Charles Barkley Makes Stark Prediction About NIL’s Impact on College Landscape

The NBA Hall of Famer weighed in on NIL’s influence on college sports.

Name, image and likeness has altered the landscape for college sports.

Instead of athletes electing to play for a stable program with good coaching and optimal growth as an athlete and student, NIL has created a “wild wild west” mindset in that college sports teams with the most lucrative forms of NIL can secure the most talented athletes. 

Despite two years of NIL’s impact on college sports, Charles Barkley is still not a fan of the environment that NIL has created. During a feature on Barkley aired by 60 Minutes, the NBA Hall of Famer described NIL’s influence on college sports as “a travesty and a disgrace.”

“I’m so mad now how we can mess up something [college sports] so beautiful,” Barkley told Sports Illustrated’s Jon Wertheim. “We can’t pay all these players.”

Because each school cannot provide the same NIL opportunities as others, Barkley believes that some universities and programs are going to become insignificant.

“It’s a travesty and a disgrace. I’m so mad now how we can mess up something so beautiful… We can’t pay all these players… The schools who can’t afford or won’t pay players are gonna be irrelevant.”

Charles Barkley on college sports 🧐

(via @60Minutes)pic.twitter.com/LiaSALAF5I

— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) August 1, 2023

“In the next three to five years, we are going to have 25 schools that’s gonna dominate the sports because they can afford players,” Barkley said. “The schools who can’t afford or won’t pay players are gonna be irrelevant.”

While Barkley is clearly not a fan of NIL, its impact on college sports will not be leaving anytime soon.