What Is NIL?

NIL is a set of rules gover🗹ning the right of college and high school athletes to benefit financially from the use of their names, images, and likenesses for commercial purposes such as product endorsements.

The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), which formerly prohibited athletes from entering into such agreements, changed its rules in 2021. Many states now have NIL laws as well.

In 2024, the NCAA agreed to further changes and to pay damages of nearly $2.8 billion to current and former athletes who had lost out financially as a result of its rules, going as far back as 2016. A motion for final approval of the settlement was filed in U.S. District Court on March 4, 2025, with a ruling expected in April.

Understanding the Elements of NIL

NIL evolved from a legal concept known as the "right of publicity." While the law varies from state to state, the right of publicity generally recognizes that individuals have the right to decide whether their name, photograph, or other likeness can be used by others for commercial purposes, and to be compensated for such uses.

Celebrity endorsements are well-known examples, but the concept applies to everyday individuals as well. A person's right of publicity can even outlive them and be passed along to their heirs.

For years, the NCAA barred student athletes from receiving money for the use of their names, images, and likenesses to maintain their amateur status. Instead, their schools, teams, and leagues were able to capitalize on the popularity of their star athletes. Over time, that became a big business.

Supreme Court Rules for Athletes

A landmark Supreme Court ไruling in 2021 effectively torpedoed the practice of exploiting student athletes🌠 for commercial purposes.

The decision was based on antitrust laws. In a written opinion, Justice Brett Kavanaugh charged the NCAA with building "a massive money-raising enterprise on the backs of student-athletes who are not fairly compensated. Nowhere else in America can𝓰 businesses get away with agreeing not to pay their workers a fair maꦫrket rate."

While the Supreme Court ruling didn't use the phrase "name, image, and likeness,” as the NCAA pointed out at the time, it was clear that the long-time ban had to be modified.

Image or Likeness?

What, exactly, did the NCAA mean by "name, image, and likeness"? While the use of an athlete's name would seem straightforward, the distinction between "image" and "likeness" is less obvious.

To help differentiate it from "image"—as in a photograph or recognizable drawing—USA Volleyball, that sport's governing body, describes likeness as "your 'semblance.'" It elaborates: "Think the outline of Michael Jordan on the Jordan brand. Arnold Palmer's signature on Arizona Iced Tea. Think EA Sports' popular and profitable video games that depicted former NCAA athletes by using their height, body type, number, and playing style—but never their name or exact image."

NCAA Rules and Policies on NIL

The NCAA's website spells out its current policies as far as student athletes are concerned. At their core are these four guidelines, reprinted here verbatim:

• Individuals can engage in NIL activities that are consistent with the law of the state where the school is located. Colleges and universities may be a resource for state law questions.
• College athletes who attend a school in a state without an NIL law can engage in this type of activity without violating NCAA rules related to name, image, and likeness.
• Individuals can use a professional services provider for NIL activities.
• Student-athletes should report NIL activities consistent with state law or school and conference requirements to their school.

State NIL Laws

Those guidelines defer largely to state NIL laws, but there remains some tension between the state laws and NCAA rules governing its member schools. "The Association has been clear and maintains that schools must adhere to NCAA legislation (or policy) when it conflicts with permissive state laws. In other words, if a state law permits certain institutional action and NCAA legislation prohibits the same action, institutions must follow NCAA legislation," the NCAA says on its website.

At present, the NCAA rules don't limit how much money athletes can receive through NIL deals with outside companies. They do, however, prohibit the schools from paying their athletes. The final court settlement may change that.

Many state NIL laws now apply to high school as well as college athletes. At least 40 states and the District of Columbia had such laws on the books.

Opportunities for College Athletes Under NIL 

With these changes, college athletes and some high🅠 school stars can monetize their names, images, and likeness🧜es in several ways. Those include:

• Endorsement deals, including through their social media accounts, where they often have large followings
• Merchandise 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:licensing for T-shirts, bobbleheads, and all the rest
• Public appearances and speeches
• Video games in which their "likenesses" to participate in the on-screen action

According to Licensing International, "More than 90% of the NIL deals are for sponsorships or promotions, due both to the short nature of college athletic careers and the emergence of the transfer portal that enables athletes to switch schools." The group foresees video games becoming a "major money-maker" in the future.

Some commercial opportunities remain off-limits. Under Texas law, for example, athletes are not allowed to endorse "alcohol, tobacco products, e-cigarettes or any other type of nicotine delivery device, anabolic steroids, 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:sports betting, casino gambling," among other products and services.

