Connect with us
https://yoursportsnation.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/call-to-1.png

NIL

Young Money

Published

5 months ago

on

Young Money

As students approach the end of their high school years, college tends to dominate most every conversation. For student-athletes, that now includes potential compensation for name, image and likeness.

While currently only high school students who will for sure play at an Arkansas college are eligible to receive NIL funds, that could change as NIL laws continue to evolve.

In 2021, the NCAA announced an interim policy allowing for the commercialization of NIL for college athletes. The policy prohibited — and still prohibits — schools from using financial incentives to recruit or retain student athletes and prohibits schools from paying athletes to play.

That same year, Arkansas passed the Student-Athlete Publicity Rights Act, which allows student-athletes to enter into a contract to receive compensation for the commercial use of their publicity rights as defined in 2016 by the statute’s predecessor, the Frank Broyles Publicity Rights Protection Act.

The Arkansas Student-Athlete Publicity Rights Act has since been amended twice. In 2023, the statute was amended to allow colleges and universities to facilitate NIL contracts, and in 2025, colleges and universities became eligible to enter into NIL contracts with student-athletes.

Notably for the Wampus Cats, Devil Dogs and other hometown teams, the act was also amended in 2023 to allow high school students to enter into NIL contracts under certain conditions. For example, the students must be admitted to a college or university in Arkansas; have signed a national letter of intent to enroll at a college or university in Arkansas; or have signed some other agreement to enroll at a college or university in the state.

“What you heard in each of those three conditions is that only if the high school student is affiliated with a higher ed institute within the state of Arkansas can they participate in NIL deals in Arkansas,” said Judy Henry, partner and chair of the sports law practice at Wright Lindsey Jennings in Little Rock and one of Arkansas’ foremost sports attorneys.

Judy Henry

Henry noted the statute prohibits players who plan to leave the state for college — and those who have not yet made a decision to remain in Arkansas — from participating in NIL.

Missouri has similar requirements about students being somehow committed to play in-state at the collegiate level before entering into NIL agreements, she said, while Tennessee’s statute allows students as young as ninth grade to participate in NIL if they plan to enroll in a college or university in the future — in-state or otherwise.

Texas does not have any requirements that high schoolers be committed to play in-state but does prohibit students younger than 17 from entering into NIL deals unless they are already enrolled in college, she said.

The heart of the matter is this: Student-athletes can make money — big money — before they even graduate high school.

“Let’s hypothetically say I know some kids that played football, and after the season was over, they signed their national letter of intent, and before they went into college, they were doing some advertising for a boat company in central Arkansas,” said state Rep. RJ Hawk. “It’s things like that, making a little bit of money before you go off to college.”

Rep. RJ Hawk

Hawk put together a think tank comprised of attorneys, coaches, parents and former high school athletes across the state to discuss NIL and its implications for high schoolers in 2023. He said he received mixed responses.

“While we were having meetings, I would throw things out on social media and just kind of get reactions from people,” he said. “I’ve got a fairly large following on social media, and there was a lot of negativity toward it — a lot — from parents. Now student-athletes were all for it, right? Student-athletes were like, ‘Yes,’ but I still have some saved letters that I got in my mailbox from parents that were like, ‘This is not what we need right now.’”

Brad Bolding, head football coach at North Little Rock High School, said he leans toward a more conservative approach when it comes to high school student-athletes receiving NIL money.

Brad Bolding

“I think there ought to be a maximum amount of money,” he said. “I think you ought to be a senior in high school, and honestly, I’d like to see us implement an academic end of it, too, where a young man needed to have a certain GPA.”

He said the responsibility falls to high school coaches to mentor players when it comes to NIL. It is a sentiment shared by Kevin Kelley, head football coach at Sheridan High School.

“They need to be counseled on, No. 1, you’ve got to pay taxes on it. No. 2, invest it. Don’t go out and spend it on 10 cars, you know? Do something that’s going to benefit you in the future, make your life easier,” he said. “I would visit with them and their parents on that.”

Kevin Kelley

Although it can be good for student-athletes and their families to benefit from NIL while still in high school, conflicts can arise when teenagers suddenly find themselves with vast amounts of money, he said.

He added that he worries how one student receiving NIL money could affect the team dynamic and would like to see a cap on the amount of money student-athletes can receive at all levels, which would allow more student-athletes to participate in NIL.

