The old regime in college sports — where players were supposed to be pure amateurs and dirty old money was kept — was nonsensical. The Supreme Court ruled that the NCAA could not prevent players from cashing in with deals involving their names, images, and likenesses — NIL. Nothing wrong with that.
But, almost inevitably, some states are now intervening in this market to “help” their big sports schools attract top talent. The taxpayers will foot the bill. In today’s Martin Center article, Jenna Robinson explains what is going on.
She writes:
Instead of simply allowing markets to function, some policymakers are beginning to intervene in them, using tax policy and public resources to tilt the playing field. In 2025, Arkansas became the first state to exempt NIL earnings from state income tax. Mississippi followed Arkansas’s lead in 2026 with similar tax exemption legislation. Georgia, Illinois, Louisiana, New Jersey, and South Carolina are considering comparable policies.
That’s bad enough, but a bill in North Carolina would go even further, with taxpayer funded grants for athletes.