NIL fixes

I think a big issue is how do you put a system in place that is 1) logistically enforceable and 2) legal. I am an attorney, so I do have a few thoughts from that perspective. Though this isn't particularly what I do. From that perspective I think blanket ideas like "No NIL until sophomore year" would not be legal, "no collectives" is not enforceable without mechanism, and "collective caps" is probably both unenforceable as a hard cap and not likely to survive litigation. Here are my thoughts on a system that might work, do note I'm not claiming to be the first to suggest this.

NCAA NIL Clearinghouse: Essentially setup a department that has to track and approve NIL deals for player eligibility and school compliance. Have it so that any NIL deal valued at or greater than $10k or equivalent must be registered and approved by the Clearinghouse for the player to retain eligibility and the school to remain in compliance. Have it such that no deal will be approved from an organization created for the exclusive purpose of providing NIL deals to players of a specific school or schools (collectives). Provide a very liberal standard for having the money connected to the value of the services provided to the company by the player (e.g. any NIL compensation must be "plausibly correlated" to the economic value of the NIL rights or services provided by the player). This would prevent, for example, someone giving Sammy Brown, a 5 star 2024 LB with only 7k Instagram followers, a million dollar deal the day he steps foot on campus in return for vague promises of signatures on request. I would have the principal owners or directors of any company providing an NIL deal be forced to register as a booster for the school of the student they are providing a deal to, which could be multiple schools. I would have the basic terms (parties, amounts, services exchanged) of each deal publicly available.

This would basically just provide a lot of transparency on NIL which would force a lot of these groups to rethink their strategy. They would either be forced to route things through legit companies in exchange for legit services from athletes (which, I'm fine with), or go back to the riskier bag men approach. From the NCAA side, they could sanction any NIL discovered that wasn't registered through the clearinghouse, without the need for much investigation. And instead of having to go out and find the violations, like with TAMU, they would have all of the NIL stuff brought to them. If anything looks suspicious on intake, they can then investigate further. Right now, NIL deals are happening and to some extent the leagues or schools aren't even tracking them all. That's a big problem.

Is it logistically enforceable? I think so. It will certainly take a good amount of staffing and training but its within reason. Is it legal? Maybe. More so than a lot of other proposals I've seen. But it's far from a sure thing.

Unlike other rules or opportunities provided to NCAA athletes the NIL is currently being governed by each state as they each have their own set of laws on how the NIL works. Hence why Sankey along with other ADs and Coaches are seeking across the board legislation at the federal level to add some level of control.

The problem seeking the federal support is both the NLRB and IRS want NIL to fall under income as to make the athletes employees. They say it is to protect the athlete and allow opportunities to organize and what not but in the end it will be a bad direction for athletes.

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The problem seeking the federal support is both the NLRB and IRS want NIL to fall under income as to make the athletes employees. They say it is to protect the athlete and allow opportunities to organize and what not but in the end it will be a bad direction for athletes.

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I'm not going to comment on whether it would be a good or bad thing for the athletes, because I honestly haven't given it enough thought to have an opinion

I will say that the current system, if allowed to continue, is going to result in pro sports without a salary cap, CBA, players union, contracts, revenue sharing, or any of the other practices that have been implemented over the years to keep everything above board in professional leagues. So some kind of federal oversight is necessary. I don't know what form it should take, but the current system is not sustainable.

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Would it be possible legally and plausible to put all NIL money for a player in an interest bearing account that he/she can only access for living/education expenses and emergencies until his class becomes draft eligible? Would it help?

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Not under the current state laws unless I am mistaken but I have always advocated for that as it would guarantee money upon leaving the program. Basically a trust set up for post college.

LINK ]NCAA asks member schools to help with NIL violation investigations (espn)