NIL

Navigating the NIL Era at the U

This article originally appeared in the Money print issue, in stands March 2025. It has not been updated and some information may be out of date. The landscape of collegiate athletics changed drastically in 2021 when the NCAA adopted a policy covering the name, image and likeness (NIL) of all student-athletes in America, allowing them […]

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May 10, 2025

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This article originally appeared in the Money print issue, in stands March 2025. It has not been updated and some information may be out of date.

The landscape of collegiate athletics changed drastically in 2021 when the NCAA adopted a policy covering the name, image and likeness (NIL) of all student-athletes in America, allowing them to receive payments for their individual brands.

The goal of the interim policy was to allow NCAA students to be compensated for NIL activities as the NCAA worked with Congress on a national NIL law.

This advancement made an immediate impact on every participating athletic campus in the country. Major athletic schools, such as the University of Utah, faced numerous challenges upon the announcement. Logistics involving resource allotment, donations, brand opportunities and bonuses were sprung on the university to figure out instantly.

Resource allocation

As a university funding 18 different sports at the Division I level, Utah had a lot of work to do in accounting for the various revenues and expenses that would come as a result of the NCAA’s new policy.

Luckily for the Utes and their athletics department, valuable monetary data had wisely been calculated to help make these tasks much more feasible. According to a report from the Office of the State Auditor, plenty of work went into the decisions of where to allocate funds within the program.

“Sales and services revenues have been allocated to the activity generating the income,” the report said. “All revenues — student activity fees, contributions, conference distributions, national broadcast revenue, e-commerce, investment income, direct institutional support, etc. — have been allocated based on the department’s management decisions and categorized as instructed by the NCAA’s revenue and expense policies and procedures.”

It continued, discussing contribution policies.

“Donations are used to subsidize student-athlete scholarships, facility upgrades and academic support. Donations received are posted to the Crimson Club, Athletic Restricted and Scholarship Circle Development accounts. Donation money is transferred from the development account into the department’s operating accounts to cover the aforementioned expenses. The athletics department adjusted the methodology of collecting and accounting for revenue associated with football and basketball season tickets. The allocation of the cost for season tickets was adjusted such that a larger portion was allocated to contributions rather than ticket sales.”

From this information, University President Taylor Randall, along with the Board of Trustees and Audit Committee, were able to agree on the allocation of funds received for athletics via the Crimson Club.

“Donations deposited to the Crimson Club general fund account were allocated 85% to football and 15% to men’s basketball,” the auditor’s report read. “All sport specific donations are allocated accordingly. In-kind contributions include dealer-provided automobiles, equipment, goods and services.”

In terms of revenue production from what Utah considers to be the four major university sports, football generates the most monetary value for the school. The revenue numbers from 2022 are as follows: football, $75,749,261; men’s basketball, $11,928,174; women’s basketball, $504,030; gymnastics, $1,038,622.

Compensating student-athletes

The university has partnered with the Crimson Collective to reward the athletes of these sports in a variety of ways. The goal of the collective is to help student-athletes build their brands and engage with the community.

This has been accomplished through gifting athletes luxury vehicles, allowing players to have their own brands in the campus store, providing resources to help athletes maximize their potential earnings and marketing, and offering opportunities for corporate partnerships, memberships and charitable contributions.

Plans are in place to continue growing the U’s NIL fund. Starting in the 2025-26 football season, the U’s athletics department will take over the Crimson Collective’s NIL fundraising and distribution functions. This will change the Crimson Collective’s role due to a proposed settlement in the House v. NCAA antitrust case. The settlement allows universities to directly pay athletes for NIL use and share revenue.

Every aspect of college sports is competitive. The revenue that a successful athletics department brings to a university creates a higher demand for wins and attention. With levels of competition continuing to rise across all sports, Utah’s work is far from over when it comes to strategizing efficient NIL actions.

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NIL

Vanderbilt ready to keep investing in football after historic season and House settlement

Associated Press NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Vanderbilt has plenty of options for divvying up revenue sharing under the House settlement with a two-time national baseball champ and both men’s and women’s basketball coming off NCAA Tournament berths. Combined with a record of more losing seasons than bowl berths seemingly would make for an easy decision […]

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31 minutes ago

June 18, 2025

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Associated Press

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Vanderbilt has plenty of options for divvying up revenue sharing under the House settlement with a two-time national baseball champ and both men’s and women’s basketball coming off NCAA Tournament berths.

