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The new college sports agency is rejecting some athlete nil deals with donor-backed collectives
The new college sports agency is rejecting some athlete nil deals with donor-backed collectives

Al Arabiya

time10-07-2025

  • Business
  • Al Arabiya

The new college sports agency is rejecting some athlete nil deals with donor-backed collectives

The new agency in charge of regulating name image likeness deals in college sports sent a letter to schools Thursday saying it had rejected deals between players and donor-backed collectives formed over the past several years to funnel money to athletes or their schools. Those arrangements hold no valid business purpose, the memo said, and don't adhere to rules that call for outside NIL deals to be between players and companies that provide goods or services to the general public for profit. The letter to Division I athletic directors could be the next step in shuttering today's version of the collective groups that are closely affiliated with schools and that in the early days of NIL after July 2021 proved the most efficient way for schools to indirectly cut deals with players. Since then, the landscape has changed yet again with the $2.8 billion House settlement that allows schools to pay the players directly as of July 1. Already collectives affiliated with Colorado, Alabama, Notre Dame, Georgia, and others have announced they're shutting down. Georgia, Ohio State, and Illinois are among those that have announced plans with Learfield, a media and technology company with decades of licensing and other experience across college athletics, to help arrange NIL deals. Outside deals between athlete and sponsor are still permitted, but any worth $600 or more have to be vetted by a clearinghouse called NIL Go that was established by the new College Sports Commission. In its letter to the ADs, the CSC said more than 1,500 deals have been cleared since NIL Go launched on June 11, ranging in value from three figures to seven figures. More than 12,000 athletes and 1,100 institutional users have registered to use the system. But the bulk of the letter explained that many deals could not be cleared because they did not conform to an NCAA rule that sets a valid business purpose standard for deals to be approved. The letter explained that if a collective reaches a deal with an athlete to appear on behalf of the collective, which charges an admission fee, the standard is not met because the purpose of the event is to raise money to pay athletes, not to provide goods or services available to the general public for profit. The same would apply to a deal an athlete makes to sell merchandise to raise money to pay that player because the purpose of selling merchandise is to raise money to pay that student-athlete and potentially other student-athletes at a particular school or schools, which is not a valid business purpose according to the NCAA rule. A deal, however, could be approved if, for instance, the businesses paying the players had a broader purpose than simply acting as a collective. The letter uses a golf course or apparel company as examples. In other words, NIL collectives may act as marketing agencies that match student-athletes with businesses that have a valid business purpose and seek to use the students' NIL to promote their businesses, the letter said.

The new college sports agency is rejecting some athlete NIL deals with donor-backed collectives
The new college sports agency is rejecting some athlete NIL deals with donor-backed collectives

Associated Press

time10-07-2025

  • Business
  • Associated Press

The new college sports agency is rejecting some athlete NIL deals with donor-backed collectives

The new agency in charge of regulating name, image, likeness deals in college sports sent a letter to schools Thursday saying it had rejected deals between players and donor-backed collectives formed over the past several years to funnel money to athletes or their schools. Those arrangements hold no 'valid business purpose,' the memo said, and don't adhere to rules that call for outside NIL deals to be between players and companies that provide goods or services to the general public for profit. The letter to Division I athletic directors could be the next step in shuttering today's version of the collective, groups that are closely affiliated with schools and that, in the early days of NIL after July 2021, proved the most efficient way for schools to indirectly cut deals with players. Since then, the landscape has changed yet again with the $2.8 billion House settlement that allows schools to pay the players directly as of July 1. Already, collectives affiliated with Colorado, Alabama, Notre Dame, Georgia and others have announced they're shutting down. Georgia, Ohio State and Illinois are among those that have announced plans with Learfield, a media and technology company with decades of licensing and other experience across college athletics, to help arrange NIL deals. Outside deals between athlete and sponsor are still permitted, but any worth $600 or more have to be vetted by a clearinghouse called NIL Go that was established by the new College Sports Commission. In its letter to the ADs, the CSC said more than 1,500 deals have been cleared since NIL Go launched on June 11, 'ranging in value from three figures to seven figures.' More than 12,000 athletes and 1,100 institutional users have registered to use the system. But the bulk of the letter explained that many deals could not be cleared because they did not conform to an NCAA rule that sets a 'valid business purpose' standard for deals to be approved. The letter explained that if a collective reaches a deal with an athlete to appear on behalf of the collective, which charges an admission fee, the standard is not met because the purpose of the event is to raise money to pay athletes, not to provide goods or services available to the general public for profit. The same would apply to a deal an athlete makes to sell merchandise to raise money to pay that player because the purpose of 'selling merchandise is to raise money to pay that student-athlete and potentially other student-athletes at a particular school or schools, which is not a valid business purpose' according to the NCAA rule. A deal, however, could be approved if, for instance, the businesses paying the players had a broader purpose than simply acting as a collective. The letter uses a golf course or apparel company as examples. 'In other words, NIL collectives may act as marketing agencies that match student-athletes with businesses that have a valid business purpose and seek to use the student's NIL to promote their businesses,' the letter said. ___ AP college sports:

USC athletics eliminates a dozen jobs as it manages new revenue sharing expenses
USC athletics eliminates a dozen jobs as it manages new revenue sharing expenses

