Tyler Hawkins has landed his dream job, except for the matter of the paycheck.

Whenever the San Diego State cornerback goes live on a gaming app — one he was already playing anyway – he becomes visible for fans to play against or engage in a video chat.

“They get excited and they invite all their friends,” Hawkins said. “They’re just happy to be able to play with football players who could potentially be in the NFL.”

Hawkins’ take for each game is $3. As of late July, he had earned a tad less than $40.

Hawkins’ gig, like those for athletes throughout college sports, was made possible by the combination of new state laws and NCAA rules that took effect July 1 and allow student-athletes to earn money by selling their name, image and likeness (NIL) rights.

Athletes have immediately capitalized on their newfound freedom in the marketplace. Alabama quarterback Bryce Young has already signed deals worth more than $800,000, according to ESPN. Fresno State basketball twins Hanna and Haley Cavinder inked deals the day the rule went into effect and some estimates place their value at $3 million annually if the general formula that translates social media following into market value holds true.

The new landscape creates questions at every turn. In the Mountain West, there is the matter of what opportunities are out there and how will seizing them impact athletes, team dynamics and recruiting. Will teams in larger markets find a new advantage? And what of Air Force, where the cadets cannot tap into this new revenue stream?

“It’s going to be super fun to watch,” San Jose State football coach Brent Brennan said. “Stay tuned.”

Market discrepancies

By television market size, the Mountain West touches the sixth-most populated region (the San Francisco Bay area with San Jose State) as well as No. 27 San Diego and No. 40 Las Vegas.

It also encompasses places like Laramie, Wyo. (No. 195) and spots like Logan, Utah, that aren’t even included on a list.

While some athletes will be able to seek out national brands, most of the money under NIL figures to come from businesses looking to capitalize on the notoriety of the local athletes. It’s not surprising, then, that coaches in larger markets see a bright future under NIL.

“I think the marketability of the city is huge for us,” UNLV coach Marcus Arroyo said. “Some of the energy of this sports city, it’s endless. It really is.”

The same is true for San Jose State, with its proximity to Silicon Valley.

“Theoretically, can you imagine if I could get Zoom and Google and Facebook to start endorsing our players?” Brennan said. “You know what I mean? There are markets that couldn’t deal with that. Now, I don’t think they’ll do that, but it would be something else if they did.

“We live in the sexiest business market in the world. But I think part of that is building our own brand and continuing to play good football or exciting football that people want to see or be a part of. Those things, I think, will go hand in hand.”

While Boise State (No. 101 market size), Utah State or Wyoming don’t have sheer market size as an advantage, they enjoy a different kind of market penetration. Travel into those cities and the number of hats, T-shirts and jackets worn around town leave no doubt as to which team is the clear favorite.

If a business wants to put up a billboard in Laramie, and a Josh Allen is playing quarterback for the Cowboys, it doesn’t take much imagination to figure out how that would work. Or a Jordan Love in Logan.

“It will be interesting to see how guys are able to tap into that,” Utah State football coach Blake Anderson said. “Clearly, if you live in the (Cache) Valley and do business in the valley, it stands to reason that keeping it in the valley will be the best approach and I would think a lot of our guys will have some pretty neat opportunities.”

Cashing in

Nevada quarterback Carson Strong has something going for him besides his status as the potential No. 1 pick in the 2022 NFL draft.

“I could teach your grandma how to throw a spiral,” Strong said.

He learned to throw a tight spiral from an assistant coach in high school — “I threw a lot of ducks like Peyton Manning” — and now teaches a group of five kids in Reno how to make the same adjustment.

“That’s really the only thing I’ve made money from is my quarterback lessons,” Strong said.

Wyoming defensive lineman Chad Mumu, a Lone Tree native, has signed on with Six Zero Strength in Denver and has earned some money signing autographs.

Nevada linebacker Lawson Hall serves as a brand ambassador for a friend’s clothing line and is talking with other companies in Reno.

“At this point, I’ve got about four months to capitalize on it,” said the finance major. “It’s been a long time coming, I wish they would have implemented it about four years ago.”

Most of the others in the conference said they are still in talks with companies or want nothing to do with the process.

“I wouldn’t be interested,” said Cade Hall, the San Jose State defensive lineman and Preseason Mountain West Defensive Player of the Year. “I think any time I would put into making money through other outlets would be time I’m not putting into football. The way I look at it, I want to focus on football now and do what I can to make it to the NFL, and if I can do that then I can worry about endorsements and making money and things like that.

“I think the game’s going to change a lot. This and the transfer portal are going to have a huge impact on the game. I think it’s going to give players a lot more freedom, honestly. Freedom with the transfer portal to go play for coaches or programs they want to and then being able to make money; I think it gives the players a lot more power, which is cool.”

Coaches worry not only about the distractions, but about players signing bad contracts that take away their rights to their NIL for too long. Many coaches said they are working with the marketing company Opendorse to guide players and teams through this process.

There is also the issue of discrepancy within teams. San Diego State coach Brady Hoke wondered how it might impact chemistry if a player who never sees the field is making more than the team’s leaders because he has “1.5 million likes” on social media.

“There’s going to be some guys who are going to be disappointed,” Hoke said.

Boise State coach Andy Avalos said the only way to guard against that is through “real conversations.”

“Not everybody’s going to make money,” Avalos said. “Very few people are actually going to make money. That’s the way it is with marketing even at the next level. … That’s just the way it is. This is the real world. This is business.”

Air Force’s disadvantage

Linebacker Demonte Meeks said recruits who choose the Air Force Academy come from two pools of people – those who realize football isn’t forever, and those whose parents “force you to go there.’

“There’s hardly any in-between,” Meeks said. “Those are the guys we get, and those are the guys who are going to stay. At the end of the day you’re not really worried about the money because we’re worried about the job after; the hidden benefit of coming to the academy.

“There’s a lot of maturity that comes with coming to a place where you’re pretty much lining up to die, possibly.”

Colorado athletic director Rick George feels good about Buffaloes’ position in new NIL landscape

Air Force athletes cannot participate in NIL activities because of their government standing. An academy spokesman said cadet-athletes could qualify for compensation under certain circumstances if it comes from activities unrelated to their participation at Air Force and they “otherwise do not leverage their official capacity or duties.”

In short, this isn’t something Air Force will be able to utilize, adding more ammunition to rival coaches who can already point out to recruits the military commitment, the rigors of basic training and the difficult four years that would await them at an academy. Throw in the academic standards, and Air Force has never competed on an even playing field in its conference. That gulf could grow under NIL.

“I would think there are people that will use it that way. I won’t. I like Air Force” said Brennan, whose Spartans defeated the Falcons in 2020 en route to a Mountain West title. “I don’t want to play them, but I like them.”

Knowing what NIL might mean for his team, Air Force coach Troy Calhoun still said he was in favor of the change.

“I think any time you increase opportunity in any aspect, in any walk of life, that’s a good thing,” Calhoun said. “I think what you’re doing now, you’re opening up opportunities.

“We live in America. That’s capitalism.”

There’s no telling where this will all go, but the trajectory of television deals, coaches contracts and stadium price tags would indicate that money tends to multiply where college football is involved.

Hall, whose video game side hustle hasn’t yet turned into a cash grab, is happy to ride the wave.

“I’m just glad,” he said, “we’re here to be a part of it.”