High School Athletes and NIL Deals

I recently received this text message from a high school coach I know: “Would you please make people aware of high school athletes and the NIL deals? Something has to be done. It’s getting out of hand.” In case you’re unfamiliar to what this coach is referring to, Nil is an acronym that stands for name, image, and likeness. You see, just like pro athletes, high school athletes are now signing sponsorship and endorsement deals with major companies like Nike and others, to use their name, image, and likeness to market and promote products. California was the first state to allow Nil deals with high school athletes, and now twenty other states are doing the same. Bronny James, son of Lebron James, already has seven point five million dollars in NIL deals. Of course, there are many concerns regarding this trend. It’s evidence of our materialism and commercialism. In addition, it undermines play, making it a money-making endeavor. Sports are not to replace our worship of God.