Impact of NIL on College Athletics

The expansion of NIL rights is having a profound effect on college athletics. As the journal Inside Higher Ed put it, "While the long-feared death of college sports hasn't occurred, critics and supporters alike see problems on the horizon, particularly with a patchwork of state laws that provide more financial freedom for college athletes in some states than others."

A majorꦬ concern on the part of colleges is the impact NIL is likely to have on recruitment. Specifically, will promising athletes choose schools based on their NIL earning potential rather than other factors?

NIL could prove lucrative for some college athletes. One study estimated that in the first year after the NCAA ruling college athletes took in a collective $917 million in NIL payments.  

Of course, the most popular players in the most popular sports stand to benefit the most. A study by AthleticDirectorU and Navigate Research looked at the numbers of Instagram followers of certain top college athletes, figuring that each follower was worth roughly 80 cents in terms of endorsement value. By that measure, a top football player with a huge Instagram following could make as much as $700,000 in endorsement revenue, while less popular teammates might earn in the $5,000 to $30,000 range. 

The NCAA, meanwhile, has found itself scrambling to keep up with new and ever-changing state laws. In 2024, the states of Tennessee and Virginia (joined later by Florida, New York, and the District of Columbia) sued the NCAA over its prohibitions on the use of NIL as a recruiting tool. In January 2025, the NCAA settled the suit.

Legal and Financial Consider🐠ations for College Athletes

While🧸 the new rules governing NIL ri🃏ghts have created new opportunities for college athletes, they have also resulted in considerable confusion.

As might be expected, that has created a cottage industry of legal and 澳洲幸运5开🎐奖号码历史查询🎀:financial advisers specializing in NIL matters—what the NCAA refers to in its guidelines as professional service providers. These can include agents, 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:tax advisors, marketing consultants, and attorneys.

Under current NCAA guidelines, the schools themselves are limited in the advice and other services they can offer. For example, the NCAA says, they can't "provide free services (graphic designers, tax preparation, or contract review) to student-athletes unless those services are available to the general student body."

In addition, the NCAA's new rules gave rise to so-called NIL collectives. These are independent groups of donors to a particular school that arrange for NIL payments to athletes, getting around the limitations put on the schools themselves. News reports suggest there are 120-200 such groups across the country.

NIL Success Stories

While the current NIL rules are still relatively new, some athletes have already managed to cash in. Before turning pro in 2024, Iowa Hawkeyes women's basketball star Caitlin Clark reportedly had endorsement deals with Buick, Gatorade, Goldman Sachs, H&R Block, Nike, and State Farm.

The terms of these deals are often undisclosed, but at least a handful of athletes are likely making millions of dollars a year from endorsements and other NIL-related activities. The website On3, which covers college sports and NIL, produces widely publicized "NIL Valuations" of 100 top players based on actual deals and other factors, such as their performance and social media reach.

On3's rankings change weekly, but the top five college athletes based on their NIL Valuations in late February 2025 were:

• Arch Manning, University of Texas, football, $6.5 million
• Cooper Flagg, Duke University, basketball, $4.8 million
• Carson Beck, University of Miami, football, $4.3 million
• Livvy Dunne, Louisiana State University, gymnastics, $4.1 million
• Jeremiah Smith, Ohio State University, football, $4.0 million

Future Outlook and Potential Developments

The rules currently governing NIL are a hodgepodge of state laws and NCAA pronouncements. Much of the confusion could be resolved by a uniform national law.

Meanwhile, other initiatives to alter the balance of power between college athletes and the schools they play for have been moving through the courts. In its May 2024 settlement, the NCAA agreed to drop its prohibition against schools paying their athletes directly.

In a joint statement, NCAA President Charlie Baker and five conference commissioners called the settlement, "an important step in the continuing reform of college sports that will provide benefits to student-athletes and provide clarity in college athletics across all divisions for years to come."

Other commentators described it in more dramatic terms. "Amateurism, long a fragile and fleeting notion in the billion-dollar college sports industry, is officially dead," writer Pete Thamel observed on ESPN.

As mentioned above, a final settlement in the case is expected in spring 2025. Ifﷺ approved, it will allow colleges to share about $20.5 million in annu♔al revenue with athletes starting on July 1, 2025.

The Bottom Line

The new rules governing the use of athletes' names, images, and likenesses have given players a piece of the action in the multibillion-dollar industry that college sports has become. For critics who have long decried the exploitation of college athletes, NIL is a major step toward leveling the playing field.