Combined with a record of more losing seasons than bowl berths seemingly would make for an easy decision to invest anywhere but football.

Not the Commodores.

“This is the SEC,” Vanderbilt athletic director Candice Storey Lee said Tuesday. “You have to invest and invest at a high level.”

The decision is tougher with the SEC’s lone private university coming off one of its best all-around athletic seasons in years.

Lee wouldn’t specify if Vanderbilt will follow the 75-15-5-5 formula that has emerged as a popular revenue-sharing plan with the House settlement that would send 75% of revenue-share money to football, followed by men’s basketball, then women’s basketball.

Investing more in football isn’t just the cost of doing business in the Southeastern Conference. Lee and Chancellor Daniel Diermeier lured Clark Lea away from Notre Dame because they wanted to turn Vanderbilt into a consistent winner, which the Commodores haven’t been in decades.

In 2021, Vanderbilt announced its biggest football stadium renovation in 40 years with a complete redesign and rebuild of each end zone. The south end zone will be ready for the season opener Aug. 30.

All the spending is easier to justify after 2024. With quarterback Diego Pavia, the Commodores went 7-6 and won their first bowl since 2013. The season’s highlight was the program’s first win over an AP No. 1-ranked team with the Commodores never trailing against Alabama last October.

Lea said last season’s success is starting to break through the “cynicism” around Vanderbilt football.

“We all see the opportunity that we have right now,” Lea said. “And I think for those of us that have been in this really … certainly for me this being year five, I’m so excited to feel like I have something at stake, to feel like chips are on the table.”

Football wasn’t the only beneficiary of that initial $300 million investment. The north end zone now features the Huber Center, which opened last fall giving men’s basketball and women’s basketball each a floor complete with separate practice courts, locker rooms, film rooms and hangout areas for players.

The timing was perfect on a campus where women’s soccer reached its first Sweet 16 and women’s tennis hosted an NCAA regional:

— Vanderbilt men’s basketball went 20-13 in coach Mark Byington’s debut season earning the Commodores’ first NCAA Tournament berth since 2017.

— The women beat in-state rival Tennessee twice in a season for the first time, went 22-11 and earned a second straight NCAA Tournament berth. With Mikayla Blakes setting records as a freshman and Khamil Pierre back, coach Shea Ralph is targeting titles and the program’s first Final Four since 1993.

Ralph said she’s glad to be working at Vanderbilt for an athletic director who played women’s basketball at the school. Lee graduated in 2000 after four seasons playing for coach Jim Foster. Ralph’s concern now is how female athletes’ fair-market value is assessed.

“Are we being compared to other women? Which is going to set us back,” Ralph said.

The practice court once shared now will be used by volleyball, Vanderbilt’s 17th sport debuting this fall.

The south end zone will have a space that can be used by coach Tim Corbin and his baseball program, which just earned the No. 1 national seed for the NCAA Tournament after winning the SEC Tournament. A training table in that end zone also will be open to all athletes.

“It’s clear that we’re trying to, yes, invest where you get the largest return on investment, but also invest where all of our student athletes can be positively impacted,” Lee said.

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This story has been corrected to show Vanderbilt’s record in football was 7-6 in 2024, not 7-5.

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Payton Brennan declares UCLA is ‘back on the map’ in college baseball

After an excellent season, the UCLA Bruins were able to make a run to Omaha and the College World Series. However, after dropping a pair of games on Tuesday, that run has now come to an end. After the game, outfielder Payton Brennan reflected on the season and what UCLA had accomplished. In particular, he […]

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32 minutes ago

June 18, 2025

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After an excellent season, the UCLA Bruins were able to make a run to Omaha and the College World Series. However, after dropping a pair of games on Tuesday, that run has now come to an end.

After the game, outfielder Payton Brennan reflected on the season and what UCLA had accomplished. In particular, he declared that the 2025 team managed to put the Bruins back on the map.

“All Pac-12 schools, I feel like everyone doubts the West Coast,” Payton Brennan said. “And I think it was a good showing from us. It’s kind of nice to put UCLA back on the map.”

2025 was the first season for UCLA in the Big Ten after their exit from the Pac-12. It ended up being a magical one for the program. They’d go 48-18 overall and 22-8 in Big Ten play, which was good enough to win the Big Ten in the regular season. Without losing a game in the Regional or Super Regional, they’d make their run to Omaha.