Although the commercialization of NIL is currently prohibited for students who are not committed to play in-state, Henry said the statute has yet to be challenged, and she is not sure who is responsible for enforcing such restrictions.

“I don’t see that the statute has any teeth in it for either the business or the high school student-athlete as a consequence of doing a contract that is statutorily prohibited, but that doesn’t mean that someone wouldn’t step forth to try to enforce the statute,” she said. “The [Arkansas Activities Association] has strict rules for high school athletes. In its handbook, the AAA recognizes high school student-athletes have NIL rights, so maybe the AAA will exercise oversight.”

She added that she would like to see Arkansas broaden its law to include students who have been admitted to colleges and universities out of state. Although retaining quality players benefits Arkansas institutions, student-athletes who choose to study elsewhere for family, educational or other reasons may miss out on a one- or two-year opportunity, she said.

“We have some really great higher ed institutions here, and I would advocate that those provide great opportunities for high school student-athletes to further their education and play their sport,” she said, “but if they decide that is not in their and their families’ best interest, I would hope that we could give them an opportunity to participate in NIL, just like every other student-athlete.”

There is something else that strikes Henry about the law, as well. Despite Arkansas being renowned for its hunting opportunities, firearms are among the items athletes are banned from promoting. Henry said that while the statute makes sense for some weapons, it makes things tricky for athletes who may want to enter into a contract with businesses such as outdoor outfitters.

Both Hawk and Henry agreed that NIL is generally good for student-athletes, who are often the only students on a college campus who are unable to work. However, Hawk said, it is important to have regulations governing NIL deals.

“The way that it’s been handled and the way that it’s been governed, it’s the Wild Wild West,” Hawk said. “I think that people have seen the image of what’s happened at the collegiate level, and they’re like, ‘We don’t want that with our high school athletes right now.’”

Bolding noted that the collegiate transfer portal and NIL have become twin demons in the eyes of fans as players jump from school to school in search of more lucrative NIL deals. If high school booster clubs were to enter into NIL deals with students, the results could be disastrous for poorer school districts, he said.

“Do I see that happening? I really hope it doesn’t because that could be something that could get really ugly,” he said. “It would not be good for the districts that are underprivileged and impoverished.”

Hawk pointed to recent legislation tightening eligibility requirements for students who transfer schools to participate in extracurricular activities as a mitigating factor. The law requires students who transfer after June 1 following freshman year to sit out for 365 days.

However, he said there could be some interest in using NIL as a recruitment tool for high schoolers — with devastating consequences for small-town Arkansas.

“I think that the law we passed this year kind of helps with that, but I do think that there are people that look at NIL and say are we now going to take that to the high school level and say, ‘Car Dealership A or Bank A, we want this kid in West Memphis to come to Bryant or whatever it might be. Let’s just pay to get his family here’?” he said. “That could be a real slippery slope, as well.”

Will NIL ever become available to high school students who have not yet committed to play college ball in Arkansas? Henry said it might be worth considering.

“Although I have not seen a market for Arkansas high school student-athletes who do not intend to pursue sports beyond high school, there is certainly a market for student-athletes who are either holding off on making a college commitment or have committed to an out-of-state school,” she said. “These student-athletes lose opportunities with Arkansas-based and out-of-state businesses.

“For the student-athlete committed out of state, there are significant NIL opportunities with their committed schools and businesses that they are missing because of the current restrictions. The rights of these student-athletes are not recognized under the current law.”

She added that Arkansas’ NIL statute allows agents who are not licensed attorneys to represent student-athletes in NIL transactions, which concerns her not only as an attorney but as a former collegiate athlete and the mother of a collegiate athlete.

“Would I have wanted a nonlawyer representing our son?” she said. “No. Every word in that contract means something, and I would want someone who knows what they’re doing, has experience in the field to represent him. Being a mom and a lawyer, I know the value and the importance of that.”

Kelley said he would like to see tightened restrictions about who is eligible to represent student-athletes in NIL deals at both the high school and college levels.

“In the NFL, in the NBA and Major League Baseball, when you’re dealing with people, you have to have a certified agent to deal with or the individual himself, and in college NIL, you do not,” he said. “You could be dealing with somebody’s uncle or aunt or a friend of a friend. It goes all over the place, and to be honest with you, those people aren’t held accountable if they’re not doing what’s best for the student athlete.”

