The Local Perspective: Regional Television Framing of Name,Image,and Likeness

Abstract

As name, image, and likeness (NIL) continues to be a fixture within conversations surrounding collegiate athletics, the present study sought to examine the manner in which local television media in the United States framed NIL during news broadcasts. Through the lens of media framing, researchers conducted a comprehensive analysis of all local television broadcast content across the United States during the Fall of 2024. This analysis identified 1677 local news segments in which the term “NIL” or phrase “name, image, and likeness” were spoken on-air. Analysis revealed a similar proportion of comments that framed NIL as a positive change in collegiate athletics (promotion) and negative alteration to collegiate athletics (disruption). The findings of this study allude to the nature in which NIL is presented on local television in distinct geographic communities and is of practical significance to collegiate administrators given the strategic importance of distinct geographic communities to NIL efforts.

Keywords

NCAA media framing college athletics news coverage rhetorical analysis

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Abbas

Tahoun

M. M.

Aboushady

A. T.

Khalifa

Corpuz

Nabeth

(2022). Usage of social media in epidemic intelligence activities in the WHO, Regional Office for the Eastern Mediterranean. BMJ Global Health, 7(4), 1–7. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjgh-2022-008759

Aldrete

Fernández-Ardèvol

(2024). Framing femicide in the news, a paradoxical story: A comprehensive analysis of thematic and episodic frames. Crime, Media Culture, 20(3), 231–249. https://doi.org/10.1177/17416590231199771

Babiak

Sant

S. L.

(2020). All the news that’s fit to print? How the media frames professional athlete philanthropy. Journal of Sport Management, 35(1), 55–68. https://doi.org/10.1123/jsm.2019-0323

Balshetwar

S. V.

Tuganayat

R. M.

Regulwar

(2019). Frame tone and sentiment analysis. International Journal of Computer Sciences and Engineering, 7(6), 24–40. https://doi.org/10.26438/ijcse/v7i6.2440

Barfuss

(2023). Opinion: Loyalty in college athletics is dead. Argonaut. https://www.uiargonaut.com/2023/06/02/opinion-loyalty-in-college-athletics-is-dead/

Belt

T. L.

Just

M. R.

(2008). The local news story: Is quality a choice? Political Communication, 25(2), 194–215. https://doi.org/10.1080/10584600801985714

Braun

Clarke

(2006). Using thematic analysis in psychology. Qualitative Research Psychology, 3(2), 77–101. https://doi.org/10.1191/1478088706qp063oa

Cascio

M. A.

Lee

Vaudrin

Freedman

D. A.

(2019). A team-based approach to open coding: Considerations for creating intercoder consensus. Field Methods, 31(2), 116–130. https://doi.org/10.1177/1525822X19838237

Clotfelter

C. T.

(2019). Big-time sports in American universities. Cambridge University Press.

10.

Coakley

J. J.

(2021). Sport in society: Issues and controversies. McGraw Hill.

11.

Cocco

A. R.

Kunkel

Baker

B. J.

(2023). The influence of personal branding and institutional factors on the name, image, and likeness value of collegiate athletes’ social media posts. Journal of Sport Management, 37(5), 359–370. https://doi.org/10.1123/jsm.2022-0155

12.

Corr

Southall

Hawkins

Southall

R. M.

(2023a). College football “kids”: infantilizing language in football bowl subdivision bowl game broadcasts. Sociology of Sport Journal, 41(2), 172–179. https://doi.org/10.1123/ssj.2022-0185

13.

Corr

Southall

R. M.

(2022). The ESPNification of Football Bowl Subdivision college football: The adoption of an integrated marketing communication televisuality in Football Bowl Subdivision bowl game broadcasts. International Journal of Sport Communication, 15(2), 139–147. https://doi.org/10.1123/ijsc.2021-0124

14.

Corr

Southall

R. M.

Southall

Hart

R. J.

(2023b). Hyperprofessionalized and commodified: A case study examination of FBS bowl games and the utilization of football players as programmatic promotional material. International Journal of Sport Communication, 16(2), 228–238. https://doi.org/10.1123/ijsc.2022-0200

15.

Corr

Weiner

Stokowski

(2023c). “We do everything on our own”: FBS athletes’ perceptions of NIL value and support. Journal of Issues in Intercollegiate Athletics, 16, 334–351.

16.

Cox

E. G.

Cranmer

G. A.

Boatwright

(2023). “Why can’t we play on grass?” An investigation of discourse on Sterling Shepard’s ACL tear. Communication & Sport, 13(1), 166–189. https://doi.org/10.1177/21674795231182903

17.