For head coach John Savage, it was his 21st season leading the UCLA program. He previously won a national championship in 2013. However, the Bruins hadn’t been back to the College World Series since then.

“I think everyone hyped us up last year,” Brennan said. “It didn’t turn out. Kind of got overlooked this year, and then we came out swinging. So, nothing we could really do more. We worked hard and just happy to be here.”

Payton Brennan had a standout season individually for UCLA. He hit .303 with a .381 OBP and a .487 slugging percentage. He also had six home runs with 10 doubles and four triples to go with 41 RBIs. He even stole 11 bases. Still, that was nothing compared to the season of his teammate, Roch Cholowsky. The Big Ten Player of the Year feels the season did more than put UCLA on the map, it proved the quality of West Coast baseball.

“The West can hang with anybody,” Cholowsky said. “I mean, we’re one of the last eight teams standing along with Arizona and Oregon State. Something that I thought was pretty cool today as we were taking BP and Coach (Mitch) Canham told us to represent the West well. I thought that was pretty special because coming from the same conference last year and really being together. The West can play with anybody. We showed that this year, Oregon State showed that, so did UA.”

Several key UCLA players, including Brennan and Cholowsky, are set to return for next season. So, now the Bruins are going to need to prove that they can live up to their potential when facing high expectations.

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San Diego State Aztecs football’s first general manager, Caleb Davis

San Diego State hired its first-ever football general manager in March, a position becoming more common with NIL and revenue sharing continue to expand. SAN DIEGO — As the landscape of college football is ever-changing, San Diego State is trying to navigate, keep up and trailblaze. As a result, the school has hired Caleb Davis […]

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54 minutes ago

June 18, 2025

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San Diego State hired its first-ever football general manager in March, a position becoming more common with NIL and revenue sharing continue to expand.

SAN DIEGO — As the landscape of college football is ever-changing, San Diego State is trying to navigate, keep up and trailblaze.

As a result, the school has hired Caleb Davis in March as its first-ever general manager, a position becoming more common as NIL and revenue sharing continue to be major topics of discussion.

His responsibilities include evaluating the roster and incoming players, recruitment, financial allocations, being the primary liaison for Name, Image and Likeness (NIL) partnerships and negotiating NIL contracts with players and their representatives.

As the landscape of college football keeps changing, SDSU Athletic Director JD Wicker said that is why it was important to make this hire now.

“We are entering this new realm of college athletics where we are revenue sharing with our student-athletes,” Wicked said. “It made sense with our team and a squad that is that big, that you have to deal with a revenue sharing standpoint, with an NIL sharing standpoint. Most student-athletes have representation, whether that’s a mom, dad or uncle that required a lot of time from our full-time coaches, so having a GM to help manage that for Coach Lewis made sense.”

Davis is one of the youngest football general managers in college football at the age of 26 years old.

“It’s a blessing,” Davis said. “It’s a blessing every day. For me it’s about how if I told middle school Caleb, ‘Hey you’re going to be a general manager in college football before GMs were even a thing in college football and it’s going to be a place like San Diego State that has the history, has the tradition and everything you would want in a program’ I would have pinching myself because I wouldn’t believe it.”

He may be young, but he is proven.

Before coming to SDSU, he was the Director of Recruiting at Notre Dame, which was the college football national championship runner-up last season. Prior to that, he was the general manager of player personnel at Troy.

Head coach Sean Lewis thinks Dais is a young, bright mind.

“As someone who was the youngest head coach in the country, age is just a number,” Lewis said. “It is more about knowledge and experience, it’s about wisdom in this landscape. No matter how old you are, this position and landscape is only a couple of years old. It is in its infancy. So I think to be flexible, to be lifelong learner for lack of a better term, to be green and growing and open to new ideas so we can be flexible and we can pivot, I think those are things Caleb exuded in his interview process.”

Davis’ hiring is a stark contrast from what several other schools are doing. As college football takes on more of a pro model with GMs, schools have hired GMs with NFL experience.

For example, Oklahoma hired Jim Nagy, Stanford hired Andrew Luck and Cal hired Ron Rivera.

