LAS VEGAS — Bill Paulos is happy there will be more oversight, that the House vs. NCAA settlement demands more scrutiny of name, image and likeness deals within college athletics.

That a centralized clearinghouse will be in charge of regulating any NIL transactions.

Friends of UNILV is the collective for UNLV, one in which Paulos leads.

The House settlement allows athletes to be directly compensated by their schools via revenue sharing. There is a limit of $20.5 million this season, though that number has yet to be officially decided.

UNLV has opted in to terms of the settlement and will pay athletes directly. It’s unknown to what threshold the Rebels will reach when deciding how much to distribute.

Then there is the NIL money athletes can continue to receive.

NIL Go is the clearinghouse that will require any athlete to report deals more than $600. Contracts will be reviewed to guarantee they represent fair market value.

Whole new world

“I’m absolutely in favor of there being more (oversight),” Paulos said. “The unfortunate thing is there is a lot of mud in the water. Do you know how many applications there will be for anything over $600? Mind-boggling. We still don’t know what the real definition of revenue is going to be.

“It’s a new world with (the settlement) that will be in constant change. It’s like a new business model — NIL is the startup business. There will be trips and falls and mistakes, but there are a set of rules now. That’s a big step and certainly what the universities want.

“Things have gotten ridiculous with (NIL) across the country. It’s the Wild West. Hopefully, this means you will no longer have someone reach in their pocket and give a kid a million dollars for coming to their birthday party. You won’t be able to do that if you follow these new rules.”

Translation: A large percentage of previous NIL deals would not have been approved under the new system. Most of those were funded by boosters. You have a better chance at being approved via corporate sponsorships.

Which goes to the point about fair market value.

You would guess a starting quarterback at Alabama might be compensated more for a car dealership sponsorship in Tuscaloosa than one with the same deal in Provo, Utah. Even perhaps one in Las Vegas.

But the real goal is to eliminate any “pay for play” situations defined by NIL dollars. To curtail the millions often thrown at recruits to attend certain schools. The real goal is to tame the Wild West.

Here’s one fear, however: that many of the bigger deals simply won’t be reported for approval. That it will be more of a wink-wink situation between collectives and athletes.

“Look, if there’s a rule, someone out there is going to cheat it, unfortunately,” Paulos said. “But at least this is a beginning to try to control things. That’s a positive thing right now.”

Paulos said UNLV’s collective will pay the university some out of its donations while still compensating athletes via NIL deals. That there is still a Rolodex of donors willing to pay and that the collective can be a conduit between them and UNLV.

That commercial donors use such deals as business expenses when the athlete performs a service for them once cleared through NIL Go. The contract just can’t be excessive in what will be deemed fair market value or risk being rejected.

“We’ll be another fundraising arm for the university as long as it wants us,” Paulos said.

Coaches matter

The collective has taken in more money in the past four months than the past four years, Paulos said. He credits much of it to the excitement and anticipation of the football season, but also to coaches the Rebels have hired.

Lindy La Rocque reaffirmed her commitment to the women’s basketball program, ending rumors that she might be on the way out to take the head coaching job at Arizona.

Former Mississippi State and Florida coach Dan Mullen was hired to continue the historic levels football reached over the past two years under Barry Odom.

Josh Pastner, a former coach at Memphis and Georgia Tech, now leads the men’s basketball program.

It has all made for more interest in UNLV athletics and more donations to NIL efforts.

“Quite frankly, the entire university has also stepped up,” Paulos said. “We’re doing this the right way in accordance with every rule. I can tell you exactly what each kid has made over the last four years — how many hours he or she has worked and where. And we will continue to operate in this manner.”

Get those contracts ready to be approved.

It’s a whole new NIL world, is right.

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MILWAUKEE – The University of Wisconsin filed a lawsuit, accusing the University of Miami of tampering with a football player. Now, they’re taking their evidence to court in a case that could set precedent.

Sports law expert

Local perspective:

Matt Mitten is the executive director of the National Sports Law Institute at Marquette University. He said the case is one the entire college sports world will be watching.

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“I think the university wants to establish a legal precedent,” he said. “A deal is a deal, and that’s basically what the University of Wisconsin is saying: ‘We had a deal with our athlete.'”

The backstory:

The Badgers saw the football player as a rising star and a pillar to build around. The facts of the lawsuit align with that player being Xavier Lucas.

The complaint, filed in Dane County court Friday, said the Badgers offered Lucas one of the largest name, image and likeness deals of any Wisconsin student-athlete to secure his commitment for two years.

Wisconsin said Lucas “enthusiastically” signed the deal on Dec. 2. But when he returned home to Florida for winter break, Wisconsin said he sent them a “sudden and unexpected request” to transfer. The university declined, citing the NIL contracts.

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Wisconsin said a family member told them a University of Miami coach and a “prominent alumnus” visited Lucas, which would have violated the NCAA’s tampering rules because Lucas was not yet in the transfer portal. 

Lucas announced his commitment to Miami a month later.

What they’re saying:

In a statement to FOX6 News, the University of Wisconsin said it reluctantly brought the case but did so to “maintain a level playing field.” The University of Miami did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The Source: FOX6 News obtained and reviewed the lawsuit filed in Dane County court, and interviewed Mitten, for this report.

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