NIL
What to Look for this College Football Season: NIL Transparency and Athlete IP Rights | Haynsworth Sinkler Boyd, P.A.
As college football season begins, the spotlight is not just on the games, but now it is also on the changing business landscape of college sports. As discussed in our previous blog, the House v. NCAA settlement that was finalized this summer did more than allow college athletes to get paid; it forced a fundamental shift in how athletes’ rights, particularly around NIL, are managed. As we approach this fall, increased transparency and scrutiny will shape every NIL deal, and the intellectual property (“IP”) rights of players will take center stage in ways we have not seen before.
When NIL opportunities first became legal in 2021, the market was chaotic, with some describing it as the “wild west.” Deals were often handshake agreements, loosely drafted contracts or ambiguous transactions between boosters, collectives and athletes. That era is quickly ending. The House settlement signals a new phase where regulators, schools and the public will demand more accountability. Collectives and athletic departments are now under pressure to implement compliance processes that resemble professional sports. Athletes entering NIL contracts can expect more formal agreements that spell out deliverables, payment schedules and IP rights. Athletes will also face increased disclosure requirements, both to schools and potentially governing bodies, to ensure that deals are tied to real services, such as autographs and appearances and not pay-for-play. Already, third-party professionals, including law firms, accountants and consultants, are stepping in to audit NIL activities and help programs avoid NCAA violations or state law missteps.
This shift toward transparency is not only about preventing abuse but also about protecting athletes themselves. It ensures they understand the terms of their contracts and, more importantly, it shows the growing recognition that college athletes are holders of valuable IP. For decades, the NCAA tightly controlled how players’ names, images and likenesses could be used in broadcasts, video games and merchandising. Now, licensing negotiations are likely to expand as players begin to realize their NIL is not just about social media endorsements or local sponsorships, but that it is also an asset that can be licensed to apparel companies, trading card brands or video game developers. We are already seeing the momentum in group licensing deals, particularly in football, where the return of the EA Sports’ College Football 25 game has reignited conversations about fair compensation for player likenesses.
Alongside this, IP education is becoming essential. Many athletes still enter contracts without realizing they are granting perpetual rights to their name, image and likeness. It is important that college athletes understand the importance of copyright and trademark rights and limit licenses to specific uses and timeframes. We will also see trademark filings by athletes on the rise, with more players seeking to protect their nicknames, logos and catchphrases. This season, it will be increasingly common to see athletes actively managing and protecting their personal brands.
Although athletes and their families may initially see these new compliance and disclosure requirements as unnecessary red tape, the bigger picture is positive. Scrutiny discourages bad actors, levels the playing field, and helps athletes maximize the value of their IP. Transparency also gives corporate sponsors confidence to invest in NIL, knowing deals are legitimate and enforceable. For schools, scrutiny reduces risk. Athletic departments can no longer turn a blind eye to collective activity and instead are now incentivized to create NIL infrastructures that are sustainable and legally sound.
The House settlement has not just changed the financial equation, but it has reframed the conversation around athletes as economic participants with legitimate property rights. This football season will be a preview of what is to come. As athletes become savvier about their rights and schools adapt to increased oversight, the days of NIL being the “wild west” will fade. We are witnessing the beginning of a more structured, professional and IP-conscious era of college sports.
Updated Dec. 22, 2025, 10:57 p.m. ET
Quarterback Nico Iamaleava is returning to UCLA football for a second season to play under new coach Bob Chesney, the team announced Dec. 22.
The former Tennessee quarterback had transferred to UCLA in April. The Bruins went 3-9 this past season, during which DeShaun Foster was fired after an 0-3 start.
Iamaleava completed 64.4% of his passes for 1,928 yards and 13 touchdowns, with seven interceptions in 11 games. He also rushed for 505 yards and four touchdowns. He did not play at Ohio State in November due to a concussion.
Nico Iamaleava spent two seasons with Tennessee football before exit
Iamaleava played 18 games in two seasons at Tennessee, and started all 13 games during UT’s College Football Playoff run in 2024.
The QB threw for 2,616 yards with 19 touchdowns and five interceptions in 2024, but was less efficient in SEC play. He threw nine touchdowns in eight conference games, but four of those were against Vanderbilt in the regular-season finale.
In his UT career, he completed 241 of 379 passes for 2,930 yards with 21 touchdowns and five interceptions. He redshirted in 2023 behind starter Joe Milton.
Why did Nico Iamaleava and Tennessee football split?
Tennessee coach Josh Heupel informed the Vols that Iamaleava was no longer a member of the team prior to the April 12 spring game, ending the relationship between UT and Iamaleava amid an apparent NIL dispute.
Iamaleava skipped the Vols’ final spring practice on April 11, the morning after On3’s Pete Nakos reported ongoing negotiations between Iamaleava and UT. His NIL deal reportedly paid him more than $2 million per year.
