NIL Nuggets of the Week Thread - (6/9-6/15)
In an attempt to stay tapped into all things NIL, I've sorted through and gathered some interesting NIL-centered news items today, the title of each section will redirect you to the initial article, as I did not translate all of the columns into this page. Just the best cliff notes.
I will continue adding more news as the week unfolds! Please feel free to link any informative or interesting NIL articles in this thread!
Cheers,
PS: If you'd like to advertise with Orangebloods, Sponsoring this Column or a show on Orangbloods Live, please reach out to @Sunny Nelson !
Today's Topics
1. Ross Bjork outlines Ohio State's revenue-sharing plans after approval of NCAA settlement
2. House settlement approves revenue sharing. Here's how Clemson will pay players
3. What I’m hearing about NCAA revenue sharing: $40M football rosters, unintended consequences
4. Clearinghouse Denial of NIL Deals to Be Limited by Arbitration
5. Bryan Seeley Named Inaugural CEO of the College Sports Commission
6. Return of the bag man: NIL clearinghouse could revive paying college athletes under table
7. Jay Bilas Predicts NIL Settlement will END Transfers
8. Deloitte "NIL GO" Process..
9. Following the Rules, Bag Men, Perks, Penthouses and...
10. All 76 Pages of the House Settlement from Judge Wilken (If you're into that sort of thing)
1. Ross Bjork outlines Ohio State's revenue-sharing plans after approval of NCAA settlement
Athletic director Ross Bjork said the Buckeyes are reserving $18 million for direct payments to athletes for the use of their name, image and likeness.
The remaining $2.5 million counting against the annual cap is tied to the funding for 91 new scholarships across their 36 varsity sports teams, an increase over previous amounts of financial aid awarded to athletes.
Bjork said athletes from four varsity sports teams are to receive the NIL payments from the university in 2025-26.
While he declined to identify the sports, deferring to a formal announcement that is expected to be made later this week, it is inevitable that football and men’s basketball will see a bulk of the cash.
Both football and men’s basketball resulted in $136 million out of $143 million in sport-specific revenues (95%) in fiscal 2024, according to financial records the department provided to the NCAA. Football produced $111.6 million.
Notable: One popular formula that was used in the preliminary approval of the settlement last year and has been implemented by several schools sets 75% for football, 15% for men's basketball, 5% for women's basketball and 5% for other sports. Judge Claudia Wilken’s approval for back damages for former and current athletes also used the breakdown as a model.
2. House settlement approves revenue sharing. Here's how Clemson will pay players
Clemson will also fully fund every roster position, increasing scholarships totals from 275 to 425. This will cost around $2.5 million of the $20.5 million, so there will be $18 million available to directly pay players
Football will likely exceed that percentage as it generates the most profit. In fiscal year 2024, Swinney's program brought in around $87.2 million, about 72% of Clemson's revenue across 21 sports, and netted a profit of $19.4 million profit, according to its latest NCAA financial report. This will cause other sports, like its men's basketball program, to receive a lower percentage of the cap.
3. What I’m hearing about NCAA revenue sharing: $40M football rosters, unintended consequences
“The top (football) teams are going to cost $40-50 million a year,” said one power conference personnel director. “That’s where this is going. Anyone who thinks different is nuts.”
“The top (football) teams are going to cost $40-50 million a year,” said one power conference personnel director. “That’s where this is going. Anyone who thinks different is nuts.”
That projected “budget” includes additional NIL (name, image and likeness) payments from collectives and outside organizations to athletes on top of the capped revenue sharing from the school. It would be a steep increase from the market-setting $20 million in NIL money Ohio State funded its roster with last season on the way to a national championship. But most significantly, a number of industry sources believe that $40 million-$50 million rate will continue beyond this upcoming season, where a number of top-end rosters have been uniquely built with front-loaded, pre-settlement NIL deals.
This cuts directly against the intent of the settlement, which is designed to stamp out the unspoken pay-for-play deals that have hijacked the NIL marketplace and keep ballooning roster budgets in check.
