NCAA has announced that it plans to change rules regarding NIL (name, image, likeness) before the July 1st, 2021 date when several states are due to enact laws of their own. The states that plan to enact NIL law changes by the July date are Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi and New Mexico, according to CBS Sports.

Regardless of which side of the argument you fall on with NIL rule changes in the NCAA, it's apparent that we'll be looking at an entirely different type of influencer in the near future compared to the current crop. NBA, NFL, MLB and professional soccer players across the globe have benefited from their name, image, and likeness for their entire careers. The difference with top tier collegiate athletes getting the green light to monetize their platforms is that college-age athletes are the trend setters.

Remember the Fab 5 with Chris Webber, Jalen Rose, Juwan Howard, Jimmy King and Ray Jackson? The 1991 Michigan Wolverines hoop team provided an early example of the impact college athletes had on American pop culture. Webber and crew wore black socks, black shoes and shorts that went far below the knee and had every school-age kid in the country and beyond mimicking their every move. The brand they built resulted in the Fab 5 being immortalized in the world of college basketball.

Imagine the Fab 5 had the access to social media platforms like student-athletes do today. Their reach would have been astronomical.

At CLA Sports we're looking to revolutionize the way college athletes are compensated, but differ significantly in our approach compared to the other companies in the marketplace. With 10+ years of social marketing experience, we know that building a brand cannot happen without access to a large audience. The platform we've created over the past decade has organically grown the brands of countless elite athletes from Socal and beyond.

With NIL rule changes on the horizon our approach will remain the same.

Through our CLA Films media platform we've covered players such as Bookie Radley-Hiles, Justin Flowe, DJ Uiagalelei, Bryce Young and Elias Ricks since early in their HS careers. These are athletes that were featured on the CLA platform for years before they arrived on college campuses, and who have amassed tremendous social media brands. We've lived and breathed social media marketing for student-athletes since day one. We know the formula.

Most people will be looking for college programs to whole-heartedly create opportunities to strengthen the personal brands of their athletes, but this will simply not be in the best interest of the school. The program will lookout for the program. Teams need to recruit yearly to bring in the next class of athletes that will better their chances of conference and national championships, and creating content will not be high on the priority list of any program.

The added bonus that schools are offering as they sign deals with NIL companies, is that there will be an in-house team of professionals to help players create content. In addition, players will separately be able to utilize the agency services of companies to strike brand deals that will offer agencies a percentage of the total deal.

Many people do not realize that their will not be able to be any "institutional" involvement with the NIL deals of NCAA student-athletes. It will be necessary to keep the institution and athlete separate in NIL deals as to avoid compliance issues and potential recruiting violations. At the end of the day the NCAA is the corporate machine that has been forced to relent power to the student-athletes, and the last thing state legislators want is NCAA member institutions having their hand in the pot of NIL deals signed by collegiate athletes.

Our approach to NIL rule changes is to look at things outside-the-box. We see NIL rule changes as an opportunity for reliance on self-growth and entrepreneurship as a collegiate athlete. Rather than the implementation of pre-packaged content offered by companies who seek to corporatize the NIL industry, we offer a custom-tailored and organic approach rooted in community.

Either way, starting July 1st, 2021, NCAA athletes will be entering a new world of freedom and the ones who do it the right way will win the day. Companies will also be offered a seat at the table in an emerging industry that is guaranteed to generate billions of dollars in revenue relatively quickly, and the keys to success will be the same.

Get ready to be welcomed to the Wild Wild West. After July 1st, companies will come out the woodwork and the college sports complex will be forever altered. For the first time in history, college athletes will get their piece of the pie.

Stay-tuned for more NIL blogs from CLA Sports. Thanks for reading.

Aaron Plunkett (President, CLA Sports)