Report: College leaders plan to take action regarding NIL collectives

Discussion surrounding college football recently has been dominated by NIL. How the process in which players get paid based on their Name, Image, and Likeness is being highly debated and according to a report, college leaders are going to find a way to limit collectives.

“College leaders are gearing up to issue a warning to hundreds of wealthy boosters who are using name, image and likeness (NIL) ventures to involve themselves in recruiting,” Ross Dellenger of Sports Illustrated is reporting.

“University administrators, part of a task force to review NIL, are finalizing additional guidelines that are expected to clarify that boosters and booster-led collectives are prohibited from involvement in recruiting, multiple sources tell Sports Illustrated. The guidelines will provide more guidance to member schools on what many administrators say are NIL-disguised “pay for play” deals orchestrated by donors to induce prospects, recruit players off other college teams and retain their own athletes.”

The “pay for play” type NIL deals have become prevalent when recruiting in the transfer portal and not just in college football. College basketball has gone through some of the same struggles as coaches and boosters attempt to bring top programs into their programs.

Ultimately, the goal of the task force is to find a way where NIL deals cannot be associated with high school prospects and players in the transfer portal. Instead, deals must be struck with players already on the roster, the way NIL was intended to be used.

Dellenger points out schools cannot control how their donors spend money. However, if they are found to be providing “pay for play” NIL deals, NCAA violations could be handed down to the programs.

A source inside the report says things are already “out of hand” with how NIL is being run within college athletics. They think boosters do not need to be involved in the recruiting process, which in return would not make money a top priority when picking a school.

Top schools across the country have collectives for their players to profit off NIL, with Oklahoma being one of the latest to launch theirs. You can add the likes of Alabama, Georgia, Florida, Notre Dame, Texas, Texas A&M, and many more to the list as well.

Now, there is going to be some kind of regulation to make sure everything is done in a clean and fair way. A potential legal battle could ensue from the task force’s decision per Dellenger but for now, NIL is still considered the wild, wild west.