Update on Structuring Student-Athlete NIL Agreements: Recent Decisions, Regulations, and Key Developments

Description

In National Collegiate Athletic Association v. Alston (U.S. 2021), the Supreme Court in a unanimous decision struck down NCAA caps on education related benefits. Perhaps even more influential than the Court’s main holding was the concurrence by Justice Kavanaugh, criticizing the NCAA’s business model and stating that it “would be flatly illegal in almost any other industry.” While the landmark decision opened up financial opportunities for student-athletes, the decision also created potent regulatory and compliance challenges for potential sponsoring companies.

In response to the decision, the NCAA issued an interim policy addressing NIL, which went into effect on July 1, 2021. Under the interim policy, student-athletes can be compensated for endorsements without putting their NCAA eligibility at risk, but other forms of payment remain prohibited, such as payment to athletes by the schools for their performance. Since the issuing of the NCAA interim policy, there has been an influx of change at various levels of the college athletics industry, including significant state regulation of NIL.

Counsel for companies, universities, and athletes must keep in mind the various governing policies, including respective state law, NCAA procedures, and university regulations, with which the NIL relationships and agreements must comply. The last thing anyone wants to do is have an NIL agreement result in disqualification of the student-athlete from being able to perform.

With well over a year of NIL underway, listen as our authoritative panel examines these trailblazing issues and the latest developments in student-athlete NIL agreements. The panel will address the key considerations for counsel and offer best practices for negotiating and structuring these agreements while ensuring compliance with NCAA regulations, university policies, state laws, intellectual property rights, and other considerations.