The Golden Age For Student-Athletes: Selecting an agent for NIL Deals

The world of amateur sports is ever-changing and in the new age of name, image, and likeness (“NIL”), today’s student-athlete has much more to consider when making decisions concerning their future. NIL is the process by which an athlete is paid to promote themselves, national brands, and local small businesses. For many years, the primary governing body of amateur sports, the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), prohibited athletes competing in college sports from receiving anything of value besides a scholarship or stipend from the university in exchange for their services. Many athletes were disciplined and schools were stripped of wins and championships for violation of these rules.

Thankfully, this restriction has been eliminated by court rulings across the country, and the NCAA is now taking a hands-off approach to regulating anything related to NIL. Regulation is largely left to individual states and schools. Louisiana, like most southern states, allows athletes to earn compensation for their NIL, but does not allow for these payments to be made in exchange for playing time or skill. High school athletes are also allowed to receive compensation for their NIL through their governing body, the Louisiana High School Athletic Association (LHSAA).

Not only is NIL now legal, but it is also openly discussed in recruiting and is highly encouraged where it is attainable. The NCAA is also facing continuing litigation related to retroactive payment to former athletes, as well as employment classification of student-athletes and potential unionization and collective bargaining. In addition, we are witnessing an unprecedented era of conference realignment, which brings consistent changes and revisions to other NCAA rules such as the transfer portal.

It is an amazing and opportune time to be a student-athlete. Athletes and their families should consider engaging the services of several professionals while discussing the strategy to build and monetize their personal brands. Among the professionals to engage is an agent or contract adviser. Some agents and advisers are professionally educated through law or business schools, and most are regulated by a licensing board or association. Agents can be a very valuable resource to their client and often have cutting edge industry insight, which can help their client make better decisions and ultimately better deals related to their NIL.

The process of selecting an agent or adviser is a very personal one to each athlete, and clients should consider not only an agent’s education or experience, but also how the agent connects and understands their individual needs and goals.