The time has come for college athletes to cash in on their name, image and likeness, and sprinter Caisja Chandler became the first University of Cincinnati student-athlete to do so.
A week after the NCAA Board of Directors suspended the NCAA's antiquated rules prohibiting student-athletes from selling their NIL rights, Chandler tweeted Wednesday that she received a payment through Klout Machine, a marketplace that allows student-athletes to make money from their social media posts, speaking engagements or simply just eating at local restaurants.
"It's a one-time thing," Chandler told The Enquirer on Thursday. "(I'm) just hoping to put the brand out there and get it some publicity, help them get their followers up, and get more athletes to follow them and want to sign up with them."
Chandler, Ohio State defensive end Tyreke Smith, another endorser of the company, and Klout Machine co-founder and COO Noah Weisblat are all from the Cleveland area. Chandler and Weisblat connected after Chandler posted her credential from the U.S. Olympic Trials last month on social media.
"It went viral on Twitter," said Chandler, who owns six UC records in the sprint events and is an All-American in the indoor 200-meter dash. "... A lot of people from Cleveland were retweeting it and showing a bunch of love, so I think that helped put me out there."
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Chandler, who was named both the American Athletic Conference Indoor Track and Field Freshman of the Year and the AAC Outdoor Track and Field Freshman of the Year in 2019, would not disclose the amount she received from Klout Machine for the one-time promotional post, but said she is happy she and other college athletes can now earn money off of the work they put in on their respective playing surface.
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"Us athletes, we work day in and day out," Chandler said. "We put in so many hours, a lot of hard work, and then we're not able to get paid for it. But now that we're able to get money, it's a good thing. Our families, a lot of people can benefit from it."
Several former UC student-athletes who weren't able to capitalize financially off of their name, image and likeness while in school are thrilled to see the seismic shift in the collegiate sports landscape.
Kim Geiger, who was a three-year captain of the Cincinnati women's soccer team during her UC career (2005-08), said it's an exciting time to be a student-athlete.
"With tools like Instagram, TikTok and YouTube at their fingertips -- as well as more traditional means of monetizing their brand -- I'm watching to see how resourceful some student-athletes will likely become," Geiger told The Enquirer. "It's a huge opportunity for them."
Jordan Thompson, the only All-American in the history of the UC volleyball program, left Cincinnati and started her professional volleyball career in Turkey in 2020. Thompson, who will compete with the U.S. Olympic Women's Indoor Volleyball Team at the Summer Olympics in Tokyo later this month, said she too is happy to see college athletes finally be able to reap the financial benefits of their work outside of the classroom.
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"Being a student-athlete, it's difficult to try to balance a job, athletics and school. I never even tried because I knew that was going to be really, really difficult," Thompson said. "So for athletes to have the opportunity to have another avenue of income to support not only themselves but their families, I think it's going to be huge. I think it's honestly about time."
