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Questions: NIL … WTF?

ICYMI yesterday: It’s Pulse Mailbag Week, where we’re bringing in experts to answer your questions. Today’s topic is forever interesting and not going away any time soon: name, image and likeness in college sports, or NIL. These are only a few of the many questions we received, with a general labor question at the end.

Enjoy:

I don’t understand how NIL and “revenue sharing” under the so-called “House agreement” work. Is there any enforcement? Can you help me? — David F., Highland Park, Ill.

💬 Branch: From what I gather, this is pretty above board. Our explainer on this is a great resource, but the simple version is that this is simply a salary, or a direct payment to players via the university. Players are eligible for outside NIL deals, of course, which then need to be vetted. But the revenue sharing is a simple disbursement of the revenue the university earns. There is a cap to what any university can dole out, though, via a set number that increases each year, much like a salary cap in pro sports.

What is the immediate future for NIL and college sports? How sustainable is this, and who within the NCAA/college sports world has reasonable and nuanced proposals to fix? What is the bigger picture, not just for football and NCAA men’s basketball, but other sports, too? — Joe L., New Orleans, La.

💬 Matt Baker: My optimistic view (again, optimistic) is that we’re near a breaking point. Big brands are upset a salary cap exists in theory. Smaller programs are upset the salary cap isn’t real. That tension is more pronounced now, and it’s growing. There is no easy fix because the system isn’t really — what’s the word? — legal, thus the desire for Congress to do something. The latest attempt to bring a House bill to a vote stalled last week, so that’s going great. I think all this (plus future TV contracts/conference realignment) leads to a Big Bang in the next few years that resets the system and, perhaps, spins football and basketball into their own thing.

The potential tennis boycott kind of reminds of the situation that led to paying college athletes, athletes fighting for a fair share of the revenue. Given that the major sports are collectively bargained, are there other sports that could follow tennis players’ lead? Which sport is likely to follow? Golf feels like the obvious answer, but they just got a pay raise after the LIV situation.  — Chris J., San Jose, Calif.

💬 Mike Vorkunov: I think maybe the next potential similar effort could actually be in college basketball or football. Things seem like they’re going to eventually get to a breaking point. Maybe that means employee status. Maybe that means unionization and collective bargaining. They’re making more money than ever. There isn’t a friction point at the moment, but if the money spigot turns off, then things can change. I think that’s the interesting one to monitor and would bring us full circle after individualized pushes for NIL rights.

Back for more tomorrow! Plenty of news to hit:

News to KnowUSMNT roster goes official

You can thank Fox Sports and U.S. Soccer for any renewed workplace debate this week about what should and should not just be an email. Consider yesterday’s amusing USMNT roster announcement event in Manhattan:

Coach Mauricio Pochettino is taking heat for emailing out his roster decisions to each player, but the Argentinian vehemently defended his stance. (Prediction: This factoid may become a recurring motif of our summer.)
And also … there is perhaps no event that embodies “this could have been an email” culture more than an hour-long, highly produced announcement of a team that was already leaked in full three days prior.

Pick a lane! Anyway. See the full roster again here, snubs here and watch the video below to hear Henry Bushnell’s take on the three key players to know. Also, sign up for our World Cup newsletter, which will dive deeper into this all later this morning.

Vegas sweeps, OKC bounces back

The Avalanche, the NHL’s top regular-season team, are out of the playoffs after a 2-1 loss last night completed a tidy Western Conference final sweep by the Golden Knights. It marks Vegas’ third conference title since debuting in 2017, and this one comes with a coach who was hired in the final days of the regular season. Colorado star Nathan MacKinnon played after getting hurt in Game 3 but was not in top form. Full takeaways here.

Over in the NBA, the Thunder bounced back from their worst game of the season to take a 3-2 lead over the Spurs, led by 32 points from Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. OKC’s defense made life difficult for Victor Wembanyama (20 points, six rebounds), who skipped postgame media availability. Hm.
More news
A Wemby rookie card sold for over $5 million. See it here.
Two-time Ballon d’Or winner Alexia Putellas will leave Barcelona this summer after 14 years with the club.
The NCAA denied Texas Tech quarterback Brendan Sorsby’s request to have his eligibility reinstated for the 2026 college football season. Read our full report.
The PWHL is publicly disclosing player salaries for the first time in an effort to promote transparency. It’s a big step for women’s pro sports.
Dodgers prospect Kendall George injured his left knee Monday trying to avoid his Double-A team’s bat dog. So unfortunate.
Brian Flores’ discrimination lawsuit against the NFL can move toward a trial, the Supreme Court ruled yesterday. The league had appealed to keep the case out of court.
Boston’s Joe Mazzulla won NBA Coach of the Year honors, an award he has previously deemed “stupid.”
Meanwhile, the Cavaliers plan to retain coach Kenny Atkinson, even after getting swept by the Knicks in the conference finals, Joe Vardon reports.
Packers running back Josh Jacobs was arrested yesterday on five charges related to an alleged domestic violence incident over the weekend. More details here.

📰 Find more news here 24/7.

Watch Guide

đź“ş French Open: Second round
5 a.m. ET on TNT, TruTV and Max
Novak Djokovic versus Valentin Royer (around 10 a.m.) might be sneaky-interesting. The heat isn’t Djokovic’s thing, and the 24-year-old Frenchman Royer should have some of the crowd on his side. Read our full Day 3 recap here, including details of Coco Gauff’s “mini car accident.”

đź“ş Scripps National Spelling Bee
8 p.m. ET on Ion
It’s a quieter evening with the NBA off, and there is a clear sports crossover here: ESPN’s Mina Kimes is hosting tonight’s tape-delayed semifinals and tomorrow’s finals. Read more about that here. Watch tonight, and be prepared to vote tomorrow on whether the bee itself counts as sports.

đź“ş NHL: Hurricanes vs. Canadiens
8 p.m. ET on TNT
The last two matchups in this Eastern Conference final have gone to overtime. Enough said. Catch up quickly with James Mirtle’s three learnings from the first three games.

đź“ş WNBA: Dream vs. Lynx
9 p.m. ET on USA Network
Atlanta (4-1) is the league’s final one-loss team and bested 4-2 Minnesota by 1 point in their season opener. Sparks should fly between two teams expected to be in the mix for the championship this season.

Pulse Picks

The NWSL has a record number of mothers rostered this season. In the first piece of an important new series devoted to motherhood and soccer, Melanie Anzidei and Megan Feringa explore the emotional and physical journey for elite players after pregnancy.

The balancing act of being a parent and pro athlete isn’t reserved for moms, though. I appreciated this perspective from Dodgers star Freddie Freeman, whose baby daughter is making him re-evaluate his baseball longevity.

Mike Sando on his favorite offseason move for every NFL team? Yes, please.

This week’s MLB Power Rankings include a first-half prediction for every team. Will Fernando Tatis Jr. ever homer again? Probably.

Naomi Osaka debuted another couture-inspired outfit yesterday at the French Open. Ava Wallace has the backstory.

Most-clicked in the newsletter yesterday: The NCAA baseball tournament field.

Most-read on the website yesterday: Tim Spiers’ ranking of this season’s 189 Premier League transfers.

📫 That’s all for now! Say hello at thepulse@theathletic.com, and check out our other newsletters.