Hawk said Arkansas lawmakers will continue to examine NIL as it applies to high school students. He added that he hopes to find a happy medium that allows students and their families to benefit from NIL while reducing risks to students who are still learning about money.

“We’ve got to stress fundamentals and getting kids ready for the game, and the high school level’s where that happens,” he said. “If we make everybody a pro, then we never have amateur sports anymore, and the minute you start getting paid is when you start becoming a pro.”

READ ALSO: Hall of Famer Jimmy Johnson Coming Back to Arkansas

7
Related Topics:
Continue Reading
Click to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

NIL

Football Transfer Portal Chaos Continues Despite New Rules

Published

43 minutes ago

on

January 2, 2026

By





Football Transfer Portal Chaos Continues Despite New Rules



































Link

3
Continue Reading

NIL

Indiana football destroys Alabama at Rose Bowl to advance to Peach Bowl

Published

2 hours ago

on

January 2, 2026

By


Jan. 1, 2026Updated Jan. 2, 2026, 12:20 a.m. ET

PASADENA, Ca. — The singing starts early in the fourth quarter of the Rose Bowl, where the clouds are rising above the San Gabriel Mountains and the No. 1 Indiana Hoosiers are just destroying No. 9 Alabama. This is a 2025 College Football Playoff quarterfinal, serious business, but the IU football crowd has been having a blast, and they know what to do when this stadium in Southern California starts playing Bloomington’s John Mellencamp over the loudspeakers.



Link

4
Continue Reading

NIL

Texas Tech’s College Football Playoff reality check just made a transfer QB rich

Published

2 hours ago

on

January 2, 2026

By


The Texas Tech Red Raiders are currently trailing Oregon 13-0 in the College Football Playoff quarterfinals, putting a loaded team on the brink of elimination. Given how bad the offense has looked for this team, the fanbase is already moving on to the offseason, as even with a comeback win in this game, Texas Tech isn’t good enough on offense to win the National Championship.

The biggest flaw with this offense seems to be the play of their quarterback, Behren Morton, who’s had a brutal day with 3 turnovers early in the 4th quarter. Given the fact that Behren Morton is out of eligibility, Texas Tech needs a new quarterback, and the fans are swinging for the fences.

Texas Tech fans are begging for Cody Campbell to pay Brendan Sorsby

On Friday, the Transfer Portal in college football will open, and Texas Tech fans are hoping that Cody Campbell and the Red Raiders spend big to continue building up this roster. The overwhelming biggest wish by the fanbase and outsiders is quarterback Brendan Sorsby.

While Oregon will advance if the score holds, everyone believes whichever quarterback Texas Tech ends up adding is the true big winner.

The members of the media even seemingly believe that Brendan Sorsby is destined to be a Red Raider.

Cody Campbell specifically is being begged by the fans to go improve this team on offense, especially at quarterback.

It’ll now become interesting to see where Texas Tech and Cody Campbell look to find their quarterback in the Transfer Portal. Backup QB Will Hammond showed a ton of promise, but his season ending injury may change the plans at quarterback.

Brendan Sorsby is ranked as the top quarterback in the Transfer Portal in our latest Transfer Portal Quarterback Rankings. Between his experience in the Big 12, his talent level, and the fact that his girlfriend now plays volleyball at Texas Tech, the pairing seems like a perfect fit, but both sides will need to lock the deal in.





Link

2
Continue Reading

NIL

The Transfer Portal market is exploding for college football

Published

3 hours ago

on

January 2, 2026

By


The transfer portal market is going up across the board, at every position, in every conference, and there’s little reason to believe it will slow down anytime soon. Just like professional sports, once one player gets paid, the market resets. The next wave of players measures itself against that number, believes it’s worth more, and pushes the standard even higher.

College football has officially entered that phase.

When the transfer portal opens Jan. 2, it will usher in what could be the most aggressive and expensive portal cycle the sport has ever seen. With the spring portal window eliminated in favor of a single winter period that runs from Jan. 2 through Jan. 16, the urgency has never been higher. Programs no longer have a second chance to fix mistakes, replace losses, or wait out the market.

This winter portal may look less like traditional college football and more like NFL free agency but with more chaos.

Spend Early or Miss Out

The expectation across the sport is clear: the best players will come off the board immediately and for big money. This is nothing new in the sports world because typically the services of the top players: a) in high demand and b) get contacted earlier because they dictate the market for the others after.

