TCU has a
world-class entrepreneurship program. I think TCU ought to play the long game here and not the short game. What better time to tell these guys that the sharks are buying, not selling, among college athletes, and the kids can sign an agreement and make a little in college while lining other guys' pockets...or they can learn how to take control of their personal brand, max out long-term earnings, and develop the ability to not only help themselves but others as well.
I'm glad Neely and the athletics department have a partnership, but I think they need to go way beyond that. Every major recruit needs to be routed into an NIL-specific track in the entrepreneurship program (and away from exercise science). Local businesses should route seed funding to them through that program and see what kind of business they can create for themselves.
I don't have anything against Opendorse--or know anything about it really--and I think you need to keep an outsourcing option in place for those who don't want to put in the work. But the way for TCU to compete in this space isn't helping athletes pick up $500-$1,000 a month for fake value, but to turn them into business creators rather than customers.
Frogs will still lose out on guys, and some will transfer, but that's a sales pitch that will play, and has the added advantage of working with the university's mission and not against it.