In this upcoming series of articles, we will explore questions in the minds of athletes and their parents/guardians as we are likely entering the post- House age of recruiting and NIL. The bottom line: any athlete that is about to commit via contract(s) to a Division 1 institution/program, particularly one in the Power 4 conferences (Big 10, Big 12, SEC, and ACC), should know the answers and retain competent and trustworthy counsel.
Question 1: Will upcoming college recruitment be different than in the past?
Answer 1: Yes, but this is an extremely loaded question so we will break it down.
Question 2: Is there still a national letter of intent (“NLI”) signing day?
Answer 2: Yes and No; there are still applicable signing dates, but the NCAA eliminated the NLI program in October 2024. The “early” signing date for non-football was November 13th; early football will be December 4th and regular February 5, 2025.
Question 3: What about athletic scholarships and other “financial” considerations?
Answer 3: The NLI will be replaced by new financial aid/NIL/revenue share agreements (i.e., a contract) that will include many of the same core factors as the NLI (such as tuition, room/board, books-technology), plus the new. They will likely be lengthy and complex documents. The contracts could be annual or multi-year and could include such items as: player buy-outs related to playing time, performance, and transferring.
Question 4: Will Collectives disappear?
Answer 4: We will hedge here and say no and yes. First, understand that Collectives are basically a booster club mechanism to funnel even more money to athletes beyond any caps the House settlement (if approved) may place on the college (particularly for revenue sharing). So, our answer is “NO” to support teams in the Power 4 conferences that want to remain uber competitive for attracting prize recruits. The answer may be different and “YES” for Group of 5 (“G5” – American, CUSA, MAC, Sun Belt, and Mountain West) conference teams and FCS schools.
ABOUT THE AUTHORS:
NILegally Speaking™ is written by PowerNIL/Ken Feinberg, attorney, in collaboration with other expert attorneys focused on employment, labor, contract, and intellectual property law.
ken@powernil.com www.powernil.com
