NIL

How name, image and likeness is shaking up college football

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (WVLT) – There’s no “I” in “team,” but there’s three in “millionaire” and one big one in NIL, or Name, Image and Likeness. It’s a system that’s causing headaches for coaches and putting money in student athlete pockets. Since coming on the scene, NIL deals have created confusion and turned college sports into, […]

Published

1 month ago

May 3, 2025

Your Sports Nation

Since coming on the scene, NIL deals have created confusion and turned college sports into, for all intents and purposes, a professional sports league. This early into its implementation, the NIL world is also the wild west.

“It’s just so vastly different,” WVLT contributor and staple of the Volquest staff Brent Hubbs said. “We’re all trying to get our hands on the landscape, and it’s a landscape that keeps changing seemingly every year, and at this point, nothing seems really unimaginable, if you will.”

NIL was originally implemented to supplement student athlete scholarships, but as more money has come into the world of college football, student paychecks are getting bigger and bigger. In some ways, it’s created a sense of entitlement for some players.

Previous Coverage: ‘No one is bigger than the Power T’ | Tennessee parts ways with Nico Iamaleava

Most recently, the University of Tennessee went through that with the departure of Nico Iamaleava. The player recently parted ways with Tennessee after reports that he was unhappy with his pay.

ESPN’s Chris Low, who broke the news about Iamaleava, said part of the issue is the lack of regulation when it comes to what a player is worth.

“You tell me what fair market value is,” he said. “You get 40 people together. They’re going to give you different definitions of what fair market value is.”

Head Coach Josh Heupel went on the record after a Nico Iamaleava-less Orange and White game to confirm the university was moving on from the quarterback. He also spoke about the obstacles of recruiting in 2025.

“You’re looking at the physical traits and playing style of the player. You’re looking at the developmental plan, right?” he said. “You try to find the right guy at the right time and right price.”

Those last two words — right price — make all the difference.

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NiJaree Canady Makes History With Record-Breaking $1M NIL Deal At Texas Tech

NiJaree Canady By Stacy M. Brown, Black Press USA Senior National Correspondent NiJaree Canady, a 22-year-old African American softball phenom, has become the first college softball player to sign a Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) deal worth more than $1 million, a historic moment in collegiate sports. The former Stanford ace transferred to Texas Tech, […]

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4 minutes ago

June 5, 2025

Your Sports Nation

By Stacy M. Brown, Black Press USA Senior National Correspondent

NiJaree Canady, a 22-year-old African American softball phenom, has become the first college softball player to sign a Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) deal worth more than $1 million, a historic moment in collegiate sports. The former Stanford ace transferred to Texas Tech, where she secured a groundbreaking $1,050,024 one-year contract through the Matador Club, an NIL collective affiliated with the university. The deal includes a $1 million direct payment, $50,000 for living expenses, and an additional $24 in honor of her jersey number. According to BlackNews.com, Canady, who was named the 2024 USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year, entered the transfer portal shortly before Texas Tech hired Coach Gerry Glasco. He acted quickly to bring her to Lubbock—with backing from NFL quarterback and Red Raider alum Patrick Mahomes—and offered her not just a starting role but an expanded opportunity to develop her offensive skills. “The coaching staff and their vision were a major reason I made this decision,” Canady told ESPN. She described her transition from Stanford’s Palo Alto campus to West Texas as smooth, noting that the environment reminds her more of her hometown of Topeka, Kansas.

USA Today noted that Canady’s impact on the field was immediate and unmatched. Despite suffering a minor injury, she helped lead Texas Tech to its first Big 12 regular-season and conference titles, finishing the season with a 26-5 record and a nation-leading ERA of 0.86. She also threw a two-hit shutout with 10 strikeouts to deliver the program’s first-ever win at the Women’s College World Series. Coach Glasco called Canady the best pitcher he’s ever coached and said he believes she can lead Texas Tech to a national championship. Her resume is as stacked as her fastball is deadly. In addition to her 2024 USA Softball Player of the Year honor, Canady received the Honda Sport Award, was a two-time Women’s College World Series All-Tournament Team selection and dominated at Stanford with a 41-10 record and a 0.67 ERA over two seasons. She also represented Team USA in the 2024 Japan All-Star Series.

Before college, Canady was a standout at Topeka High School, where she was a two-time Kansas Gatorade Player of the Year and led her team to back-to-back state championships. She graduated in 2022 and was ranked as the No. 11 softball recruit in the nation by Extra Innings Softball. Off the field, she’s equally grounded—an academic All-American who enjoys reading and spending time with her dog. She is the daughter of Bruce and Katherine Canady, and her brother Bruce Jr. plays football at Cal. Canady’s NIL deal not only sets a new benchmark for college softball but also signals a shift in opportunities for Black female athletes in a space that other demographics have long dominated. “She’s changing the game—literally and financially,” Coach Glasco said.

