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NIL

Cooper Flagg talks NIL, Finances and New Partnership

The number is $28 million. According to a report that surfaced earlier this month, that is the amount of money that Cooper Flagg earned in NIL deals during his one year at Duke.  Fast-forward to Wednesday night, when Flagg was selected with the No. 1 overall pick in the NBA Draft by the Dallas Mavericks. […]

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The number is $28 million.

According to a report that surfaced earlier this month, that is the amount of money that Cooper Flagg earned in NIL deals during his one year at Duke. 

Fast-forward to Wednesday night, when Flagg was selected with the No. 1 overall pick in the NBA Draft by the Dallas Mavericks. The 2025 Naismith Award winner, which is given to the top player in college basketball, is projected to make upwards of $62 million on his rookie deal over the next four years. If Flagg lives up to his billing as a generational talent, it’s possible his second contract could be more than $350 million, while that figure for his third contract might be north of $500 million, according to projections from Spotrac.

Those are staggering numbers, and it could result in Flagg becoming the first North American athlete to earn $1 billion in on-court earnings. So, what is Flagg’s plan to manage that type of money?

On Thursday afternoon, less than 24 hours after he was selected at the top pick in the draft, Flagg announced a new partnership with Chime, kicking off a long-term collaboration rooted in financial success. To kick off the partnership, Flagg and his mother, Kelly, will star in the latest episode of “Mama, I Made It” — an original YouTube series that highlights the real stories behind success through the lens of the moms who helped shape it.

We caught up with Flagg ahead of his announcement to discuss his new partnership, as well as his experience as a high-profile athlete in the new-look NIL world of college athletics.

Tell me about your new partnership with Chime and what led to your decision to enter this partnership?

“It’s big for me. Obviously, I’ve been making money for a little while now. It started when I got to college and I think the partnership just really makes sense. I’m trying to learn about money, and Chime is a great tool that I can use to help teach me about finances.”

This partnership with debut in the “Mama I Made It” series. After talking with you, I know that your mom plays a big role in your life. Can you talk about the role she has played in your career as a role model and beyond that?

“My mom has been a huge role model. She was one of my first influences of everything and anything, specifically basketball. She played Division I herself at the University of Maine and she put a ball in my hands early. 

As far as finances, as I started to get more and more attention, she’s been really important when it comes to handling everything and putting a good system in place. She’s been there every step of the way and that has helped me navigate everything.”

How involved are you personally with some of your financial decisions when it comes to NIL dollars (and now NBA dollars) and how much of a role do your mom, family and advisors play in that?

“I have a team that helps me out with everything as far as finances. My mom is the main person that it all goes through. As far as myself, it’s kind of up to me what I want to know and what I want to learn. I’ve learned a lot from my mom as I’ve gone through this because of how important she’s been with handling everything and putting important systems in place. It’s been a learning curve for both of us.”

Let’s go back to the “Mama, I Made It” series where this partnership will debut. We talked about your mom, but what does the phrase “I Made It” mean to you?

“For me, it’s about being in a place where I’m in a very good spot financially. I’ve been blessed with a lot of good opportunities, but it’s about being prepared for the moment and having systems in place and being ready to handle everything that’s being thrown my way.”

What’s been the most eye-opening thing for you when it comes to navigating this new-age NIL world of college athletics?

“The biggest part is just trying to balance it all. It can demand a lot of time, and you can get lost and focused on that. But having systems in place and a team that is around to help me go through everything and make everything easier for me has been huge and just lets me focus on basketball.”

One thing that really stands out in the NIL space is how many big dollar numbers and arbitrary reports are thrown out there when it comes to NIL earnings. Do you pay attention to that stuff?

“A lot of basketball players and athletes deal with it … it’s really just something that you have to learn to deal with in your own certain ways. For me, it’s about ignoring it and not really reading into it. I know what the truth is and what’s going on. It’s about focusing on the people around me that are in my circle.”

Is that something that you’ve had to really learn and work with people that you’re close to? I have to imagine that it has to be really challenging to ignore all of that.

“It does come with challenges, and you learn over time how you deal with it personally. I think just having a support system around me – people that you’re really close with – has really helped with blocking out all the outside stuff.”

What advice would you give to an incoming highly touted freshman about navigating the NIL space?

“The biggest thing is getting educated and learning about it yourself so you know what’s going on. You have to have people around you that you trust and know are all about the right things so they can help lead you in the right direction and make things easier on you. You want to be able to focus on just playing and be able to do what you love to do.”

How is this new partnership with Chime going to help you navigate your finances?

“It’s going to help me learn and educate me on the financial aspects of everything. It’s a really great tool. It’s going to help educate me and continue to grow and learn about finances as it becomes more and more important in my life.”

Let’s close it out with a really fun question. If you could pick one guy in the NBA, a current player or incoming player, who you can’t wait to go up against, who is that player and why?

“I would say Khaman [Maluach]. He’s one of my former teammates. I love him, and he’s one of my best friends. That would be really cool.”

