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Collegiate ‘Likeness’ Deals Tempt Teens To Forfeit Future Millions For A Blinged-Out, $80,000 Prom

College ‘name, image, and likeness’ deals are seducing young athletes into making rash financial choices with long-term ramifications.

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All that glitters is not gold. A recent Wall Street Journal article on athletes’ spending on extravagant proms brings to mind the Shakespearean phrase, for it hints at larger problems in the sports landscape.

The Journal profiled how high-school athletes, many of whom graduate in December so they can spend the spring practicing with their new college teams, have spent up to $80,000 to return to high school and attend their prom. The article called it “prom in the NIL era,” as athletes receiving “name, image, and likeness” deals from university boosters “are remaking the high school rite of passage into a cultural phenomenon all their own, part victory lap and part personal branding opportunity.” 

From another perspective, the article also illustrates how NIL money can seduce young athletes into making rash financial choices with long-term ramifications. If pro athletes often resemble lottery winners in seeing windfalls slip through their fingers thanks to financial mismanagement, NIL could spread this phenomenon throughout the collegiate ranks.

For starters, most families don’t spend $80,000 in a year, let alone on a single day. Most families spend less........

© The Federalist