also frequently called an individual's right to publicity. NCAA athletes will be able to accept money from businesses in exchange for allowing the business to feature them in advertisements or products. Athletes also will be allowed to use their own status as a college athlete to promote their own public appearances or companies for the first time.

Now that the what is taken care of, there are other important details to take into account in regards to how it affects LSU. For starters, there are currently 12 states that have passed NIL legislation and Louisiana isn't one of them, though governor John Bel Edwards is expected to sign the NIL legislation in the near future.

In the meantime, for those states that haven't passes NIL laws to this point, the NCAA has advised individual schools to draw up its own NIL policies so the student athletes can start endorsing companies and their own name, image and likeness right away.

It’s Becoming A Star vs. Becoming An Icon

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— LSU Baseball (@LSUbaseball) July 1, 2021

LSU's Board of Supervisors passed a policy at its last meeting and the state law is expected to be signed at noon on Thursday according to an LSU source close to the situation.

Until then, no deals can be in effect. For many months it was believed that the NCAA or Congress would adopt nationwide rules for all schools but passing NIL federal law proved to be an impossible task, leaving the states and individual schools to hash out the details instead.

Athletes at LSU are among the most endorsable in college athletics and according to a recent article from ActionNetwork, a few of the biggest stars will see immediate gains once the laws in Louisiana are officially passed. According to the article, gymnast Olivia Dunne, who has become a social media icon, is set to make the most money of any athlete with over 1 million followers on Instagram and Tik Tok.

LSU basketball's Shareef O'Neal came in at No. 3 on the list with 2.7 million followers on Instagram while LSU football's Derek Stingley Jr. was No. 14 because of his strong social media following and endorsement opportunities being the face of the Tigers' football program.

Much more to come later in the day as the state officially signs off on the NIL legislation.