Notre Dame AD Jack Swarbrick talks NIL regulation, future

SOUTH BEND, Ind. (WNDU) - Name, Image, and Likeness has rocked the foundation of college athletics, as student-athletes can now make money just by who they are at their school.

While the new rules have only been in place for a couple of years, the push for NIL has been going on for years, including from leaders at Notre Dame.

During Chuck Freeby and Terry McFadden’s sit-down interview with current Notre Dame Athletic Director Jack Swarbrick, they asked him about the state of NIL. Here’s what he had to say.

Swarbrick: You know, the NIL developments over the past few years have been interesting. We were the first university to speak out in favor of NIL back in 2015 — Father John (Jenkins) in the New York Times. We took that position because we’re a firm believer that we want the experience of the student athlete and the student who’s not an athlete to be as similar as possible. Every other student on campus could monetize their Name, Image, and Likeness, why couldn’t a student athlete?

We never anticipated it would come in without any regulation, nor did we anticipate it would come into being with a loosely applied one-time transfer rule. It’s the combination of those two things that has been most concerning to the industry. Having said that, we’re not greatly impacted by it. The students who pick Notre Dame still pick Notre Dame; they don’t just pick the sport program. And so, our transfers out — even when they were lured by NIL offers from other institutions — have not been significant. Student athletes who come here, it’s not that Name, Image, and Likeness rights aren’t important to them. But other things are more important. And so, we’ve been able to find a nice balance.

We are engaged in Name, Image, and Likeness in a host of ways. We want to support our student athletes’ efforts in those regards, but it really hasn’t proved to be a detriment to us.

“You mentioned the lack of regulation, who should provide that? Is that the NCAA? Or there has been talk the Congress is going to get involved. Is that a scarier proposition?”

Swarbrick: In the first instance, the NCAA has to ask to act. I don’t think we can ask Congress to help us if we don’t do what we can to help ourselves. President (Charlie) Baker, the new president of the NCAA, very much articulates that view and we support it and him fully. Having said that, the ultimate solution is going to have to come from Congress. We are in a position where virtually anything we do is subject to an antitrust challenge, and you just can’t operate that way. And we’re unique among sports entities in that regard. Because we are, first and foremost, educational institutions. So, when we come together to make decisions, it’s seen as a restraint of trade, which I understand. And so, we’re going to need some relief.

“So, how far is that from the vision that you had back in 2015? Of what NIL could and should be?”

Swarbrick: No, we’re way off that. We’re not close to our original vision. And part of it, probably, you can’t put the genie back in the bottle, and we recognize that. But we still want to get closer. We still want to move back to where there’s more of this that reflects true Name, Image, and Likeness value and less of it that reflects pay for play.

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