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College athletes across the United States have been able to take full advantage of the opportunities that accompanied the arrival of the NIL Era, but players from other countries face some major hurdles if they want to cash in—including Last-Tear Poa, the LSU basketball player who’s taking her case to court.
As of 2020, around 12% of student-athletes at the Division I level hailed from outside of America, and virtually every single one of them needed to secure an F-1 student visa in order to enroll at the schools where they play.
That particular visa places pretty strict restrictions on employment opportunities, as international students hoping to generate some extra income are largely limited to on-campus jobs and forms of employment that are intrinsically linked with their educational pursuits.
As a result, student-athletes under that particular umbrella have very limited options when it comes to securing the NIL opportunities their American counterparts are able to take advantage of (Zach Edey likely lost out on the chance to earn millions of dollars during his time at Purdue due to his Canadian roots).
They are able to earn passive income from things like jersey sales and video game licensing, but filming commercials or staging sponsored public appearances is a violation of federal law that could lead to their visas being revoked (it’s worth noting a Congressional bill addressing the issue was floated earlier this year).
Plenty of members of the LSU Tigers women’s basketball team have taken advantage of the perks that come with being on one of the best squads in the country over the past few years, but that hasn’t been the case for Last-Tear Poa, the guard who calls Melbourne, Australia home when she’s not at school.
According to On3, Poa recently attempted to secure P-1A Athlete status that is largely reserved for athletes playing professionally as opposed to collegiately only to have the application denied, and she subsequently decided to file a lawsuit against the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service to challenge the ruling that limits her NIL chances.
Poa is currently gearing up for her third season at LSU and will be hoping to step into a bigger role after starting just 10 of the 36 games she played in last year while averaging 4.9 points and three assists per contest.