“No chance,” the personnel director said.
Notable: “If you tell a booster or business owner they can’t give a star player $2 million, there will be lawsuits,” said the personnel director. “There’s no enforcing this. Fair market value? F— Deloitte. This is going to get even crazier.”
4. Clearinghouse Denial of NIL Deals to Be Limited by Arbitration
One of the more controversial features of the approved House settlement is a clearinghouse review of NIL deals that exceed $600 to ensure they are legitimately about use of an athlete’s right of publicity and not veiled payments to convince an athlete to attend and remain at a school.
Some have speculated that the denial of proposed NIL deals will motivate athletes and the businesses with whom they seek to partner to sue the clearinghouse, and perhaps other defendants. Possible claims could include alleged violations of state NIL statutes, tortious interference with prospective NIL contracts and suppression of economic opportunities as protected by state and federal antitrust laws.
There’s an important factor being overlooked: The role of arbitration, which will make it far more difficult for an athlete or a company with which the athlete seeks to sign an NIL deal to wage a successful lawsuit.
Deloitte, in partnership with the new College Sports Commission, will oversee NIL Go. The clearinghouse will use a fair market algorithm to assess if an NIL deal has a plausible relationship to the value of the athlete’s right of publicity in the context of a proposed deal. Hypothetically, an athlete being offered $1 million to sign with a local car dealership that typically pays endorsers less than $10,000 would need to explain the logic of the $1 million amount.
The Federal Arbitration Act and the Labor Management Relations Act instruct that judges are generally expected to sustain arbitration awards when the loser challenges them in court. There are only exceptional circumstances, such as when the award was procured by fraud or when the arbitrator refused to consider relevant evidence or follow basic legal principles, that warrant vacating an award. Some estimates find that judges vacate awards only around 10% of the time. Even when a judge vacates an arbitration award, the “winner” of that court ruling doesn’t necessarily “win” the dispute. Instead, they ordinarily get another shot at arbitration—where they might lose again.
5. Bryan Seeley Named Inaugural CEO of the College Sports Commission
The College Sports Commission, the newly established independent body tasked with overseeing the transformative changes to college athletics following the landmark House settlement, is proud to announce the selection of Bryan Seeley as its first Chief Executive Officer. A deeply experienced legal and operational leader with a distinguished career in professional sports and public service, Seeley will lead the Commission as a new era of fairness, integrity, and opportunity begins in college athletics. Seeley will officially begin this role in the near future.
Seeley brings with him a wealth of experience handling high-profile legal and compliance matters and building teams to perform complex work in the sports industry. Most recently, Seeley served as Executive Vice President, Legal & Operations at Major League Baseball (MLB) where he served on MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred’s executive leadership team, oversaw investigations into a wide range of issues including circumvention of international compensation caps, and developed and enforced rules in evolving policy areas such as legalized sports betting. Prior to joining MLB in 2014, Seeley served for eight years as an Assistant U.S. Attorney in Washington, D.C. where he prosecuted a wide variety of criminal activity. His collaborative leadership style and proven ability to navigate sensitive matters make him uniquely suited to guide the College Sports Commission in implementing the settlement’s terms, enforcing the new rules and fostering a sustainable future for college athletics.
As the first CEO of the College Sports Commission, Seeley will build out the organization’s investigative and enforcement teams and oversee all of its ongoing operations and stakeholder relationships. The College Sports Commission, under Seeley’s leadership, will work to continuously educate student-athletes and schools about the new rules, how to comply with them and how to use the new technology systems (CAPS and NIL Go) that the Commission is putting in place. Seeley and his team will also be responsible for enforcement of the new rules around revenue sharing, student-athlete third-party name image and likeness (NIL) deals, and roster limits. The Commission will investigate potential rules violations, make factual determinations, issue penalties where appropriate, and participate in the neutral arbitration process set forth in the settlement as necessary.
6. Return of the bag man: NIL clearinghouse could revive paying college athletes under table
A few weeks ago, as the House settlement was dragging its feet through the final approval process, I was chatting with a power conference athletic director about whether it would actually work as intended.
