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College football has been a strictly amateur sport since 1869. Officially it still is, but for the first time, players on the field are now permitted to legally put some money in their pockets.

NCAA athletes can now make money in business ventures without losing their eligibility after state laws and NCAA changes have erased rules that kept athletes
from earning income in college.

Now, players can sell the rights to their name, image, and likeness.

Amount

NIL Facts

Under current NCAA rules, NIL does not mean pay-for-play, meaning boosters cannot legally agree to pay money for a certain recruit/transfer to commit to a school for money or a guaranteed NIL deal. Under new ruling, schools with boosters that have communicated with players before their commitment would be sanctioned.

Athletes can accept endorsements from brands, monetize their social media presences and work with professional firms that coordinate these kinds of deals for athletes.

  • Players can accept money from businesses in exchange for using them in products or advertisements, and can also promote themselves or other companies in public appearances.
  • Collectives, which are independent of a university, can serve a variety of purposes. Most often, they pool funds from boosters and businesses, help facilitate NIL deals for athletes and also create their own ways for athletes to monetize their brands. The term “collective,” which generally means a cooperative enterprise, has no particular legal significance.
  • A NIL collective is typically driven by boosters, whether it be one-time payments or subscriptions. The NCAA defines a booster as an individual, independent agency, or corporate entity who is known by a member of the institution’s athletics administration to have participated in, or to be a member of, an agency or organization promoting the school’s intercollegiate athletics program. A booster may also assist in providing benefits to enrolled student-athletes or their family members.

FAQ

What Is The NIL?

Literally, it means “name, image, and likeness,” and refers to college athletes’ ability to profit off themselves.

NIL gives players the right to publicity that ordinary citizens already have, but that the NCAA previously didn’t allow.

Players can accept money from businesses in exchange for using them in products or advertisements, and can also promote themselves or other companies in public appearances.

College football players, like all other student-athletes, previously could not sell their likeness while being on scholarship. The new NIL rule changes overturn that precedent completely.

When did it happen?

In June, 2021, the Supreme Court unanimously ruled in NCAA v. Alston that the NCAA was not legally allowed to limit any education-related payments to students.

From there, the NCAA deferred to states, who created their own NIL rules. Where a state didn’t pass a law, schools changed their own rules.

Two things remain disallowed by NCAA rules: 1) you can’t pay a player, and, 2) no quid pro quo.

Players aren’t supposed to get any compensation tied for performance, and recruits cannot sign any NIL deal contingent on going to any particular school.

 

What Is An NIL Collective?

A collective is a company, usually established by wealthy alumni at schools, that collects financial resources and directs them to athletes for the right to use their name, image, and likeness.

Collectives help facilitate NIL deals for athletes, but are not operated by universities or their athletic departments.

Booster involvement in recruiting has always been against the rules, and the NCAA is stepping up its enforcement of that rule to include any potential NIL violations that may involve boosters using collectives to lure recruits to their schools with the promise of big NIL deals.

How Do The Athletes Make Money?

Athletes can profit in a number of ways,
including (but not limited to)

  • Appearing in ad campaigns
  • Selling ads on their social accounts
  • Selling merchandise
  • Starting their own sports camps
  • Starting their own businesses
  • Selling signed memorabilia
  • Making paid appearances
  • Delivering speeches for money
  • Arranging autograph signings