Caitlin Clark opens up on how she handled NIL at Iowa

When name, image and likeness (NIL) reform was officially introduced in 2021, it paved the way for college athletes to monetize their efforts much more easily. It also created a ton of headaches. Former Iowa star Caitlin Clark can speak to both.

She was among the first athletes to really hit it big in the NIL space, courtesy of her insane talent on the basketball court.

But not everything was easy to navigate, especially early on.

“It became a thing after my freshman year,” Caitlin Clark said on the New Heights podcast. “And it was kind of weird, because everybody was like, ‘OK, what is it?’ The NCAA, they don’t have rules on much anymore, so there weren’t many rules it was most like what can we do, what can we not do? And we’re also the first, so you’re trying to figure it out as you go.”

How did Caitlin Clark navigate the space? Well, she leaned on the people she trusted the most.

“My family helped me a lot,” Clark said. “But as you get going, you just figure things out and it’s fun. It obviously should have been a thing for a really long time. The NIL part of it, the true endorsements, you’re doing a commercial for the local coffee shop or whatever it is. It’s something so easy and so simple. Like a normal student could do that, why couldn’t an athlete? It’s just such a thing that should have been a thing for a long time.”

Again, though, the NIL space was fraught with issues in the early going. For one, the organization of parties to NIL deals was all over the place.

There wasn’t a centralized system at all, making it hard to get a real handle on things.

“It was like challenging to navigate, and it still is,” Caitlin Clark said. “Seeing these college students that they don’t have the right resources around them, it stinks. It’s hard. I think that’s kind of like something that needs to kind of become, I don’t know, more prevalent. I know universities are trying to start having in-house NIL people or whatever it is, or in-house lawyers or whatever it is to try to manage that. So they’re doing the best they can too, but obviously there’s not many guidelines or rules, so it makes it hard as well.”

Overall, though, Caitlin Clark believes NIL has been an overwhelming positive. Not just for individuals, but for entire sports as a whole.

“It obviously changed a lot and it’s made it fun, and I also think it’s helped women’s sports grow too,” Clark said. “So it’s been great for everybody, honestly.”