““People are going to spend out of the gate — like immediately — your top guys, your best guys, are going to go quick,” said a Big Ten general manager. “Then it’s the rest of them that are asking for money, but at some point they’re going to come down a little bit because the money has already been spent.””

Big Ten general manager

A year ago, there was widespread belief that this offseason would bring a correction. The passing of the House settlement, the introduction of the College Sports Commission as an enforcement arm, and the implementation of a $20.5 million revenue-sharing cap were all supposed to cool off the market.

The idea was simple: with stricter NIL oversight and limits on revenue sharing, teams could no longer double-dip between unlimited collective money and school-funded compensation. Prices, many thought, would stabilize or even decline. That hasn’t happened.

For a variety of reasons, the market has instead continued to climb. What began as college athletes not being paid at all turned into NIL opportunities based on name, image, and likeness. Now, schools themselves can directly allocate money to players, effectively paying salaries. It’s no wonder these college players are staying school longer when some get paid even more than if they were to go pro.

It’s a full 180-degree swing from where the sport was less than a decade ago.

New NIL Price of a Starter

The numbers that could come out of this cycle make that shift impossible to ignore.

““I feel like the average starter this cycle — the sort of line you have to hit — is $600,000,” said one SEC general manager. “I feel like last year starters in our conference were $300,000. Now it feels like starters are more like $600,000.””

SEC general manager

That’s not a superstar figure. That’s the baseline.

Quarterbacks, edge rushers, offensive tackles, and elite skill players are pushing well beyond that number. Depth players are commanding deals that would have qualified as “starter money” just one cycle ago. Every position group is affected, and every negotiation starts from a higher floor.

Arkansas Can’t Afford to Fall Behind

Arkansas football has reached a crossroads. New head coach Ryan Silverfield and athletic director Hunter Yurachek have both spoken publicly about the importance of having the necessary NIL resources to build and sustain a competitive roster.

Words are a start, but action has to follow.

Yurachek doesn’t have to write the checks himself, but he does have to empower the coaching staff, the collective, and the infrastructure to compete at market value. If the administration hesitates or tries to bargain-shop in a luxury market, the results will be the same as they’ve been in recent years.

Fans are tired of hearing about rebuilds. They’re tired of moral victories and patience speeches while watching other programs buy instant turnarounds. The numbers are public now. The quotes are out there. The direction of the market is undeniable.

The transfer portal isn’t a temporary phase, it’s officially the backbone of roster construction moving forward and beyond. And with prices only going up, programs either commit fully or risk falling into the abyss.



Link

3
Continue Reading

NIL

Curt Cignetti contract clause takes effect after Indiana’s College Football Playoff semifinal berth

Published

4 hours ago

on

January 2, 2026

By


With Indiana’s resounding victory over Alabama in the Rose Bowl, Curt Cignetti triggered a bonus in his contract. But there’s another clause that took effect as the Hoosiers head to the College Football Playoff semifinals.

Cignetti’s new eight-year, $93 million deal at Indiana – which the two sides announced in October 2025 – includes a Good Faith Market Review clause. It states if IU makes the CFP semifinal, the school must discuss a renegotiated contract with Cignetti that would bring his annual compensation to nothing less than the third-highest paid coach in college football.

SUBSCRIBE to the On3 NIL and Sports Business Newsletter

For reference, Cignetti’s salary went up to $11.6 million when he signed his new contract at Indiana. That currently puts him at No. 4 among the nation’s highest-paid coaches after Lane Kiffin agreed to a deal that will pay him $13 million at LSU. Kiffin’s salary is just behind Georgia coach Kirby Smart, who’s the highest-paid coach in the country at $13.3 million, and ahead of Ohio State’s Ryan Day at $12.6 million.

According to the contract, Cignetti and Indiana have 120 days after the CFP semifinal to agree to the good faith review and negotiation. If the two sides don’t come to terms on a deal to make Cignetti no less than the third-highest paid coach in the country, “the University agrees to waive for the remaining Term of this Agreement any liquidated damages which would be due from Coach to the University should he subsequently terminate his employment at the University.”

In short, if the two sides don’t agree to those terms, Cignetti would not owe Indiana anything if he chose to leave for another job. For reference, he would owe $15 million if he was to resign to take a different coaching job before May 2026.

