McDonald on NIL: It’s chaos, but Livvy Dunne deals showed the upside

I recently had a chance to catch up with and ask former Major League Baseball and college pitcher Ben McDonald about his thoughts regarding college athletes’ relatively new ability to profit from their name, image and likeness (NIL).

As NIL approaches four years of twists, turns and different definitions of what it is or should be, we talked about policies—or lack thereof—and how businesses and college athletes can take advantage of earning opportunities.

Our chat has been edited for clarity.

Gail – As a former college athlete and someone who still follows college baseball professionally, what are your thoughts about NIL?

Ben – “Well, I think it's working, kind of like a lot of us thought it was going to work. It was not designed for pay-for-play, however. It seems like that's a lot of what it is.

“It was designed for you to create a brand or an image like (former LSU gymnast) Livvy Dunne. She’s a great example of how NIL was supposed to work. She created a brand; she created an image on her own and got some deals on the side. It wasn't pay-for-play for her.”

On college athletes making money

“I'm in favor of athletes making money. I think they should be able to make a little bit of money while playing the college game. But I am also for capping it off in some ways, because to me, you're going to have the haves and the have-nots. 

“The teams with the most money, the most NIL deals, are going to have the best prospects, because they can go out and get players. And so I feel for the teams like the mid-major programs right now, I feel like they've become a feeder system, if you will—a minor league system to the Power Four schools. They're taking these kids, they're developing them, and if they have a good year, then the Power Fours are coming in and grabbing them.”

On the transfer portal

“The biggest thing for me has been the transfer portal. And if I could change that and I think, make it better, it would be to limit athletes to one transfer … unless your coach leaves, if your coach retires, or they decide to go to a different school, I'll give you a second opportunity to transfer.

“But I think all this jumping that we're seeing from a lot of kids—in some ways, they're chasing money and they're going to this school for this much money, then this school offers a little bit more. I've seen a lot of kids on their third or fourth university. So I would limit it to one and say ‘you get one transfer.’ Choose wisely at that point. After that, you're going to be where you choose unless your coach leaves. And so there are a few things that I would clean up.”

Gail -- Do you think that there's anything that athletes could do differently with NIL on their own? Because obviously, it's kind of the quote-unquote “adults” that have screwed up the system.

Ben – “Yeah. Look, if you're the kid, you're gonna play the game. I mean, why wouldn't you play the game? You get an opportunity to make a little bit of money, to get an education, and perform at a high level, if you will. And so I'm not blaming the kids.

“I think it’s the adults in the room. That's why I think some people have tried to get Congress involved because the way I look at it is this -- think about our three major [pro]sports, the NBA, NFL and Major League Baseball. We don't allow athletes in any of those three sports to become free agents at the end of every year. But yet, we have found a way in the college game to allow 17- to 22-year-old kids to become free agents after every year.

“I just don't think that's right. You can call me old school if you want to. I just don't think that's what the college game or NIL was designed to do. That's where we are right now. So you can fix it, and it can be cleaned up. But I feel like it's going to take Congress to get involved—to set some standards—and everybody will have to live by them.” 

Gail – If NIL had been in play when you were a college athlete at LSU, do you think that you would have been looking at deals, or were you focused on the mound?

Ben – “I think you would have to. I mean, so many of these kids in college now have advisors. They have agents for the NIL part of it. And so, yeah, it's an opportunity. And again, I am for that—for you making a little bit of money.”

“You don't have to do it if you don't want to. But the NCAA has told us for years it wanted parity in our game. It feels like we're the furthest thing from parity that we've ever had in the college game, because you’ve got programs with a lot of money, and programs that don't have much money at all.

“There’s no way those programs can compete day in and day out with the programs that have the most money. Of course, I'm an LSU guy, right? And LSU has a lot of money in football. They’ve got the money for baseball. And so from that standpoint, I like it, but I feel for the mid-majors.

“I talk to a lot of coaches around the country about the transfer portal thing and NIL … it's the toughest time it’s ever been to be a head coach in the college game. There’s a lot that those coaches are navigating. So you could clean this up and make it a little bit easier, I think, for everybody.”

Gail –If you were a small business, how would you go about attracting an athlete to get involved with what we thought—and I thought NIL would be—because I see a lot of businesses missing out on partnership opportunities.

Ben – “I think if you're a small business, you want to invest in a kid. So, what do you look for? I think you check character; maybe you find out what a kid enjoys. Always engage with what your business provides and you try to lock that kid in.

“They can do commercials for you or post on social media, which is where it's at now. I think it can help grow your business. You can find the right kid, whether it's a boy or a girl, male or female. It doesn't matter, because look, Livvy Dunne made a killing doing this. There are others out there who are doing the same thing.

“So you get an opportunity to do that. Heck, if you can stick some extra money in your pocket, why not do it?”

Gail – Thanks, Ben. I appreciate your time.

About Ben McDonald — A native of Baton Rouge, La., Ben was a three-year letterwinner in baseball at LSU where he also played basketball. He earned All-America baseball honors twice and led the Tigers to two College World Series appearances. After winning the Golden Spikes Award in 1989 as the nation’s top college baseball player, he was drafted first overall by the Baltimore Orioles, where he spent seven years before capping his career with the Milwaukee Brewers. Ben is a color analyst with the Orioles as well as ESPN and the SEC Network.

© 2025 Gail Sideman, NIL Edge

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