“It’s exciting, it’s competition,” Davis said. “If something like that doesn’t get your blood boiling, doesn’t give you goosebumps, doesn’t make you want to run through a wall to make San Diego State a playoff program, I don’t know what does. The first day Ron Rivera was hired, everyone was like ‘Oh, you have this NFL head coach you’re going up against and now we are competing against in week 3, and I love it. I’m probably one of the quietest competitive people you will ever meet in your life. I might not be outwardly trash-talking and everything, but there is a fire that burns inside of me to make sure not a single person in this country outworks me on a day-to-day basis.”

The amount SDSU has to spend on NIL money is not known. Davis did allude to the fact that the school doesn’t have the kind of money that the Ohio States and Notre Dames of the world have.

He still feels San Diego State can be effective in getting talented players.

“I always start every conversation with ‘Do you want to be here? Do you want to be at San Diego State?’ Every single time that answer is yes,” he said. “Kids want to be here, their parents want them here, their agents want them here. The next part of it is that everyone’s market value is always higher elsewhere. If Coach Lewis put his name in the coaching transfer portal could get more money elsewhere, I could get more money elsewhere, …our operations team could go get more money elsewhere. That’s always an option. It’s the same deal with our kids.”

“If you have the understanding you want to be here and you love this opportunity and you know we are not going to match what some of these power programs can do, then how can we get to a point where okay you feel confident turning away X amount of money elsewhere and you feel comfortable with the agreement you have in place here?”

Davis takes on a lot of responsibilities previously handled by the coaching staff. Negotiating contracts and handling academic compliance for student-athletes allows the coaching staff to focus more on what happens on the field.

San Diego State believes this hire will help bring plenty of success.

Davis is confident it will, too. “All I have been around is success at every step. I don’t plan on it being any different now,” he said. ” I just need to put my head down, work, and ensure the vision and the goals of this program are being reached on a day-to-day basis.”

RELATED: Whatever It Takes | San Diego Seals navigate working different jobs and a lot of travel to find success on the field

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What’s the expectation for top college basketball revenue-share pools?

The athletics director of a college basketball powerhouse has set the expectation for the top-tier of revenue-share levels in the sport. Travis Goff, who’s headed University of Kansas athletics for more than four years and is under contract through 2031, publicly declared his projection for the upper levels of the sport that’s expected to carve […]

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June 18, 2025

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The athletics director of a college basketball powerhouse has set the expectation for the top-tier of revenue-share levels in the sport.

Travis Goff, who’s headed University of Kansas athletics for more than four years and is under contract through 2031, publicly declared his projection for the upper levels of the sport that’s expected to carve the largest slice of the revenue-share pie behind college football.

“I think the number could be in the $4.5 to 5.5 range if you’re at the top,” Goff told the Kansas City Star, noting he fully expected his Jayhawks program run by Bill Self to be a fixture in that tier. “I don’t know that, but that’s just what I think.”

With U.S. District Court Judge Claudia Wilken at last granting final approval to the House Settlement on June 6, schools who opt into the agreement can begin directly paying student-athletes on July 1 — less than two weeks.

The Power Conference schools, as well as Notre Dame, can opt into the House Settlement for a maximum revenue-sharing distribution of $20.5 million in Year 1, with escalators built into the agreement moving forward in the coming years before the arrangement is reassessed.

Goff said his expectation was that people could “lock in” a seven-figure range for most Power Conference men’s basketball programs.

“From $3.5 on the lowest (in) men’s basketball to upwards of $5 million,” Goff told The Star. “Maybe some stretching into the fives.

He added, “None of this is scientific but just what I believe.”

Goff added that seven sports at KU — football, men’s and women’s basketball chief amongst them — would reap the majority of the $20.5 million revenue share, with the intraschool tiers divided between revenue sports and ticketed sports, the Star noted.

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Pat Kelsey sends fiery message that reveals Louisville basketball’s true mission

Louisville basketball is trending in the right direction for the 2025-26 season, as the Cardinals are emerging as one of the top teams in college basketball. The Cardinals took a massive step last season, shattering multiple program records and making their first NCAA Tournament appearance in quite some time. The addition of Pat Kelsey as […]

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June 18, 2025

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The addition of Pat Kelsey as head coach was an immediate success, and he elevated this program on and off the floor. Louisville was able to land elite recruits out of high school and from the transfer portal.

Kelsey was recently on ACCPM back in May, and he discussed his 2025-26 roster, which fired up all Louisville fans. Kelsey is clearly excited for this upcoming season, and he made sure that the Cardinals fans know they are eyeing a Final Four run.

