Nil in College Sports

#linkedinsports News you can use! 🚨 New NCAA NIL Guidance Just Dropped 🚨 Back in July—right after the House settlement—there were rumblings that new NIL bylaws were on the way… and here they are. I want to highlight two updates that I think will have the greatest impact on student-athletes right now 1️⃣ No More “Guaranteed” Third-Party NIL Deals A lot of parents and coaches have been telling me that teams are offering NIL deals during recruiting or transfer talks. And of course, they are. Everyone’s trying to sweeten the pot beyond the rev-share package, right? But the NCAA said: “Hold up, wait a minute—that’s a no-go.” “An institution shall not provide a written or oral guarantee of a third-party NIL contract or payment…” Translation: schools can’t promise you a third-party NIL deal or say, “don’t worry, we’ll cover it if they don’t.” Let’s be real—this won’t stop schools or collectives from finding creative ways to work around the cap. But what it does do is make it clear that schools can’t blur the line between recruiting incentives and real NIL opportunities anymore. 2️⃣ Schools Can Now Assist in NIL representation This one’s big. “An institution or entity owned, controlled, funded, or operated by the institution may act as a marketing agent for a student-athlete…” When NIL first started, university staff couldn’t help athletes with deals at all. That changed last year but this new update takes it further. Now, schools (and their partners) can actively help student-athletes navigate NIL alongside parents, agents, and lawyers. That means more guidance, more support, and hopefully, fewer bad deals. #tipsbytabb-The NIL world is still evolving fast, and these changes show the NCAA is finally trying to meet athletes halfway—without losing control of the system. #NIL #StudentAthlete #CollegeSports #tipsbytabb #SportsBusiness #AthleteBranding #marketing

For months, industry experts in college sports expressed concerns about the new NIL deal approval process—a software tool called NIL Go. They’ve been skeptical that the process would be legal on antitrust grounds, and scoffed at the idea that the College Sports Commission, tasked with overseeing NIL Go, would be able to police whether thousands of athletes followed the new process. Now the functionality of NIL Go is being called into question as well. NIL Go, the approval system created by Deloitte, NIL Go, is taking multiple days, if not weeks, to issue approval decisions, multiple collective operators and NIL player agents tell Front Office Sports. In some cases, deals submitted up to three weeks before publishing haven’t been approved at all. The delays have already caused at least one athlete to lose an NIL opportunity, as the time for the athlete to complete the deal’s deliverables has passed while the deal submission form languished in NIL Go’s system, one collective operator told FOS. “It’s kind of a joke, in my opinion, that they are taking this long to make some decisions,” the head of the collective said. Then, on Thursday, the College Sports Commission, the entity tasked with overseeing NIL GO and enforcing the settlement’s terms, released new guidance suggesting that some of the deals still in limbo—specifically some offered by collectives—may ultimately be rejected. My story: https://lnkd.in/dNBBBVjC

📣 NIL WEEKLY ROUNDUP: This week in the NIL world brings significant legal developments that shape the future for collegiate athletes: 🏛️ Federal court delivered a major blow to Mario Chalmers and 15 other former athletes, dismissing their antitrust lawsuit against the NCAA with prejudice. The ruling emphasizes the statute of limitations and preclusion challenges faced by pre-2016 athletes seeking NIL compensation. ⚖️ Meanwhile, Jett Elad scored a significant win against the NCAA, with a federal judge determining that eligibility rules are commercial—a critical development for ongoing litigation. 🏀 Litigation continues on other fronts: Montana's Kai Johnson is suing the NCAA for an additional year of eligibility, while Alberto Osuna seeks reconsideration after the Elad decision. 💰 Arkansas signed a law creating tax exemptions for NIL money—yet another example of states crafting their own NIL policies. 💼 NIL is changing the landscape: ESPN detailed how A&P Agency (run by a team mostly under 30) generated nearly $1M on the first day of portal season. And Jay Bilas argues NIL helps smaller schools, contrary to popular claims. 📊 Interesting stat: Only 106 early entrants declared for the NBA draft this year, down from 363 in 2021. NIL is keeping more talent in college. 📝 On the contract front, I've reviewed several agreements containing provisions that essentially function as non-competes. These often create unreasonable hardship and may violate public policy that favors athlete mobility through the transfer portal. Read the full newsletter for more details, and follow me for weekly updates on the evolving NIL landscape where I break down the legal complexities of this rapidly changing domain. What developments in the NIL space are you watching most closely? #NIL #CollegeAthletics #SportsLaw #NCAA #LinkedInSports

This might be the smartest NIL play I’ve seen. The University of Illinois just changed the game. Instead of outsourcing NIL… They embedded LEARFIELD into their athletic department. Same team. Same strategy. Shared upside. Here’s why marketers should care: Learfield normally handles sponsorship sales (billboards, radio, media rights, etc.) Now, their team sits inside the athletic department. Working directly with coaches, athletes, and staff. Managing brand deals that support both the program and the players. This matters because it makes NIL operational. Not an extra layer. Not a side hustle. For marketers, that means: • Easier access to athletes through a centralized team • Faster deal flow without legal confusion or mixed priorities • Campaigns that hit multiple touchpoints—athlete, program, audience • Cleaner data and reporting across both NIL and sponsorship This is the first school to treat NIL as infrastructure. Not compliance. Not chaos. A functional part of the revenue stack. Most schools will still run NIL off the side of their desk. Illinois just made it a business unit. That’s why this matters. And why more brands will start asking for a model like this. P.S. What are your thoughts on this move? 👇

College athletics is becoming an innovation lab. Arizona State University just launched SPORTx, a universitywide platform designed to sit at the intersection of athletics and entrepreneurship. It is anchored by the J. Orin Edson Entrepreneurship + Innovation Institute and embedded directly inside Sun Devil Athletics at Mountain America Stadium. This is structural, not symbolic. SPORTx operates on two pillars. First, athlete engagement. Through a Student-Athlete Venture Studio built with GoDaddy and supported by its Empower program, student-athletes get mentorship, digital infrastructure and AI-powered tools to build businesses around their name, image and likeness. Not NIL collectives. Actual venture formation. Second, venture development. In partnership with LEAD Venture Corporation, SPORTx will support emerging sport tech startups with access to university research, facilities, investors and operator mentorship. This is what a modern sports university looks like. 700+ student-athletes. A Tier 1 research institution. A venture partner with global sports portfolio exposure. And a dedicated collision space inside the stadium. The bigger theme here is that sports innovation is moving upstream. Instead of waiting for startups to pitch into athletics departments, universities are creating internal ecosystems where athletes, founders and capital interact daily. ASU is effectively turning its athletic department into: • A talent incubator • A venture studio • A sports tech test bed • A brand-building platform In a market where sports tech, performance data, NIL platforms and fan engagement models are scaling rapidly, this kind of infrastructure matters. The schools that build integrated ecosystems will produce the next wave of athlete-entrepreneurs and sports founders. SPORTx signals that the future of college athletics is ownership, venture creation and innovation layered directly into the athlete experience. The line between athlete and entrepreneur is disappearing. #SportsInnovation #NIL #SportsTech #CollegeAthletics #Entrepreneurship