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Men's Tennis Adds Abilene Christian Transfer Martin Delnido to 2025

Story Links CHATTANOOGA (June 5, 2025) – Fresh off claiming the 2025 NIT title, the Chattanooga Mocs men’s tennis program and head coach Chuck Merzbacher secured its first transfer commitment of the 2025-26 cycle, landing Argentinean Martin Delnido from Abilene Christian via the portal route. A sophomore during the most recent 2025 season, Delnido made a […]

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51 minutes ago

June 5, 2025

Your Sports Nation

Men's Tennis Adds Abilene Christian Transfer Martin Delnido to 2025

CHATTANOOGA (June 5, 2025) – Fresh off claiming the 2025 NIT title, the Chattanooga Mocs men’s tennis program and head coach Chuck Merzbacher secured its first transfer commitment of the 2025-26 cycle, landing Argentinean Martin Delnido from Abilene Christian via the portal route.

A sophomore during the most recent 2025 season, Delnido made a team-high 21 dual appearances in singles action and finished the campaign with an 11-10 overall record. The Western Athletic Conference (WAC) Freshman of the Year in 2024, Delnido finished 10-3 overall in singles play and finished his rookie season by winning eight-straight matches with six coming in straight sets.

“We are excited to announce Martin Delnido will join the program this fall. He has gained valuable collegiate playing experience winning a conference championship (WAC), and competing in the NCAA Team Championships,” said head coach Merzbacher, who will enter his ninth season at UTC in 2025-26.

Delnido helped ACU finished 13-11 overall in 2025 while the team claimed the WAC Tournament title to earn an automatic berth into the NCAA Tournament this past May. During his international scholastic career, Delnido peaked as high as No. 174 in the ITF Junior Rankings in January 2023.

Merzbacher added, “Martin is dedicated to working on his game, competing, and getting better. His impressive summer playing schedule will ‘no doubt’ help him bolster our line-up when he arrives. I look forward to working with him.”

The men’s tennis program will continue its offseason schedule over the summer weeks and months in preparation for the 2025-26 season kicking off this fall. Stick to GoMocs.com for additional transfer commitment announcements, schedule updates and more.

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NIL

USC Selects Learfield in New 15

Los Angeles, CA (June 5, 2025) – The University of Southern California (USC) Athletics and Learfield are excited to unveil a groundbreaking 15-year partnership to transform USC’s revenue generation, multimedia rights, Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL), and fan engagement solutions. Set to begin in July 2026, this partnership will complement other Learfield enterprise services already […]

Published

55 minutes ago

June 5, 2025

Your Sports Nation

Los Angeles, CA (June 5, 2025) – The University of Southern California (USC) Athletics and Learfield are excited to unveil a groundbreaking 15-year partnership to transform USC’s revenue generation, multimedia rights, Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL), and fan engagement solutions. Set to begin in July 2026, this partnership will complement other Learfield enterprise services already on campus, including Paciolan’s ticketing and SIDEARM Sports fan engagement platform, and will empower USC to enhance its operations and significantly increase revenue, adapting to the rapidly evolving landscape of college athletics.

“We are thrilled to announce this transformational partnership with Learfield and to leverage their innovation and expertise in our work to win the new era of college athletics,” said Jen Cohen, USC’s Charles Griffin Cale Director of Athletics. “Learfield’s combination of cutting-edge solutions, forward-thinking revenue-generation strategies, and collaborative leadership and focus will be invaluable in our work to better engage new and existing fans, promote and expand the iconic USC brand, and to generate the resources needed to maximize our investment in student-athletes. From increased storytelling and NIL opportunities for student-athletes, to providing world-class experiences for our fans in every engagement, this partnership will elevate our entire institution and help ensure USC remains the place to be for student-athletes to reach their fullest potential in all they do for years to come.”

Learfield will deliver growth for USC Athletics and the iconic Coliseum, home of Trojan football, through integrated revenue generation services built on a foundation of data and cutting-edge technology. USC will leverage Learfield’s Fanbase platform, the largest fan database in college athletics, to gather and enhance data and generate valuable insights to propel revenue initiatives. Since USC currently works with Learfield’s Paciolan ticketing and SIDEARM Sports fan engagement divisions, USC will immediately gain insights into over 3.2 million fan profiles to drive revenue programs. Adding USC fan data to Fanbase provides over 28 million fan records across the Big Ten conference, offering rich fan insights. Based on data analytics, Learfield will deliver USC-integrated digital solutions for greater engagement in driving ticket sales and fundraising revenue. Additionally, powerful data intelligence will provide more opportunities for innovative sponsorships that align with the USC fan base, including new sponsor categories, activation of new trends, and cultivation of strategic partnerships.