Athletic departments throughout the country have been gearing up for the $20.5 million in annual revenue sharing, which is the most notable piece of the $2.8 billion agreement. But among coaches and administrators, there is particular interest in the settlement’s newly created enforcement arm intended to stamp out the pay-for-play deals that have dominated the name, image and likeness era of college sports.
But in candid conversations, coaches and recruiting staffers have serious doubts that athletes will declare those deals, or do so accurately. Some have suggested that players are being encouraged not to declare deals at all, but to simply take the money and keep quiet rather than risk the clearinghouse flagging it. And if that’s the case, where do we suspect that money might be coming from?
“I guess it would just be the same as the way things used to work,” lamented the athletic director, frustrated by those already angling to undermine the settlement. “We’d be right back where we started.”
Before NIL, “bag men” were the not-so-invisible hands of big-time college sports, boosters who secretly funneled cash to top players and recruits. It was cheating in the same way that driving over the speed limit is a crime: If it wasn’t flagrant or egregious, you probably weren’t getting caught.
“Though of course not every player at every level is paid for, this is the arrangement in high-stakes college football,” is how writer Steven Godfrey described it in his 2014 deep dive into the clandestine world of bag men. “Providing cash and benefits to players is not a scandal or a scheme, merely a function. And when you start listening to the stories, you understand the function can never be stopped.”
Notable: “If some donor wants to wire a player $25,000 a month, who’s keeping track of that?” one power conference administrator said.
7. Jay Bilas Predicts NIL Settlement will END Transfers
8. Deloitte "NIL GO" Process..
9. Following the Rules, Bag Men, Perks, Penthouses and...
10. All 76 Pages of the House Settlement from Judge Wilken (If you're into that sort of thing)
NOTE: Mit Winter from X (Attorney at Kennyhertz Perry LLC | College Athletics Attorney | NIL | Sports Law | Business Litigation) will be on Football with Friends on Thursday, if anyone has any questions, please drop them below
In an attempt to stay tapped into all things NIL, I've sorted through and gathered some interesting NIL-centered news items today, the title of each section will redirect you to the initial article, as I did not translate all of the columns into this page. Just the best cliff notes.
I will continue adding more news as the week unfolds! Please feel free to link any informative or interesting NIL articles in this thread!
Cheers,
PS: If you'd like to advertise with Orangebloods, Sponsoring this Column or a show on Orangbloods Live, please reach out to @Sunny Nelson !
Today's Topics
1. Ross Bjork outlines Ohio State's revenue-sharing plans after approval of NCAA settlement
2. House settlement approves revenue sharing. Here's how Clemson will pay players
3. What I’m hearing about NCAA revenue sharing: $40M football rosters, unintended consequences
4. Clearinghouse Denial of NIL Deals to Be Limited by Arbitration
5. Bryan Seeley Named Inaugural CEO of the College Sports Commission
6. Return of the bag man: NIL clearinghouse could revive paying college athletes under table
7. Jay Bilas Predicts NIL Settlement will END Transfers
8. Deloitte "NIL GO" Process..
9. Following the Rules, Bag Men, Perks, Penthouses and...
10. All 76 Pages of the House Settlement from Judge Wilken (If you're into that sort of thing)
1. Ross Bjork outlines Ohio State's revenue-sharing plans after approval of NCAA settlement
Athletic director Ross Bjork said the Buckeyes are reserving $18 million for direct payments to athletes for the use of their name, image and likeness.
The remaining $2.5 million counting against the annual cap is tied to the funding for 91 new scholarships across their 36 varsity sports teams, an increase over previous amounts of financial aid awarded to athletes.
Bjork said athletes from four varsity sports teams are to receive the NIL payments from the university in 2025-26.
While he declined to identify the sports, deferring to a formal announcement that is expected to be made later this week, it is inevitable that football and men’s basketball will see a bulk of the cash.
