Will Levis lays out NIL needs for student-athletes in college sports

Will Levis can attest to the struggles of navigating NIL.

The Kentucky quarterback has seen his name tossed around in the Heisman conversation, and he’s appeared as a top-10 pick in multiple NFL mock drafts. But before his breakout performance last season, Levis was just a Penn State transfer trying to make a name for himself in the SEC.

The last thing he had time for at the start of 2021 season was NIL. Brand building was not at the center of his attention. Learning a new offense and spending time with a new group of wide receivers. And he did not have the job locked down at the start of preseason camp.

So he placed NIL in the backseat. He focused on football, leading the Wildcats to a win over Iowa in the Citrus Bowl. Since then, he’s started to piece together a group of deals. He’s inked deals with a car dealership, Ale-8-One, NOBULL and a golf course.

But not everyone athlete is a starting SEC quarterback. Will Levis knows that. He’s heard all the NIL stories — athletes signing with dishonest agents and contracts being one-sided toward companies.

Helping the athlete succeed in NIL is the next step for schools

“I think there is a lot of student-athletes with a great base, a great following,” he recently said on On3’s Lever Up Podcast. “Your true value in NIL is rooted in your performance on the field, on the court or what have you. But they may just not have the resources at hand or the finesse to create these promotions for these companies — that’s pretty much what NIL has come down to.

“Social media promotions for these different brands and if it’s just a video of you standing in front of a camera, telling people to go to do something rather than having a creative strategy with a team to go into to make production, people will be more willing to go do the initiative you want them to do.”

Will Levis proposes how NCAA, universities could address NIL

Currently, the state of Kentucky is using an executive order signed into law as its main piece of NIL legislation. The document was drafted back in 2021 and was signed in March 2022.

Much has changed across the NIL landscape since the order was initially created. Alabama has completely wiped out its state law, while other states such as Tennessee have adopted changes to allow its schools to play a role in NIL.

There has not been much movement at the federal level, though. Former Auburn football coach turned U.S. Senator Tommy Tuberville announced plans in early August to draft national NIL legislation. Since then, no drafts of the bipartisan bill have been distributed.

Will Levis does not have a list of gripes with the NCAA, but the Kentucky quarterback sees room for improvement. Specifically when dealing with how athletes are acclimated to NIL when they reach college. He’s one of many athletes to voice the need for more direction.

Survey results released by the NCAA this spring showed 39% of women’s sports athletes and 42% of men’s sports athletes said they are still looking for more resources on “navigating NIL opportunities.”

“As opposed to just telling them what is legal and what isn’t legal and putting it all on themselves, it would be really cool to see some process of learning for these student-athletes,” Levis told Shannon Terry and Jim Cavale on the Lever Up podcast. “Whether it’s just in their freshman year or when they first get here. Give them an idea of what to expect in this space, because I think there are a lot of kids who might be starting and don’t know what they’re doing. Could be trusting people that shouldn’t be trusted or doing things that could be getting them in trouble that the universities could help with.

“As I understand it, how the rules are right now, the universities are very limited in what they’re able to provide for the student-athletes, other than the compliance standpoint in telling them what they can and can’t do legally. I think if there were just more guidelines put in place, through certain types of rulings, universities were allowed to provide to help guide their student-athletes in the right ways, to push them in the right direction — that’s one thing that comes to mind.”

Pushing forward

Will Levis has his team at 2-0 entering Saturday night’s game with Youngstown State. Kentucky knocked off Florida this past weekend in The Swamp, bringing the Wildcats’ AP poll ranking to No. 9.

It’s fair to say that Levis is living up to all the preseason hype. And he’s delivering his return on investment all those businesses banked on when they signed him this preseason. His On3 NIL Valuation continues to rise, too, up to $765,000.

The NIL deals are going to keep rolling in. There’s no question of that as his national profile continues to rise.

But that’s not going to hold the quarterback from talking about the NIL hurdles athletes face across college athletics.