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Federal lawmakers propose regulation for college NIL

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (WSFA) – Federal lawmakers are pushing to bring nationwide consistency to how college athletes profit from their name, image, and likeness — commonly known as NIL. Rep. Shomari Figures, who represents Alabama’s 2nd Congressional District, introduced a bill in Congress this week aimed at creating clear national standards for student-athlete compensation, naming it […]

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MONTGOMERY, Ala. (WSFA) – Federal lawmakers are pushing to bring nationwide consistency to how college athletes profit from their name, image, and likeness — commonly known as NIL.

Rep. Shomari Figures, who represents Alabama’s 2nd Congressional District, introduced a bill in Congress this week aimed at creating clear national standards for student-athlete compensation, naming it the Student Compensation and Opportunity through Rights and Endorsements (SCORE) Act.

“The environment and the landscape of college athletics have changed drastically over the past several years, especially since the Supreme Court decision that came out,” Figures said. “There was a huge need here to stabilize what was going on.”

The SCORE Act extends beyond paychecks. It includes provisions for career development, comprehensive medical care, and protections for athletes who are injured — efforts that Figures said are crucial to long-term success both on and off the field.

“Making sure that student-athletes are not just prepared to participate on the field or the court, but making sure they are there at the end of the day to receive degrees,” Figures said.

The bill also aims to level the playing field for colleges and universities nationwide, ensuring every athletic program operates under the same set of rules.

“It removes this landscape of what some have referred to as the Wild, Wild West of NIL,” Figures said. “It brings everything under … some very straightforward guidelines.”

The proposal has drawn bipartisan support. Sen. Tommy Tuberville, a former college football coach, said smaller schools have been at a disadvantage in the current NIL environment.

“There are some teams that can’t afford to do that,” Tuberville said. “We want to make it fair for everybody.”

Figures said the bill is still a work in progress, but he remains optimistic.

“We’re hopeful to see some progress here,” he said. “There will still be some changes, some things that have to be further discussed. We want this bill to be the strongest it can be to provide the best protections for our student-athletes.”

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College football analyst drops Miller Moss bombshell that hints at ACC Title run

Louisville football is beginning to become the nation’s dark horse to win the 2025 ACC Title. While Clemson and Miami are getting all the hype and praise, Jeff Brohm and his Cardinals have been flying under the radar until now. With the 2025 season quickly approaching, media outlets, college football analysts, and reporters are beginning […]

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Louisville football is beginning to become the nation’s dark horse to win the 2025 ACC Title. While Clemson and Miami are getting all the hype and praise, Jeff Brohm and his Cardinals have been flying under the radar until now.

With the 2025 season quickly approaching, media outlets, college football analysts, and reporters are beginning to bring up the Cardinals’ squad. Everyone is starting to realize just how elite of a head coach Brohm is, and even though they travel to Miami and SMU, they have a favorable schedule.

The newest college football reporter to praise the Cardinals is David Pollack, a former ESPN analyst and member of College Gameday. The analyst didn’t just praise Brohm, but also commended their transfer portal additions, key returners, and their schedule, and even went on air to say they will return to the ACC Title game on his latest podcast.

Related: Louisville football’s superstar makes the Walter Camp pre-season All America team

Louisville football’s Miller Moss get high praise from David Pollack

Brohm is emerging as one of the best coaches in the nation. He recently made the Dodds Trophy Award Watch List, and with his stacked offense and key returners on defense, Pollack has valid points to think that Louisville has what it takes to contend for their first ACC Title.

The analyst was asked who the best transfer would be in the ACC, and in his buildup to pick Miller Moss over Miami’s Carson Beck, it was the best hype speech Louisville might have ever received.

““This is easy to me. I think Beck is going to kill it, but if you’re watching college football, and if you’ve watched Louisville and if you’ve watched Jeff Brohm, he’s a freaking superstar. The way he coaches the game. The way he feels the game. The way he can use misdirection. The way he can use pro-style concepts with spread concepts. Take any quarterback, and I mean any quarterback, I think he could win with any quarterback in this league. And, I just think, with him, with their running back who’s on my fantasy team, I think is going to absolutely destroy it.””

David Pollack

He then went on to pick the Cardinals’ incoming transfer from USC over Beck, who is regarded as one of the top quarterbacks in the nation. Picking Moss over Beck is quite a hot take, but it shouldn’t be one. Moss with Brohm’s offense and style of play should give Louisville a clear path to an ACC Title, and Pollack agrees.

“Miller Moss also showed me some swag last year, man, Pollack stated. “Like, he showed me, because he got the shiznik kicked out of him. That dude got absolutely destroyed. That offensive line was very un-good for. I think Miller Moss is going to come in and absolutely tear it up at Louisville.”

The Cardinals are turning into a top quarterback university and one for the underdogs. They aren’t bringing in 5-star or top 10 quarterbacks, but are bringing in quarterbacks whose programs have given up and thrown in the towel.

Everyone is familiar with Beck and what he brings. The potential of Moss with Brown, Caullin Lacy, and Chris Bell, along with Brohm, has fans and apparently Pollack extremely excited. This offense is stacked, and it has breakout potential. They have some tough games on their schedule, but if Brohm can develop Moss like he did with Tyler Shough, then this team has the chance to return to Charlotte.