Cranmer

G. A.

Boatwright

Mikkilineni

Fontana

(2023). Everyone hates the NCAA: The role of identity in the evaluations of amateurism transgressions: A case study of the chase young loan scandal. Communication & Sport, 11(3), 634–657. https://doi.org/10.1177/21674795211009162

18.

Dunnavant

(2004). The fifty-year seduction: How television manipulated college football, from the birth of the modern NCAA to the creation of the BCS. St. Martin’s Press.

19.

Entman

R. M.

(2007). Framing bias: Media in the distribution of power. Journal of Communication, 57(1), 163–173. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1460-2466.2006.00336.x

20.

Ferris

K. O.

(2015). Recognition, gratification, and vulnerability: The public and private selves of local celebrities. In Marshall

P. D.

Redmond

(Eds.), A companion to celebrity (pp. 219–234). Wiley.

21.

Foley

Ward

McNaughton

(2019). Innovating qualitative framing analysis for purposes of media analysis within public health inquiry. Qualitative Health Research, 29(12), 1810–1822. https://doi.org/10.1177/1049732319826559

22.

Fortunato

J. A.

(2023). Student-athlete name, image, and likeness (NIL): Sponsorship opportunities and challenges. In Leng

H. K.

Zhang

J. J.

(Eds.), Sports sponsorship and branding (pp. 126–143). Routledge.

23.

Gilliam

F. D.

Jr. Iyengar

(2000). Prime suspects: The influence of local television news on the viewing public. American Journal of Political Science, 44(3), 560–573. https://doi.org/10.2307/2669264

24.

Goffman

(1974). Frame analysis. Harper Colophon Books.

25.

Harry

(2023). Hegemony and the national collegiate athletic association: A critical discourse analysis of national collegiate athletic association resources concerning name, image, and likeness. Sociology of Sport Journal, 41(2), 152–162. https://doi.org/10.1123/ssj.2023-0017

26.

Howe

J. E.

Black

W. L.

Jones

W. A.

(2023). Exercising power: A critical examination of national collegiate athletic association discourse related to name, image, and likeness. Journal of Sport Management, 37(5), 333–344. https://doi.org/10.1123/jsm.2022-0151

27.

Hull

(2017). An examination of women’s sports coverage on the Twitter accounts of local television sports broadcasters. Communication & Sport, 5(4), 471–491. https://doi.org/10.1177/2167479516632520

28.

Hull

Romney

(2020). It has changed completely”: How local sports broadcasters adapted to no sports. International Journal of Sport Communication, 13(3), 494–504. https://doi.org/10.1123/ijsc.2020-0235

29.

Iyengar

(1994). Is anyone responsible? How television frames political issues. University of Chicago Press.

30.

Iyengar

Kinder

D. R.

(1987). News that matters. University of Chicago Press.

31.

Jones

M. D.

Shanahan

E. A.

McBeth

M. K.

(2014). The science of stories: Applications of the narrative policy framework in public policy analysis. Palgrave Macmillan.

32.

Kunz

W. M.

(2017). The rise of the local: The power of regional sports networks in the television marketplace. Journal of Sports Media, 12(1), 141–168. https://doi.org/10.1353/jsm.2017.0006

33.

Lakoff

(2004). Don’t think of an elephant. Chelsea Green.

34.

Lee

Kim

Love

(2014). Coverage of the Gay Games from 1980–2012 in US newspapers: An analysis of newspaper article framing. Journal of Sport Management, 28(2), 176–188. https://doi.org/10.1123/jsm.2012-0243

35.

Love

B. C.

Kopeć

Ł.

Guest

(2015). Optimism bias in fans and sports reporters. PLoS One, 10(9), 1–7. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0137685

36.

Murphy

Schlabach

(2024). Georgia governor signs order to allow schools to pay players. ESPN. https://www.espn.com/college-sports/story/_/id/41302121/georgia-governor-signs-order-allows-schools-pay-players

37.

Nakos

(2023). On3’s top 20 most ambitious NIL collectives. On3. https://www.on3.com/nil/news/on3-top-20-most-ambitious-nil-collectives-year-2-tennessee-texas-am-oregon/

38.

NCAA responds to California Senate Bill 206 . (2019). NCAA. https://www.ncaa.org/news/2019/9/11/ncaa-responds-to-california-senate-bill-206.aspx

39.

Nelson

T. E.

Clawson

R. A.

Oxley

Z. M.

(1997). Toward a psychology of framing effects. Political Behavior, 19, 221–246. https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1024834831093

40.