Related: Pat Kelsey just reignited fierce Louisville-Kentucky rivalry and it’s here to stay

Pat Kelsey sends fiery message that reveals Louisville basketball’s true mission

The Cardinals currently have the tenth-best odds in the nation to win the 2026 National Title. Louisville is eyeing a Final Four run next season, as Kelsey stated in the interview that the fans and the program are craving to cut down some nets.

The Cards’ roster was recently ranked the best overall roster by Sleeper Media, and Kelsey clearly agrees. The Cardinals’ head coach was asked about his roster and the success he had in recruiting, and he is fired up for next season.

“We are excited. We love our team,” Kelsey stated on his roster. “We have a great core group coming back from the group we had last year. What we added in the portal we are excited about.”

Louisville guards are among the best in the country, having brought in multiple 5-star recruits, multiple 4-star recruits, and key returners. The head coach delivered a fiery message to the Cardinals faithful, emphasizing why they should be 110 percent committed to the upcoming season and why Louisville is poised for a deep run in April.

“”If you look at those first three transfer portal guys that we signed, the first one was Adrian Wooley, who was one of the best freshmen in the entire country. 50/40/80 splits as a freshman. Just going to be a phenomenal player. Ryan Conwell and Isaac McKneely were like boom, boom, right after each other. Isaac is one of the best shooting guards in the entire country, and Ryan Conwell is First-Team All-Big East and an absolute weapon. Our frontcourt, we have signed Mikel Brown. The makeup of our frontcourt is as good as any in our country. You add a veteran like Kobe Rodgers, who we brought in from Charleston, who sat out last year. Aly Khalifa, who is one of the best passing bigs in the world, Kasean Pryor, coming off that knee injury, J’vonne Hadley, who is just a winners winner, the ultimate Pat Kelsey type guy, Khani Rooths, who we think has a huge upside.””

Pat Kelsey

This Cardinals roster is stacked, and someone Kelsey forgot to mention is 4-star commit Sananda Fru. The 6-foot-11 center has elite athleticism and has the potential to start next season.

The Cardinals head coach’s fiery message makes it clear that Louisville eyes a Final Four run. He stated in the interview the city is buzzing, and fans are screaming for a Final Four run, and he has a simple response to all Louisville basketball fans.

“Let’s go do it.” Kelsey stated.

Related: Bold Louisville basketball prediction teases golden future under Pat Kelsey

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

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How elite recruits, schools are approaching new revenue-sharing/NIL era

A new era of college athletics is upon us and starting soon. After the NCAA’s House settlement, which was passed on June 6, schools can now legally pay players. Power Four schools — including Auburn — are expected to have a $20.5 million cap to begin with, splitting up the money how it sees fit […]

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2 hours ago

June 18, 2025

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A new era of college athletics is upon us and starting soon.

After the NCAA’s House settlement, which was passed on June 6, schools can now legally pay players. Power Four schools — including Auburn — are expected to have a $20.5 million cap to begin with, splitting up the money how it sees fit between various sports. It changes the game and creates more 0f an NFL-like structure for football programs, with a salary cap and having to determine what’s fair-market value for players at different positions.

Five-star wide receiver Cederian Morgan is one of the most coveted players in the country in the 2026 class, now navigating a new era of college athletics as the rules change in real time and will go into effect on July 1. He took his summer official visits and has one more trip remaining to Alabama next weekend. During his visit to Auburn last weekend he was able to talk revenue sharing, but things are still far from finalized and being able to throw out official numbers.

“I mean, they really can’t tell me for real. Because the new cap, the (revenue) sharing. They can’t give me a specific number because they’re still figuring out stuff and they don’t know,” Morgan said. “December, they’re going to be able to tell me a lot because they’re going to know a lot. But it was just like right now they know a little something about how the money is going to be spent. But they can’t just say how much.

“Most of (the other schools) told me the same thing. Because I know my first visit was Colorado. And I think when I was up there, they had just approved the cap. So June 1st, I think, that’s when it was. And then the next week, that was only the second week. So, like, just right now everybody is kind of on hold because they don’t really know a lot yet. But that’s what they’ve been telling me.”

NIL is still involved and a factor for recruits and players — but it’s changing. It’s turned into the wild west in recent years, with mega deals for players out of high school and players in the transfer portal.

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