Related: ESPN unveils ‘season-defining game’ that will make or break Louisville football’s season

For all the latest on Louisville football’s offseason and recruiting, stay tuned.



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College sports agency rejecting some NIL deals with donor

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 […]

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College sports agency rejecting some NIL deals with donor

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.

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

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 […]

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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.

Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.



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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 […]

Published

on


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 with the help of auditing giant Deloitte and run 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.

Georgia's Olivia Smoliga swims to a first-place finish in the...

Georgia’s Olivia Smoliga swims to a first-place finish in the 100-yard freestyle at the NCAA women’s swimming and diving championships at Georgia Tech, March 19, 2016, in Atlanta. Credit: AP/David Goldman

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.

Sports attorney Darren Heitner, who deals in NIL, said the guidance “could disproportionately burden collectives that are already committed to spending money on players for multiple years to come.”

Texas State takes the field against Louisiana Monroe during an...

Texas State takes the field against Louisiana Monroe during an NCAA football game, Oct. 14, 2023, in San Marcos Texas. Credit: AP

“If a pattern of rejections results from collective deals submitted to Deloitte, it may invite legal scrutiny under antitrust principles,” he said.

On a separate track, some college sports leaders, including the NCAA, are seeking a limited form of antitrust protection from Congress.

The letter said a NIL deal 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.



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Paul Finebaum tells Deion Sanders to ‘stick to coaching’ after calling for college football salary cap

The House settlement hasn’t yet been in place for a full college season. Already, however, coaches around the country are looking for a solution to fix issues they see with revenue sharing. That now includes Colorado Buffaloes head coach Deion Sanders. At Big 12 media days, Sanders suggested putting a cap on rev-share, raising some […]

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The House settlement hasn’t yet been in place for a full college season. Already, however, coaches around the country are looking for a solution to fix issues they see with revenue sharing. That now includes Colorado Buffaloes head coach Deion Sanders.

At Big 12 media days, Sanders suggested putting a cap on rev-share, raising some eyebrows in the process. In the wake of those comments, Paul Finebaum and Greg McElroy appeared on Get Up. There, Finebaum boldly told Sanders to stick to coaching.

“Right now, there’s so many issues in college football that getting to a cap,” Finebaum said. “It may happen one day, but I think they need to solve some more basic problems first.”

Finebaum notably thinks that Sanders’ argument would be different if he still had some of last season’s stars on his team. So, the messaging is likely based on what would be best for Colorado right now.

“I just love Deion for a lot of reasons,” Finebaum said. “But especially how he just changes the narrative depending on who is on his team. I mean, those two guys that he had last year, Shedeur [Sanders] and Travis [Hunter], could have left and broken everybody’s bank, and would have had he not had that hold over them. So I just think Deion needs to stick to coaching football. Let the college football leaders screw up the game the way they have already.”

The House settlement allows for revenue sharing of up to $20.5 million with athletes at a given school. How that money is divided and if the school spends the entire amount is up to the school. However, in most cases, football will receive the majority of the funding.

On top of that, House also looks to set a fair market on NIL spending. NIL deals above $600 will need third-party approval and will be sent to a new clearinghouse called NIL Go. There is also a new enforcement agency in place called the College Sports Commission

“It’s just unrealistic at this point. I do think at some point there’ll be donor fatigue. I do think at some point, there will be more parameters in place,” Greg McElroy said. “And I’m cautiously optimistic that there will be competitive balance across the college football landscape. But the reality is, college football has never been fair. It’s like Major League Baseball. That’s what it is. I mean, we don’t live in the salary cap world in college football. Those with resources that can spend, win.”

McElroy looked to emphasize his comparison by explaining that the deepest pockets don’t always win. Upsets do happen. So, even if Sanders and Colorado aren’t the richest program, there are still opportunities on the field.

“The good news is, just like in baseball, the Yankees don’t win the World Series every year. The Tampa Bay Rays, who have one of the smallest payrolls, compete in the playoffs regularly,” McElroy said. “And are, at times, much better than those of their big-spending counterparts in the Red Sox and the Yankees. So I think college football, yes, it’s nice to have resources, but it can also work against you. Texas has just one national championship since 1970 and they have the deepest pockets in the land. So I think that, yes, it’s nice to have money, but at the end of the day, it doesn’t necessarily always equate to success on the field.”

Deion Sanders explained why he wanted to see a rev-share cap by pointing to last season’s national champions, the  Ohio State Buckeyes. In particular, he looked at headlines that their roster was worth upwards of $20 million.

“I wish there was a cap. Like, the top-of-the-line player makes this and if you’re not that type of guy, you know you’re not going to make that. That’s what the NFL does. The problem is, you’ve got a guy that’s not that darn good, but he could go to another school and they give him another half a million dollars. You can’t compete with that. It don’t make sense,” Sanders said.

“You talk about equality … all you have to do is look at the playoffs and see what those teams spent, and you understand darn near why they’re in the playoffs. It’s kind of hard to compete with somebody who’s giving $25, $30 million to a darn freshman class. It’s crazy.”



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