NIL is three letters that changed college sports. It stands for name, image and likeness. In plain words, it means a college athlete can be paid when a business uses who they are — their name, their photo, or their public image — to sell or promote something.

Professor Bull explains: NIL is renting your name. A business is not buying your game. It is renting the attention your name brings — for an ad, a post, an appearance, or a product — and you, the athlete, are the one who should be paid for that rental.

When the door opened

For most of college sports history, athletes could not earn money this way and stay eligible to play. That changed on July 1, 2021, when the NCAA’s policy first allowed student-athletes to earn compensation from NIL activities, according to the University of Oregon’s published NIL guidance. An athlete could now appear in a local car dealer’s commercial, sign autographs for pay, or promote a product on social media.

The three ways the money reaches an athlete

The first way is the direct brand deal. A company pays the athlete for a post, an appearance, a commercial, or the use of their name on a product. The athlete is doing work for the business, and the business pays for that work.

The second way is the collective. A collective is a group, separate from the school itself, that pools money from donors and supporters and then arranges NIL deals for athletes at a particular school, according to NCSA’s published NIL guide. Collectives became the largest channel in the early years. Opendorse estimated collective spending at $1.3 billion in 2024-25, out of an estimated $2.26 billion in total NIL spending that year.

The third way is newer, and it is different from NIL itself. Under the House settlement, schools were allowed to pay athletes directly through revenue sharing, capped at $20.5 million per school for 2025-26, according to Obermayer’s published summary of the settlement. That is school money shared with athletes. It sits alongside outside NIL deals, not in place of them.

How big are the top numbers?

Most NIL deals are small — a local business, a short campaign, a modest fee. The top of the market is a different world, and it needs careful reading. On3’s valuation list, published by DIRECTV Insider, put Texas quarterback Arch Manning at $5.4 million, the highest value on its college football list, with the 30th-ranked player listed at $1.5 million.

A valuation is an estimate of what an athlete’s name may be worth. It is not a copy of a signed contract, and it is not proof of money already paid. That difference matters every time a large NIL number is shared. Ask whether the figure is a reported deal, an estimate, or a valuation before treating it as pay.

The lasting change is simpler than the headlines. College athletes now have a legal way to earn from their own name while they are still in school — from a brand, through a collective, and, under the House settlement, directly from their school. The amounts vary widely, but the right itself is the change everything else is built on.

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