ESPN’s Chris Low, citing sources, reported that Iamaleava’s representatives wanted his NIL pay increased to $4 million per year. The family used the possibility of him entering the transfer portal as leverage.
Mike Wilson covers University of Tennessee athletics. Email him at michael.wilson@knoxnews.com and follow him on X @ByMikeWilson. If you enjoy Mike’s coverage, consider a digital subscription that will allow you access to all of it.
Dec. 23, 2025, 5:35 a.m. ET
If you watched any part of Ole Miss’ 41-10 blowout of Tulane, the one common theme you felt was that the absence of former head coach Lane “Benedict” Kiffin was not acknowledged by the home fans; they even appeared to embrace it. It took a while for Rebel Nation to realize it but Kiffin simply was never “one of them” and, while he built the program, he did not measure up to the “Ole Miss family.” Most Rebel fans would probably tell you now they’d rather lose without him than win with him. Kiffin has now been fully exposed and St. Nick (Saban, now known as Mr. Hypocrite) and Pete Carroll, his self-proclaimed advisers, should be ashamed for their comments supporting the manner in which he tried to negotiate his way to both coaching one team and recruiting for another simultaneously. One is the GOAT who ran away from NIL and the transfer portal while the other is a recognized cheater by many. The best part is Kiffin’s LSU Tigers play at Mississippi next year. Good riddance!
Dec. 23, 2025, 6:07 a.m. ET
Arizona State football coach Kenny Dillingham says he was never offered the Michigan job. Never got to that point.
This, of course, isn’t the story nor the takeaway from Dillingham’s dalliance with the Wolverines.
The irony of the state of Arizona’s highest-paid public employee begging for private donations to compete at the highest level of college football is where this bizarre story begins.
“We live in Phoenix, Arizona. You’re telling me there’s not one person who could stroke a $20 million check right now?” Dillingham said after agreeing to a new contract worth more than $37 million over the next five years.
That’s right, the guy whose future could never be more secure, sees the immediate horizon line for the Arizona State football program. And frankly, it’s financially unstable at best — and a house of cards at worst.
It’s Arizona State today, but could be Kansas State or Colorado or North Carolina State or Virginia Tech or Boise State — or any of the other 100-plus Bowl Subdivision teams not protected by the golden parachute of the Big Ten and SEC.
Coaches at those 34 schools in the two big conferences — many of those institutions born on third base from long-term association with the leagues before the financial boom of television media rights — aren’t publicly calling out dignitaries and alums associated with their schools.
They’re not standing during a media availability and pleading for the next Cody Campbell to please step up. Or else.
Dillingham made it very clear that college football is about those who wish to spend money, and those who don’t. This isn’t about revenue sharing between schools and players, this is all about private NIL funding.
This is about the dirty underbelly of the sport that can’t be legally controlled. A growing vice that doubles and triples the obstacles faced by conferences chasing the Big Ten and SEC.
It’s bad enough that mega media rights deals give the Big Ten and SEC a huge competitive advantage over the rest of college football. It’s downright sinister that those same schools have deep pocket boosters willing to spend tens of millions in private NIL deals to eliminate all doubt.
Sam Leavitt led Arizona State to the Big 12 title and the College Football Playoff in 2024, and returned to Tempe this season for another run. A foot injury ended his season early, and now he’s headed to the transfer portal looking for a new home.
Not because he doesn’t think he can win big with the Sun Devils — he already proved that. He’s in the portal, like so many other players, to strike when its hot and score a deal before moving onto the NFL.
What are the odds he signs with a Big Ten or SEC school? A program which has boosters that can pay him an outrageous salary through a private NIL deal.
Do you really blame Leavitt?
Do you really blame Campbell, Texas Tech’s billionaire booster, who built a championship-level team with a $25 million roster — and the Red Raiders responded by winning the Big 12 and earning a first round bye in the CFP?
They’re just following the rules, and until a different set of rules is in place, they’ll take advantage of it.
That’s why Dillingham sounded like a panhandler last weekend, begging — literally begging someone, anyone, in The Valley to jump on board and throw money at the program. He even specifically called out school alums Phil Mickelson and Jon Rahm.
Hey, Kenny, while you’re at it, why not place a call to the sheiks in Saudi Arabia? See if their Public Investment Fund (PIF) is interested in sports washing with the second-most popular sport in America.
Because if you’re reaching out to Mickelson and Rahm, you’re reaching out to the Saudis — who own LIV Golf — by proxy. The only difference between the PIF and Utah’s new $500 million agreement with Otro Capital is one group of investors has a long line of human rights violations.
The other is a financial shark, whose only goal is to make money.
Any way they can.
“College football is absolutely chaotic right now,” Dillingham said. “You’ve got to be able to have a plan to be aggressive in this thing for three, four, five years down the road. If you don’t have that, you’re a ticking time bomb for failure.”
