Each SEC member has signed 'affiliation agreement' to help protect new revenue-sharing enforcement policies

Everything is on hold until the House v. NCAA settlement passes but once it is done, the power conferences fully participating in paying athletes $20.5 million starting on July 1 must be ready. A big move was made during spring meetings season to help protect a new plan that will include a new enforcement arm in an effort to help prevent direct pay-for-play from a third party.

The ACC, Big 12, Big Ten, and SEC each have presented an affiliation agreement to their members that prevents universities from using state laws to violate the new enforcement rules that are coming along with revenue-sharing. Most notably, there will be an NIL clearinghouse that must approve any third party deals. Ultimately, this agreement requires universities to waive their right to sue the new enforcement agency, the College Sports Commission (CSC).

The CSC will hire an executive director, board, and enforcement staff once the settlement goes through. This group will replace the NCAA as the major policing agency for any rules violations. The top goal is for this group to serve as the much-needed guardrails that have been required in the NIL space. This could theoretically make collectives less powerful and lead to schools becoming the clear No. 1 source of payment to athletes while any agreements brokered would have to be of real market value and not just pay-for-play.

Despite Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee signing on bill on May that would allow schools in the Volunteer State and their NIL collectives to not adhere to the House settlement rules, the SEC is all-in. That includes that school in Knoxville. That was a very essential development for the league after that bill was issued along with some interesting comments about what the future of athlete payment should look like from athletic director Danny White.

Greg Sankey says all 16 SEC schools, in fact, did agree to the affiliation agreement, as well as to "alter or clarify" state laws that might contradict the House settlement. https://t.co/NdBCnJIyXC

— Ross Dellenger (@RossDellenger) May 29, 2025

What does this mean? In short, it means this new structure that college leaders have created will have a chance to succeed and provide real stability with everyone in the SEC on board. There will still be lawsuits from athletes regarding eligibility, compensation, and contracts that college schools and the NCAA will have to deal with, but this does provide them a legitimate path forward.

We are entering a brand new world where schools will be stretched thin and some tough financial decisions will need to be made with this $20.5 million added to the yearly budget sheet. However, college sports has worked very hard to get this settlement and needs to do whatever it can to make it work. This is a big step in the right direction after we’ve seen everyone over the last 4-5 years do whatever they could to challenge the NCAA’s power.

This is alignment. Alignment is very important.