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According to ESPN.com vice president Patrick Stiegman, ?This not too long ago was still very much a niche thing, but it?s absolutely exploded into this huge, celebratory day.? Be careful there, Mr. Stiegman, with your use of terms because you're acknowledging that you're reaping "huge" commercial gain off of their "celebrity" status (and you're not paying for it). Fisher writes: "Much of the recruiting content historically has resided behind a paid subscription wall. But as mainstream fan interest has grown, almost all of the content now has come to exist in a free, ad-supported model." Now let's be frank, while the revenue model may have changed, it's surely not "free". Nike, Circuit City and Conoco Phillips 76 are just a few of the companies making significant purchases for this year's signing day.

Here's an interesting tidbit of information from Fisher's article:

Actually, a better way of saying "there are no exclusive rights to buy and exploit" is that nobody has been granted a license (i.e. authorization) to exploit the event. The day after Tim Tebow won the Heisman, I wrote him a legal opinion letter on the blog discussing his claim against third parties who are stealing his identity for commercial gain. The main hurdle keeping collegiate athletes from realizing the commercial value in their identities is a lack of organization on their part.

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