BOCA RATON, Fla. — Jada Moore is a 5-foot-11, tough-as-nails senior guard from Denver. This Florida Atlantic Owl started her college career playing basketball for Kansas State, her first experience with name, image and likeness.
"I was able to purchase my own car," she said.
NIL is seen as a game changer for student-athletes. It's compensation away from their sport. At Florida Atlantic, Moore has worked with five different companies.
"So, that was really awesome, and I've been able to save," she said. "I'm really big on saving money, and so being able to leave college and walk away with that, I'm just thankful for."
After initially being un-easy, NIL has made a significant impact on her college experience.
"When I initially heard about it, I was at my previous school and it was still very new and so they did a few meetings about it," she said. "I was still trying to get a feel for everything."
NIL's path has been one of legal challenges. The NCAA previously enforced rules against being paid.
But that changed in 2021 when the U.S. Supreme Court ruled the NCAA can't limit education-related benefits to athletes.
Florida's law granting NIL rights went into effect that summer.
"The changing of the rules in college athletics with regard to name, image and likeness allows student-athletes to benefit from their name, image, likeness, allows student-athletes to earn money and provides some great opportunities for student-athletes," FAU athletic director Brian White said.
White said one platform in place is through a company called Opendorse that connects college athletes with brands and fans.
Deals and money go through what is called a collective. For FAU, it's the Paradise Collective.
"The NIL in Paradise group is a separate arm because we really can't, with the way the rules are structured right now, we can't have NIL in-house as a part of the athletic department," White said. "We can't directly provide funds for NIL for our student-athletes, so you need a separate entity, and that separate entity can advocate for your student-athletes, can help fund raise."
It's an impact being felt by the school and the student-athlete.
"If you have good NIL programs, you're a lot more attractive to recruits and your current athletes are a lot more likely to stay because the NIL is good," White said. "So, I think, in this new world, it's a part of winning."
So, the question is, how much has Moore made with her NIL deals?
"Personally, for me, thousands, but I do know people (who have) made hundreds of thousands," she said.
