On March 9, 2023, David Skeels drew a large crowd to his presentation at the Fort Worth City Club Speaker Series: WILD, WILD WE$T: Name, Image, and Likeness Issues and the Changing Landscape of “Amateur” Athletics. Tapping into his experience as a former NCAA Division I athlete, professional baseball player, and intellectual property attorney, Skeels described the quickly evolving dynamics of NCAA athletics, where, since July 2021, student-athletes have been able to capitalize on their Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL).

Skeels chronicled the history of the NCAA’s rules on amateurism, the cases and legislative developments that challenged those rules, and the tectonic shift that followed the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in NCAA v. Alston. He then explained the NCAA’s adoption of an Interim NIL Policy, its subsequent clarifications of that policy, the NIL laws of various states, and the institutional guidelines promulgated to address this new NIL world. He finished with a discussion of how student-athletes are valued and compensated, the role of collectives and other NIL entities, and the future of NIL.