The biggest star in Monday’s men’s NCAA Tournament championship game, literally and figuratively, hasn’t been able to cash in on his fame nearly as much as one would think in the new age of name, image and likeness. Purdue‘s behemoth 7-foot-4 center Zach Edey has dominated the sport as the two-time Associated Press Player of the Year and has the Boilermakers on the verge of their first national championship in program history.
Unfortunately for Edey, American laws have severely limited his ability to make NIL money off his likeness.
“I feel like I’m missing out on a lot of money,” Edey told reporters last Friday.
The issue is that Edey, a Canadian, is on a F1 visa — known as a student visa — that limits outside compensation for international students in the United States for academic pursuits.
Edey can make money off passive things like jersey sales, but he can’t actively participate in traditional NIL activation events such as, say, an autograph signing near Purdue’s West Lafayette campus.
The rules are strict — an NIL deal can be considered “unauthorized employment” — and any violation could lead to the government pulling an athlete like Edey’s visa and forcing him to leave the country.
So while NC State big man DJ Burns became the breakout NIL star of March Madness, Edey hasn’t been able to fully capitalize on his opportunities as college basketball’s best player.
The two-time unanimous first-team All-American can do NIL events while back home in Canada, but not while in the United States — nor can he actively promote companies in NIL deals on social media.
In December, for instance, he struck an NIL deal with Daps when Purdue played Alabama in Toronto.
Former Kentucky star Oscar Tshiebwe, a Democratic Republic of Congo native, ran into similar challenges while playing for the Wildcats from 2021-23. Tshiebwe’s workaround strategy was to make the most of his international opportunities, including a jam-packed NIL week in the Bahamas in 2022 where he made approximately $500,000 in seven days, according to The Athletic.
Edey is hopeful that eventually the laws will change.
“I hope they change it in the future,” he said. “I obviously have lost out on a lot of money this year. At the end of the day, it needs to change, for sure. I understand kind of the legal process. It takes a while.
“It’s not like it’s an NCAA rule. It’s an American law. Anytime you try to go change that, I understand it takes a while. But I do think it needs to change.”
Last October, two United States senators, Pete Ricketts (R-Neb.) and Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), introduced a bill that would allow international athletes on the F-1 visa to be able to make NIL money within the United States.
“Part-time jobs are staples of the collegiate experience,” Senator Ricketts said in a statement announcing the bill. “The student visa needs to be updated to reflect the new NIL rules in collegiate athletics. International student athletes should be able to pursue the same opportunities as their fellow athletes from hosting summer camps for kids to appearing at events. Our common-sense bill will level the playing field to ensure American sports programs don’t lose talented student athletes because of our outdated visa system.”
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The bill has yet to be passed, leaving international stars like Edey still unable to capitalize on their full NIL value.