USC Athletics will also harness Learfield’s industry-leading NIL suite of services, centered around three foundational pillars: NIL leadership resources, strategic content creation, and the Compass platform for brand and athlete connectivity. USC Trojan Sports Properties, Learfield’s locally based team, will introduce key NIL leadership resources focused on building more brand relationships and executing student-athlete campaigns. The partnership will unlock new NIL opportunities and improve the Trojan student-athlete experience by offering cutting-edge NIL programs to optimize dealmaking for athletes.

Learfield Studios is the largest college athlete content platform, managing content production and distribution across all 150 Learfield sports properties to deliver original storytelling that drives fan engagement year-round. In partnership with USC, home of the top-ranked cinema school in the country, Learfield’s Emmy award-winning studios team will create premium content featuring student-athletes, coaches, and teams—amplified through digital and social platforms. Last fiscal year, Learfield Studios generated over 1.2 billion impressions and delivered $50 million in branded content revenue.

USC Sports Properties will link athletes with sponsors using Learfield’s award-winning Compass NIL platform, which integrates into Learfield’s partner database of over 12,000 brands. This solution provides USC Athletics with unparalleled NIL opportunities for the organization and its athletes to help facilitate more NIL deals.

“We’re ecstatic to collaborate with Jen and her team to revolutionize their business with innovative revenue generation solutions,” said Kim Damron, President of Sports Properties at Learfield. “As the industry leader in revenue monetization services, we are passionate about leveraging our vast resources and expertise to deliver pioneering sponsorships, dynamic NIL programs, and next-level fan engagement that drive greater opportunities for one of the most prestigious programs in college athletics.”

Learfield’s local and corporate sales expertise builds meaningful sponsorships that unlock significant revenue opportunities for Trojan Athletics. Part of the robust suite of services Learfield will now provide is USC’s inclusion in the company’s corporate sales go-to-market, leveraging a database of thousands of brand partners and prospects that the company is working with today.

“The combination of Learfield’s NIL, revenue generation, and fan engagement services are unmatched in the industry, and we are excited to deliver the power of our best-in-class services on behalf of USC to blaze a trail forward and help elevate their business,” added Damron.

About USC Athletics
Established in 1880, USC Athletics has a proud athletic heritage that includes outstanding teams and prominent individuals along with an exceptional academic pedigree and a deep connection to the Southern California community. USC Athletics sponsors 23 NCAA Division I sports that currently compete in either the Big Ten Conference or the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation. From national championships to Olympic medals, USC stands tall as one of the most successful athletics programs on the globe, as Trojan teams have won more national championships (137) than all but two schools, including a combined 114 NCAA team titles (86 men’s, 28 women’s). USC also has a long tradition of nurturing successful Olympic athletes, boasting more Olympians and gold medals than any school in the country. Led by Director of Athletics Jennifer Cohen, USC remains the PLACE TO BE for student-athletes to reach their full potential in all they do. Fight On!

About Learfield
Learfield is the leading media and technology company powering college athletics. Through its digital and physical platforms, Learfield owns and leverages a deep data set and relationships in the industry to drive revenue, growth, brand awareness, and fan engagement for brands, sports, and entertainment properties. With ties to over 1,200 collegiate institutions and over 12,000 local and national brand partners, Learfield’s presence in college sports and live events delivers influence and maximizes reach to target audiences. With solutions for a 365-day, 24/7 fan experience, Learfield enables schools and brands to connect with fans through licensed merchandise, game ticketing, donor identification for athletic programs, exclusive custom content, innovative marketing initiatives, NIL solutions, and advanced digital platforms. Since 2008, it has served as title sponsor for the acclaimed Learfield Directors’ Cup, supporting athletic departments across all divisions.

NIL

High school football player files NIL lawsuit in California: Report

CLEVELAND, Ohio — A former high school football player has filed a class-action lawsuit in California. It has the potential to set a precedent for Name, Image and Likness rules across the United States, if successful, according to a report from Reuters. Dominik Calhoun, a 2025 graduate of Pittsburg High School in California and member […]

Published

1 hour ago

June 5, 2025

Your Sports Nation

Dominik Calhoun, a 2025 graduate of Pittsburg High School in California and member of Boise State’s incoming recruiting class at safety, is the plaintiff in the suit against the California Interscholastic Federation.

It follows year of litigation against the NCAA, starting with cases such as former UCLA basketball player Ed O’Bannon’s suit, that opened the door for college athletes to earn money through NIL.

“Like the cases that have led to important reforms in college sports,” said attorney Yaman Salahi, who filed the suit Friday in San Francisco, for the Reuters report, “we’re asking a simple question: if corporations are cashing in on high school athletes’ hard work, then why can’t the athletes themselves? We’re pushing to make the system fairer and to bring long-overdue rights to young athletes.”