Both football and men’s basketball resulted in $136 million out of $143 million in sport-specific revenues (95%) in fiscal 2024, according to financial records the department provided to the NCAA. Football produced $111.6 million.
Notable: One popular formula that was used in the preliminary approval of the settlement last year and has been implemented by several schools sets 75% for football, 15% for men's basketball, 5% for women's basketball and 5% for other sports. Judge Claudia Wilken’s approval for back damages for former and current athletes also used the breakdown as a model.
2. House settlement approves revenue sharing. Here's how Clemson will pay players
Clemson will also fully fund every roster position, increasing scholarships totals from 275 to 425. This will cost around $2.5 million of the $20.5 million, so there will be $18 million available to directly pay players
Football will likely exceed that percentage as it generates the most profit. In fiscal year 2024, Swinney's program brought in around $87.2 million, about 72% of Clemson's revenue across 21 sports, and netted a profit of $19.4 million profit, according to its latest NCAA financial report. This will cause other sports, like its men's basketball program, to receive a lower percentage of the cap.
3. What I’m hearing about NCAA revenue sharing: $40M football rosters, unintended consequences
“The top (football) teams are going to cost $40-50 million a year,” said one power conference personnel director. “That’s where this is going. Anyone who thinks different is nuts.”
“The top (football) teams are going to cost $40-50 million a year,” said one power conference personnel director. “That’s where this is going. Anyone who thinks different is nuts.”
That projected “budget” includes additional NIL (name, image and likeness) payments from collectives and outside organizations to athletes on top of the capped revenue sharing from the school. It would be a steep increase from the market-setting $20 million in NIL money Ohio State funded its roster with last season on the way to a national championship. But most significantly, a number of industry sources believe that $40 million-$50 million rate will continue beyond this upcoming season, where a number of top-end rosters have been uniquely built with front-loaded, pre-settlement NIL deals.
This cuts directly against the intent of the settlement, which is designed to stamp out the unspoken pay-for-play deals that have hijacked the NIL marketplace and keep ballooning roster budgets in check.
“No chance,” the personnel director said.
Notable: “If you tell a booster or business owner they can’t give a star player $2 million, there will be lawsuits,” said the personnel director. “There’s no enforcing this. Fair market value? F— Deloitte. This is going to get even crazier.”
4. Clearinghouse Denial of NIL Deals to Be Limited by Arbitration
One of the more controversial features of the approved House settlement is a clearinghouse review of NIL deals that exceed $600 to ensure they are legitimately about use of an athlete’s right of publicity and not veiled payments to convince an athlete to attend and remain at a school.
Some have speculated that the denial of proposed NIL deals will motivate athletes and the businesses with whom they seek to partner to sue the clearinghouse, and perhaps other defendants. Possible claims could include alleged violations of state NIL statutes, tortious interference with prospective NIL contracts and suppression of economic opportunities as protected by state and federal antitrust laws.
There’s an important factor being overlooked: The role of arbitration, which will make it far more difficult for an athlete or a company with which the athlete seeks to sign an NIL deal to wage a successful lawsuit.
Deloitte, in partnership with the new College Sports Commission, will oversee NIL Go. The clearinghouse will use a fair market algorithm to assess if an NIL deal has a plausible relationship to the value of the athlete’s right of publicity in the context of a proposed deal. Hypothetically, an athlete being offered $1 million to sign with a local car dealership that typically pays endorsers less than $10,000 would need to explain the logic of the $1 million amount.
The Federal Arbitration Act and the Labor Management Relations Act instruct that judges are generally expected to sustain arbitration awards when the loser challenges them in court. There are only exceptional circumstances, such as when the award was procured by fraud or when the arbitrator refused to consider relevant evidence or follow basic legal principles, that warrant vacating an award. Some estimates find that judges vacate awards only around 10% of the time. Even when a judge vacates an arbitration award, the “winner” of that court ruling doesn’t necessarily “win” the dispute. Instead, they ordinarily get another shot at arbitration—where they might lose again.