Yahoo

time08-07-2025

  • Business
  • Yahoo

USC athletics eliminates a dozen jobs as it manages new revenue sharing expenses

USC quarterback Jayden Maiava (14) runs out to the field with his teammates before playing Notre Dame at the Coliseum on Nov. 30. (Gina Ferazzi/Los Angeles Times) As college athletic departments across the country brace for a new era of sharing revenue directly with their athletes, USC is eliminating a dozen jobs in its athletic department in an effort to reduce costs in the wake of the House vs. NCAA settlement. Six athletics employees were told late last week that their roles in the department had been eliminated, a person familiar with the decision not authorized to disucss it publicly told The Times. The most senior among them was Paul Perrier, an executive senior associate athletic director, who spent two six-year stints at USC working under three different athletic directors. Advertisement Six other vacant roles have also since been eliminated, the person said. USC is planning to share the maximum of $20.5 million with its athletes that's permitted by the settlement in 2025, the vast majority of which will go to the football program. That's no small expenditure — especially for a university in the midst of serious financial issues. Read more: Times of Troy: How will a new university president shape USC athletics? USC, like other schools, continues to explore other revenue streams to help pay for the costs associated with this new landscape of college athletics. USC recently signed a 15-year multimedia rights deal with Learfield that should help ease some of the burden of revenue sharing. Last season, the school sold ad space in the Coliseum end zone to DirecTV. Advertisement Some schools have opted to cut sports, in an attempt to reduce costs. But USC has yet to choose that route. Instead, athletic director Jennifer Cohen announced last month that USC would invest revenue-sharing dollars, in some form or fashion, with all 23 of the school's athletics programs. Sign up for more USC news with Times of Troy. In your inbox every Monday morning. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.

Georgia closes NIL collective as revenue sharing begins. New plan could become norm
Georgia closes NIL collective as revenue sharing begins. New plan could become norm

New York Times

time30-06-2025

  • Business
  • New York Times

Georgia closes NIL collective as revenue sharing begins. New plan could become norm

Georgia is ending its collective, but the Bulldogs are partnering with an outside organization to form a new outlet that will focus on name, image and likeness deals for football and other players. The move is in advance of the House settlement going into effect Tuesday. The settlement allows schools to directly pay athletes, starting with $20.5 million for all athletes, but any outside NIL deals worth more than $600 have to be approved by a clearinghouse, which is run by the Deloitte accounting firm. Advertisement Georgia's outside NIL deals will now be done through Learfield, which has worked with Georgia's athletic department, and many others, on licensing and marketing deals. Learfield is also set to work with Ohio State, in a similar arrangement announced several weeks ago. Learfield is expected to hire a staff of around five people specifically for Georgia's NIL deals. 'This approach is about creating a standardized process and capitalizing on the NIL momentum at Georgia as the recent House settlement ruling goes into effect,' Learfield president Cole Gahagan said in a statement. 'By consolidating all NIL efforts together, we're establishing a full-service platform that makes it easier for brands to engage, for fans to support, and for student-athletes to maximize their potential through impactful storytelling and strategic partnerships.' Georgia's collective, the Classic City Collective, was formed several years ago and had been raising money to directly pay players while also helping negotiate NIL deals. Last year the collective paid players an average of $1.1 million per month, multiple program sources briefed on the operations of Georgia's collective previously told The Athletic. That figure, about $13.2 million for the season, is roughly in line with what Georgia will pay football players in revenue sharing. Most schools are paying football players 75 percent of the revenue sharing budget. (Schools can count new scholarships in revenue sharing, so it's 75 percent of $18 million, which is $13.5 million.) But there were NIL deals for several players that were outside the collective, and the payments for players are expected to only increase, especially among top-tier programs. So Georgia is working with Learfield to negotiate NIL deals that will pass muster with the new clearinghouse. Advertisement 'Our student-athletes are already among the most competitive in the country,' Georgia athletic director Josh Brooks said in a statement. 'Now, they'll have the infrastructure and support to maximize their NIL potential while strengthening their connection with the Bulldog Nation and beyond.'

Penn State earns top-20 finish in 2024-25 Directors' Cup standings
Penn State earns top-20 finish in 2024-25 Directors' Cup standings

USA Today

time26-06-2025

  • Sport
  • USA Today

Penn State earns top-20 finish in 2024-25 Directors' Cup standings

With the college baseball season recently concluding, it marks the end of the 2024-25 athletic season. As is tradition, Learfield released the final standings for the Directors' Cup, an annual rankings used to measure a university's overall athletic success from each school year. On Thursday, Learfield announced the final tally, which is based on a formula that awards points for success in different sports. Penn State finished the season with the No. 16 overall ranking, which comes after being ranked No. 3 after the fall rankings were released. Mediocre performances from the baseball, softball, men's volleyball and women's lacrosse teams hurt the Nittany Lions, but they still finished higher than their No. 24 ranking a year prior. Penn State finished with 893 total points, with 213.5 from fall sports, 335 from winter sports and just 143 in the spring window. Men's wrestling and women's volleyball each contributed 100 points while earning national championships, while football, women's soccer, fencing and men's lacrosse all eclipsed 70 points. Both basketball teams, as well as the baseball and softball teams, finished with no points. The Nittany Lions placed fifth among Big Ten schools, trailing No. 2 USC, No. 5 UCLA, No. 8 Ohio State and No. 13 Michigan. The conference as a whole was successful, with every school ranking in the top 90 spots out of over 300 total Division I institutions. Additionally, every Big Ten school besides Iowa and Rutgers ranked in the top 50.

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