The CIF, which had yet to respond as of Thursday morning to Reuters, also is not the only target in the athlete’s suit. Spectrum SportsNet LLC, which has regional networks throughout the country including California and Ohio, is among the defendants. Spectrum is the official television partner of the Ohio High School Athletic Association.

SBLive Sports Inc., which is now under the umbrella of Sports Illustrated, also is named in the suit.

California has NIL provisions in its bylaws. Thirty high schools have NIL permissions. California allows student-athletes to receive payments from third parties in “narrow circumstances,” the lawsuit stated according to Reuters. Endorsements cannot be made, however, on school property or with school uniforms.

In 2022, Bronny James and Juju Watkins signed NIL deals with Nike while in high school. Both attended Sierra Canyon, which is in the CIF.

Payments from broadcasting agreements, ticket sales and sponsorships are not allowed by the CIF. Calhoun is challenging that and the CIF’s player-eligibility rules that restrict transferring between schools for athletic reasons.

The suit has been filed in the same Northern California District that has heard several NIL cases against the NCAA, according to Front Office Sports, which also obtained a copy of the complaint.

“These policies harm the high school student-athletes who create the economic value exploited by the CIF, its Sections, its member schools, and their commercial partners, and constitute unreasonable restraints of trade in violation of Section 1 of the Sherman Act,” the complaint read, according to Front Office Sports.

Ohio is not among the 30 states that allow NIL in some form. OHSAA member schools voted down an NIL proposal in 2022 by a count of 538 to 254. Since then, Florida has adopted NIL. So have some states that border Ohio, including Pennsylvania and Kentucky.

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NBA Scores 8% More Sponsorship Revenue, To $1.6B This Season

Against the backdrop of the NBA Finals set to start tonight, league-wide sponsorship deals for the league continued to show strong gains — estimated to be up 8% to $1.62 billion this current season, according to SponsorUnited. Although the actual number of brand deals has leveled off, the spending per … 0

Published

1 hour ago

June 5, 2025

Your Sports Nation

NBA Scores 8% More Sponsorship Revenue, To $1.6B This Season

Although the actual number of brand deals has leveled off, the spending per …

NIL

Cayden Brumbaugh, Cael Frost Headline Nebraska Baseball Players in Transfer Portal

Transfer portal season is here for Nebraska baseball. Less than a week after the season ended with a 1-2 run in the Chapel Hill Regional, several Huskers have entered the portal. The most notable name so far is second baseman Cayden Brumbaugh. The news was first reported by On3. Cayden Brumbaugh makes contact on pitch […]

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1 hour ago

June 5, 2025

Your Sports Nation

Cayden Brumbaugh, Cael Frost Headline Nebraska Baseball Players in Transfer Portal

Transfer portal season is here for Nebraska baseball.

Less than a week after the season ended with a 1-2 run in the Chapel Hill Regional, several Huskers have entered the portal. The most notable name so far is second baseman Cayden Brumbaugh.

The news was first reported by On3.

Cayden Brumbaugh makes contact on pitch for a double. / Amarillo Mullen

Brumbaugh played in 101 games across two seasons for the Big Red, hitting over .300 both years. This season, he had career-highs with 76 hits, 18 doubles, five home runs, and 33 RBI. The redshirt junior has one season of eligibility remaining.

Another notable departure is outfielder Cael Frost. The 2024 Summit League Player of the Year at South Dakota State saw action in 42 games this spring. His batting average dropped from .343 at SDSU to just .222 at NU. Despite hitting at a lower percentage, Frost finished with seven home runs, trailing just Dylan Carey and Tyler Stone with eight for the team lead.

Frost is eligible for one more season due to an NCAA waiver for collegiate athletes that played in junior college but would be exhausting their eligibility this year.

Nebraska outfielder Cael Frost rounds third after one of his two home runs against Sam Houston at the Frisco Classic on Feb. 28, 2025. / Nebraska Athletics

Other transfer portal entrants include pitchers Aiden Lieser and J’Shawn Unger, catchers Colin Cymbalista and Kanon Sundgren, and outfielder Hayden Lewis. Cymbalista and Lewis both received partial playing time this season, seeing 15 and eight appearances, respectively. Unger pitched just 0.2 innings, while neither Lieser nor Sundgren made an appearance.

The baseball transfer portal window opened on June 3 and will close on July 2.

Nebraska hoists the championship trophy for the second year in a row. / Amarillo Mullen

Nebraska baseball captured a second straight Big Ten Tournament title after making a run in Omaha over Michigan State, Oregon, Penn State, and UCLA. Those good times were short-lived, with the Huskers getting shellacked in the Chapel Hill Regional to finish the season at 33-29.

Stay up to date on all things Huskers by bookmarking Nebraska Cornhuskers On SI, subscribing to HuskerMax on YouTube, and visiting HuskerMax.com daily.