5. Bryan Seeley Named Inaugural CEO of the College Sports Commission
The College Sports Commission, the newly established independent body tasked with overseeing the transformative changes to college athletics following the landmark House settlement, is proud to announce the selection of Bryan Seeley as its first Chief Executive Officer. A deeply experienced legal and operational leader with a distinguished career in professional sports and public service, Seeley will lead the Commission as a new era of fairness, integrity, and opportunity begins in college athletics. Seeley will officially begin this role in the near future.
Seeley brings with him a wealth of experience handling high-profile legal and compliance matters and building teams to perform complex work in the sports industry. Most recently, Seeley served as Executive Vice President, Legal & Operations at Major League Baseball (MLB) where he served on MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred’s executive leadership team, oversaw investigations into a wide range of issues including circumvention of international compensation caps, and developed and enforced rules in evolving policy areas such as legalized sports betting. Prior to joining MLB in 2014, Seeley served for eight years as an Assistant U.S. Attorney in Washington, D.C. where he prosecuted a wide variety of criminal activity. His collaborative leadership style and proven ability to navigate sensitive matters make him uniquely suited to guide the College Sports Commission in implementing the settlement’s terms, enforcing the new rules and fostering a sustainable future for college athletics.
As the first CEO of the College Sports Commission, Seeley will build out the organization’s investigative and enforcement teams and oversee all of its ongoing operations and stakeholder relationships. The College Sports Commission, under Seeley’s leadership, will work to continuously educate student-athletes and schools about the new rules, how to comply with them and how to use the new technology systems (CAPS and NIL Go) that the Commission is putting in place. Seeley and his team will also be responsible for enforcement of the new rules around revenue sharing, student-athlete third-party name image and likeness (NIL) deals, and roster limits. The Commission will investigate potential rules violations, make factual determinations, issue penalties where appropriate, and participate in the neutral arbitration process set forth in the settlement as necessary.
6. Return of the bag man: NIL clearinghouse could revive paying college athletes under table
A few weeks ago, as the House settlement was dragging its feet through the final approval process, I was chatting with a power conference athletic director about whether it would actually work as intended.
Athletic departments throughout the country have been gearing up for the $20.5 million in annual revenue sharing, which is the most notable piece of the $2.8 billion agreement. But among coaches and administrators, there is particular interest in the settlement’s newly created enforcement arm intended to stamp out the pay-for-play deals that have dominated the name, image and likeness era of college sports.
But in candid conversations, coaches and recruiting staffers have serious doubts that athletes will declare those deals, or do so accurately. Some have suggested that players are being encouraged not to declare deals at all, but to simply take the money and keep quiet rather than risk the clearinghouse flagging it. And if that’s the case, where do we suspect that money might be coming from?
“I guess it would just be the same as the way things used to work,” lamented the athletic director, frustrated by those already angling to undermine the settlement. “We’d be right back where we started.”
Before NIL, “bag men” were the not-so-invisible hands of big-time college sports, boosters who secretly funneled cash to top players and recruits. It was cheating in the same way that driving over the speed limit is a crime: If it wasn’t flagrant or egregious, you probably weren’t getting caught.
“Though of course not every player at every level is paid for, this is the arrangement in high-stakes college football,” is how writer Steven Godfrey described it in his 2014 deep dive into the clandestine world of bag men. “Providing cash and benefits to players is not a scandal or a scheme, merely a function. And when you start listening to the stories, you understand the function can never be stopped.”
Notable: “If some donor wants to wire a player $25,000 a month, who’s keeping track of that?” one power conference administrator said.
7. Jay Bilas Predicts NIL Settlement will END Transfers
8. Deloitte "NIL GO" Process..
9. Following the Rules, Bag Men, Perks, Penthouses and...
10. All 76 Pages of the House Settlement from Judge Wilken (If you're into that sort of thing)
NOTE: Mit Winter from X (Attorney at Kennyhertz Perry LLC | College Athletics Attorney | NIL | Sports Law | Business Litigation) will be on Football with Friends on Thursday, if anyone has any questions, please drop them below
