NCAA president decries "synthetic NIL" from collectives

NCAA president Charlie Baker harshly criticized NIL (name, image, likeness) collectives for preying on college athletes at Axios' BFD event in New York on Tuesday.

Why it matters: Collectives have been blamed for turning college sports into a Wild West that ends up harming students.

What they're saying: Baker described the brand deals and payments from collectives as "synthetic NIL," in a conversation with Axios' Dan Primack.

• "They spend a lot of time just circling and chasing kids. It's a very transactional activity."

• Collectives' biggest goal, according to Baker, is to convince players to enter the transfer portal, which allows athletes to switch schools without losing any eligibility.

• "They get a lot of kids in the transfer portal with a lot of stories that involve false promises, misrepresentations and all sorts of other things. There's basically no rules governing these things."

Stunning stat: About a third of students who enter the portal end up without a school, Baker said.

• "A lot of those kids don't end up anywhere."

What's next: The NIL era, which began in 2021, will change even more once the House vs. NCAA legal settlement becomes finalized next year.

• The antitrust settlement will allow schools to pay players directly while giving the NCAA more enforcement ability over NIL collectives.

• The settlement, which received preliminary approval earlier this month, is scheduled for final approval on April 7. That date coincides with the men's basketball March Madness national championship.

Fun fact: Baker cited a survey that said that 90% of women in the C-suite roles played college sports.