Curt Cignetti triggers bonus with Rose Bowl win

As part of the new deal, which took effect Dec. 1, Curt Cignetti also triggered multiple bonuses through Indiana’s College Football Playoff run. The Hoosiers’ sixth Big Ten victory secured a $150,000 bonus and he earned $1 million for winning the conference championship in addition to the $50,000 for becoming the league’s Coach of the Year.

Cignetti also had CFP bonuses in the deal, though they are not cumulative. With Thursday’s win against Alabama, he is set to earn $700,000 for making the semifinal round, and that figure would increase to $1 million if Indiana appears in the national championship. A victory in the title game would net Cignetti a $2 million bonus.

Indiana’s victory over Alabama continued Cignetti’s historic turnaround in Bloomington. The Hoosiers are now 14-0 this season and 25-2 under his watch as they get ready to take on Oregon.



Link

8
Continue Reading

NIL

New Arkansas football GMs rise up the ranks in College Football’s new era

Published

5 hours ago

on

January 2, 2026

By


Few people in college football personnel can say they’ve experienced the sport from nearly every possible angle. Arkansas ‘ new general manager Gaizka Crowley is one of them.

Gaizka Crowley’s Journey

Crowley’s journey to the SEC is a testament to adaptability, persistence, and a deep-rooted passion for roster construction. A Florida State graduate, Crowley began his football career coaching high school football in Florida before working for the scouting and analytics service XOS Digital (now Catapult). From there, his path wound through the FCS ranks at Southern Illinois, Group of Five programs in the Mountain West at UNLV and the MAC at Western Michigan, the Power 4 level in the Big 12 at Arizona, and now to the SEC as the newly appointed general manager for the Arkansas Razorbacks under first-year head coach Ryan Silverfield.

In an era where college football personnel roles have rapidly evolved, Crowley has quietly become one of the most respected names in the profession. Roster construction has been his passion since his early days, where he was known as a detail-obsessed, X’s-and-O’s guy who loved fitting pieces together like a jig-saw puzzle and making everything sync together almost like being the operator for a symphony. In todays age, those puzzle pieces come with price tags, NIL valuations, and salary-cap-style allocation decisions that raise the stakes considerably.

What separates Crowley is how seamlessly he has adapted. He didn’t just understand schemes and player fit; he learned how to balance those football instincts with financial strategy in the modern era. Managing resources, allocating money, and maintaining roster flexibility are now as critical as identifying talent, and Crowley has shown he can thrive in both worlds.

That adaptability was on full display during his time at Arizona. While running personnel for the Wildcats, Crowley helped construct one of the nation’s most dramatic turnarounds in 2025. Arizona jumped from a 4–8 record in 2024 to 9–3 the following season, a transformation fueled by smart roster decisions and efficient talent evaluation. When head coach Jedd Fisch departed for the Washington job, Crowley didn’t dwell on uncertainty or excuses. He went straight to work, adjusting to the coaching change, identifying the right pieces, and empowering the staff to succeed. This sounds very similar to the situation he’s presented himself with in Fayetteville.

Despite the growing administrative demands of his role, Crowley has remained grounded in the habits that got him there. His days are filled with constant communication, problem-solving, and long-term planning, but he still carves out time, early mornings or late nights, to shut his office door and grind film just because he loves doing it.

““It’s important, no matter what your role is — but especially as you get to a more senior level — to not forget what got you there,” Crowley said. “Make sure you carve out the time to watch the tape.””

Gaizka Crowley

How Crowley Fits in with Arkansas Football

That blend of old-school film study, modern roster economics, and humility defines Crowley’s approach. Now, he brings that mindset to Arkansas, a program hungry for sustained success after years of instability. Since Bobby Petrino’s first tenure, the Razorbacks have cycled through coaches and directions, never quite recapturing consistent national relevance.

Crowley’s task is clear but demanding: help Ryan Silverfield rebuild Arkansas football with purpose, patience, and precision. If his track record is any indication, he won’t waste time. With his ability to evolve alongside the sport, manage the new financial realities, and stay grounded in the fundamentals of evaluation, Crowley is well-equipped for the challenge. Can lightning strike twice and can he replicate the same instant results he did during his time with Arizona? Hogs fans sure hope so.

From the FCS grind to the SEC spotlight, Gaizka Crowley’s rise reflects college football’s new era and Arkansas is betting that his unique perspective can help bring Razorbacks football all the way back.



Link

9
Continue Reading

Most Viewed Posts

Trending