Nielsen . (2025). Need to know: What is a designated market area® (DMA), and why does it matter? https://www.nielsen.com/insights/2025/what-is-a-designated-market-area-and-why-does-it-matter/

41.

Nijkrake

Gosselt

J. F.

Gutteling

J. M.

(2015). Competing frames and tone in corporate communication versus media coverage during a crisis. Public Relations Review, 41(1), 80–88. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pubrev.2014.10.010

42.

NIL Valuations & Rankings . (n.d.). NIL Valuations & Rankings. On3. https://www.on3.com/nil/rankings/

43.

Nixon

H. L.

II (2014). The athletic trap: How college sports corrupted the academy. Johns Hopkins University Press.

44.

Nocera

Strauss

(2018). Indentured: The battle to end the exploitation of college athletes. Penguin.

45.

Olson

(2024). QB Matthew Sluka leaving UNLV: What we know and what’s next. ESPN. https://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/41438443/qb-matthew-sluka-unlv-rebels-nil-dispute-next

46.

On3 . (n.d.). NIL high school rules. On3. https://www.on3.com/nil/laws/high-school/

47.

Ophir

Forde

D. K.

Neurohr

Walter

Massignan

(2023). News media framing of social protests around racial tensions during the Donald Trump presidency. Journalism, 24(3), 475–493. https://doi.org/10.1177/14648849211036622

48.

Potter

Eva Matsa

(2014). Impact of shared news production on local TV viewers. Pew Research Center. https://www.pewresearch.org/journalism/2014/03/26/impact-of-shared-news-production-on-local-tv-viewers/

49.

Rossman

G. B.

Rallis

S. F.

(2017). An introduction to qualitative research: Learning in the field. Sage Publications.

50.

Saldaña

(2021). Coding techniques for quantitative and mixed data. In Onwuegbuzie

A. J.

Johnson

R. B.

(Eds.), The Routledge reviewer’s guide to mixed methods analysis (1st ed., pp. 151–160). Routledge.

51.

Schultz

Sheffer

M. L.

(2008). Left behind: Local television and the community of sport. Western Journal of Communication, 72(2), 180–195. https://doi.org/10.1080/10570310802038507

52.

Smith

McCarthy

J. D.

McPhail

Augustyn

(2001). From protest to agenda building: Description bias in media coverage of protest events in Washington, DC. Social Forces, 79(4), 1397–1423. https://doi.org/10.1353/sof.2001.0053

53.

Smith

R. A.

(2021). The myth of the amateur: A history of college athletic scholarships. University of Texas Press.

54.

Stokowski

Corr

Rudd

Lewis

Powell

Stuart

Bellamy

Rivers

Godfrey

(2024). Focus on followers: An analysis of factors impacting Division I athletes’ name, image, and likeness value. Journal of Applied Sport Management, 16(3), 11–20. https://doi.org/10.7290/jasm16wozb

55.

Stokowski

Smith

A. B.

Fridley

Corr

Paule-Koba

A. L.

(2023). “The most important shot you will ever take”: The burgeoning role of social media activism in challenging embedded NCAA patriarchy. International Journal of Sport Communication, 16(4), 482–492. https://doi.org/10.1123/ijsc.2023-0159

56.

Guo

Wegner

Baker

(2023). The new wave of influencers: Examining college athlete identities and the role of homophily and parasocial relationships in leveraging name, image, and likeness. Journal of Sport Management, 37(5), 371–388. https://doi.org/10.1123/jsm.2022-0192

57.

Testimony of Ramogi Huma . (2020). Hearing before the United States Senate Commerce Subcommittee on manufacturing, trade, and consumer protection. U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation. https://www.commerce.senate.gov/services/files/259A1F0D-49EF-4D9C-A1AD-78A45DFAA620

58.

Udeze

S. E.

Uzuegbunam

C. E.

(2013). Sensationalism in the media: The right to sell or the right to tell. Journal of Communication and Media Research, 5(1), 69–78.

59.

Van Dijk

T. A.

(1995). Power and the news media. Political Communication an Action, 6(1), 9–36.

60.

Wenzel

A. D.

Ford

Nechushtai

(2020). Report for America, report about communities: Local news capacity and community trust. Journalism Studies, 21(3), 287–305. https://doi.org/10.1080/1461670X.2019.1641428

61.

Woods

Love

Graham

J. A.

(2023). Media framing and sources quoted in coverage of the name, image, and likeness debate. Journal of Amateur Sport, 9(1), 1–27. https://doi.org/10.17161/jas.v9i1.18990