NIL: Name, image, likeness and big money in college sports
Stay up to date with WRAL’s NIL: Name, image, likeness and big money in college sports news and reporting coverage
The NCAA changed its rules on name, image and likeness in the summer of 2021, allowing college athletes to profit from autograph signings, marketing deals, social media posts and sports camp appearances. The NCAA offered little guidance to its member schools, deferring to state laws.
NIL quickly became shorthand, not only for market-based deals, but payments for players to attend or remain at schools, which is technically prohibited by the NCAA. The advent of NIL combined with loosened rules around transfers in football and basketball has changed how rosters are put together and how they remain together.
In October 2024, a North Carolina judge ruled that public high school athletes can accept NIL payments after a lawsuit from a top-ranked football player. A dozen high school athletes signed deals during the first months.
A House settlement in 2025 allowed universities to share up to $20.5 million directly with athletes, tightened roster limits and loosened scholarship limits. The richest conferences also created the College Sports Commission to review and approve all NIL deals over $600 through a new NIL Go portal.
