Athletic Realtors

By: Jay Yi

In modern society, money equals power. People also need money to survive, which is why college athletes need to have some other way to make money. A track team in Oregon decided to rent out a house using their fame. This would not have been possible if the NCAA hadn’t decided to allow NIL (Name, Image, and Likeness).

NIL means that athletes can use their name, image, etc. to make money. These ways may include partnership with a company to promote products, or, in this case, promoting a house.

Money has always been a struggle for college athletes, as they are not professionals, so they make about 5k per year. This means that athletes like Micah Williams, face extreme pressure about their decisions to be professional or not.

Now, thanks to NIL, this Oregon track team decided to pair up with Division Street, modify a house, and rent it out. This house is called the “Oregon House.” The house was especially successful because of the fact that Oregon had a lack of housing.

According to a member of the track team, all they needed to do was promote the house on social media. After that, the team would split the profits. This extra surge of money helped the athletes quite a bit.

Williams says that the money has removed the pressure from turning professional. Williams also said that “I like that I can stay in school and go for the records while being able to make money.”

Whenever some major sports event was coming up, Division Street would help furnish the house to fit the theme. This was also key to making sure that clients would come.

In the end, each of the athletes had enough money to continue with school and be athletes. Each of them knew that if they ever wanted, they could leave Oregon, strike up a deal with a sports company and become professional.