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As the first weeks of the new NIL marketplace take shape, we are beginning to get an idea on how major programs are dividing up the revenue-sharing. According to Opendorse, power conferences will spend over 85% of their revenue-sharing dollars on men’s football and basketball. About 7% will go to women’s basketball, with the rest going to other sports such as volleyball, softball and baseball. These schools have a revenue pool of $20.5 million for the 2025-26 academic year.

For Group of 6 schools, the dollars fall off fast. The pool for this year is around $4.3 million per school. They are still budgeting to spend over 80% on men’s football and basketball, with slightly more, around 9.5% on women’s basketball.

As far as the rest of D1, their pool is an average of $4.8 million. Interestingly, the rest of D1 is spending substantially more money on men’s basketball. They are spending over 55% on men’s basketball and only just over 27% on football. In the end, no matter what lens you put on it, schools are planning to spend over 80% of their revenue-sharing money on men’s high-profile sports.

One new variable that we will have to wait and see what impact it has is the new clearinghouse NIL Go. For the first time, we might actually get timely, accurate reporting of all NIL agreements at the D1 level. It may also impact “pay for play” deals that up until now had not received much scrutiny. Opendorse expects the money from NIL collectives to drop from $1.3 billion in 2024-25 to $227.3 million in 2025-26, and an eye-popping $77.9 million by 2028. That’s over a 90% drop in the next three years.

With the rapid decline of big piles of NIL collective money, athletes are going to have to start providing real value and return on investment if they want to continue to cash in on NIL.

NIL Collectives went on a spending spree in June. No one should be surprised, given the imminent start of revenue sharing and the impending deeper inspection of all NIL agreements, which are set to take effect on July 1. The numbers remain impressive. Opendorse data shows an 824% increase YOY in the month of June. The money is being spent primarily on key position players like QB and wide receiver in football and the guards in basketball.

The role of NIL collectives will drastically change going forward, and this might be the first sign that they will have a diminished role in funding college sports in the future. Control of the funds has shifted from collectives back to the schools, but collectives can still play a role, supplementing the financial assistance from the schools with NIL deals. This may prove to be a benefit to the top players, but the amount of money flowing through collectives will fall substantially.

It’s difficult to imagine collectives looking downstream for new sources of revenue. The business model didn’t fit well with smaller D1 or D2 schools that had athletic programs struggling to break even every year. Deep pockets are what drive collectives, and there are far fewer at lower levels. Lower-level programs have fewer athletes and even fewer athletes who could demand “influencer” level compensation.

Since the House settlement only directly impacts D1 programs, it is still the “wild west” in the rest of college sports. We will have to wait and see if collectives can adapt and move downstream to survive.

Maximizing NIL Contract Value
As schools and collectives rebalance how they spend money, so should athletes. To maximize the value of an NIL deal, it comes down to two key variables:

• Get the highest payment possible, and

• Minimize expenses, which are the costs incurred in fulfilling the contract.

Both of these variables work against each other. The more you can increase income while lowering expenses, the wider the gap between them grows. And that gap - the difference between income and expense - is where you can create more value.

In the business world, that gap is called net profit. For you as an individual, it’s not as simple. When you license your NIL rights to someone, you will usually be compensated for your time or use of your name, image or likeness. A business might sign you to come to their retail location and sign autographs or pose for pictures with alumni and fans. For this type of deal, think about the value of your time. Are you there for three hours or eight hours? Are you responsible for your transportation and meals? In order to maximize the value of your NIL income, make sure you do not commit to activities that take up large amounts of time and energy.

Now let’s look at the use of your name, image, or likeness. At first blush, you might think this will not take a lot of your time, but that is not necessarily true. Photo shoots, recording commercials, or social media posts can eat up a lot of your time. And when you let someone use your NIL rights, you have to think about “time” in a different way. You should always be clear on how long and where any partner can use your image. Look at EA Sports and college football. In March, they announced they would pay $1500 per athlete for use of their image in their games. For a lot of athletes, that sounds like an easy deal. For very little work, you get a payout. Now, without seeing the contract, it’s hard to know, but it’s safe to say that for as long as games have been around, you can assume you are giving EA access to your image forever. In this case maybe it’s ok. But if you sign a deal with a local small business, you need to make sure you’re not still showing up in their ads ten years after you graduate.

In the end, the goal is to create a sustainable and profitable personal brand that will serve you long after your college career. Your personal brand is the most powerful asset you have. Nurture it, protect it and watch it thrive!

News and Notes

Texas State officially joined the PAC-12: The PAC-12 got its required minimum number of schools with the addition of Texas State.

EA Sports announces the return of the “March Madness” College Hoops Game

NCAA considers proposal to allow athletes, staff to bet on pro sports: The NCAA would still bar betting on college sports and sharing info about college events with bettors.

UPenn settles with feds on transgender athletes: The school will modify the records set by Lia Thomas and will apologize to female athletes who were “disadvantaged”.

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