This nonsense isn’t going to end until players are considered employees, and players collectively bargain their best deal. Until FBS conferences go to market as one, and sell their games to make double or more than the current market value of $4 billion-plus annually.
That move will allow universities to restrict player movement through multi-year contracts, and find a fair and equitable postseason for all. One that doesn’t include charity for the Group of Five conferences, who have no business in a playoff unless invited based on merit (see: Boise State, 2024).
But that move also means players would go from earning about 20 percent of media rights revenue to likely 45-50 percent. NFL players currently make 48 percent of the media rights.
That’s why the Big Ten and SEC don’t want players collectively bargaining. It has nothing to do with the pollyanna idea sold by conference commissioners that players, “don’t want to be employees.”
If they’re going to earn 20 percent, who wants to deal with the headache of collectively bargaining? Move that number to 45-50 percent, and watch how many players say they’re all in.
Then maybe their coaches wouldn’t have to shamelessly beg for cash, mere hours after signing a new $37 million dollar contract. Or else.
Matt Hayes is the senior national college football writer for USA TODAY Sports. Follow him on X at @MattHayesCFB.
As Indiana prepares to host its first-ever College Football Playoff game as the No. 1 seed, the Hoosiers are quietly already planning for 2026.
Fernando Mendoza, a redshirt junior transfer who led the Hoosiers to a 13-0 regular season, won the 2025 Heisman Trophy after throwing 2,980 yards and a national-best 33 passing TDs and is widely seen as an early NFL first-round prospect.
Should Mendoza depart for the draft, Indiana would be tasked with replacing an elite, NFL-caliber starter, which explains why numerous quarterbacks expected to enter the transfer portal have been linked to the Hoosiers.
On a December 20 episode of “Hoosiers Football Tailgate,” host Coach Griff specifically named TCU quarterback Josh Hoover, who announced he will enter the transfer portal and skip the Alamo Bowl, as a name Indiana should watch.
“I like this guy as a definite target for Indiana,” Griff said. “So, Josh Hoover, keep an eye on him as a potential target… The one I think they’ll really try to get is Hoover.”
Hoover was a three-star recruit out of Rockwall-Heath (Texas) and initially committed to Indiana in 2021 before flipping to TCU after the school extended an offer.
He then redshirted in 2022 and became the starter in 2023, producing breakout numbers in 2024 with 3,949 passing yards, 27 passing touchdowns, and 11 interceptions with a 66.5% completion rate.
In 2025, Hoover threw for 3,472 yards and 29 TDs, with 13 INTs, and projects among the most productive returning QBs in 2026 on career totals of 9,629 passing yards, 80 total TDs, and a career passer rating of 147.8.
On3’s NIL valuations list also shows Hoover ranking among the most marketable college quarterbacks, with a valuation in the neighborhood of $2.1 million.
Hoover is an intriguing option for Indiana due to his proven production and Power Five experience, positioning him as a potential one-year, plug-and-play solution as Curt Cignetti prioritizes continuity.
There is also a “full-circle” aspect to his recruitment, as Hoover originally committed to Indiana before flipping to TCU in 2021.
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Two teams that have really embraced the NIL era are set to meet on New Year’s Day. Oregon‘s win over James Madison advanced them to the College Football Playoff quarterfinals, where Texas Tech was waiting on the other side. Now, it’s Dan Lanning vs. Joey McGuire in the Orange Bowl with a lot of resources put into rosters.
Oregon has been at the forefront of NIL since its inception, especially under Lanning. Texas Tech could be considered the new kid on the block after major investment from a few donors. Even so, McGuire sees some similarities between the two when it comes to winning at whatever cost.
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“They’ve got a great booster in Phil Knight that really said, ‘We’re going to go win at the highest level and there’s no excuse when it comes to finance.’ You turn around and I think that we’re showing that we’re doing that. I think we’re really comparable,” McGuire said.
“We’ve got guys that have stepped up and done a great job. I kind of call them the ‘Big Five’ whenever you talk about Cody and John, Mike, Dusty, and Gary. Those guys have, along with everybody else in Red Raider Nation, but those guys have really led the charge. So, we’re kind of comparable on and off the field in this team. They’ve just done it for a little bit longer. That’s what we’re trying to do.”
As he said, McGuire is looking to put together a run similar to Oregon. All four years since hiring Lanning have been a resounding success, finishing with double-digit wins in all of them. This is the program’s second College Football Playoff appearance in the 12-team format, just missing out in 2023 due to a Pac-12 Championship loss.
Oregon won the Big Ten in its inaugural season inside the conference. Texas Tech can check that box already though, winning the Big 12 for the first time in school history. Advancing in the CFP would be a sweet bonus.
No matter the result on Jan. 1, Texas Tech is positioning itself to be successful moving forward. The 2026 recruiting class ranked 20th in the country but No. 1 in the Big 12 per the Rivals Industry Team Rankings. This is all before raiding the NCAA transfer portal, something McGuire and his staff did so well with last offseason.
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