The NIL business model

Navy_illini · Jan 10, 2026

therealmiket86 said:
Schools are promising nil packages and players will never see all the money. They will tell that what they can make, not what they will. Whitman has even addressed this in Werner’s podcast

revenue sharing is with the schools. NIL deals now supplement the revenue sharing deals. Also NIL deals have to be cleared by a clearinghouse to verify they are valid so the fake NILs are minimized. Not saying players are not paid off to the side which is not regulated

How athletes will be paid as July 1 ushers in new era for college sports: NIL changes, enforcement, contracts

Players are eligible to receive direct payment from schools for the first time, but how will this all work?

www.cbssports.com

“colleges can opt into revenue sharing with athletes. Athletic departments will be allowed to use their own funds to pay players, with a cap expected to hover around $20 million annually per school. That figure is intended to cover all athlete compensation across varsity sports -- not just those that generate revenue”

therealmiket86 · Jan 10, 2026

Navy_illini said:
revenue sharing is with the schools. NIL deals now supplement the revenue sharing deals. Also NIL deals have to be cleared by a clearinghouse to verify they are valid so the fake NILs are minimized. Not saying players are not paid off to the side which is not regulated

How athletes will be paid as July 1 ushers in new era for college sports: NIL changes, enforcement, contracts

Players are eligible to receive direct payment from schools for the first time, but how will this all work?

www.cbssports.com

“colleges can opt into revenue sharing with athletes. Athletic departments will be allowed to use their own funds to pay players, with a cap expected to hover around $20 million annually per school. That figure is intended to cover all athlete compensation across varsity sports -- not just those that generate revenue”

How can you offer a player on the portal nil money when it hasn’t gone through the clearinghouse. Offers are being made that won’t clear

BashCtIllini · Jan 10, 2026

Navy_illini said:
I agree but if you can get 1 million in a contract you are making more money than ~100th draft pick. Only round 1 and now 2 guaranteed anything. In the NFL if you are cut you might not have a pay check. If you can go back to school and become a top 50 draft pick then you can make 2 million dollars year

And if you have a down year, or even worse, get hurt? It's not like going back to school is risk free.

I didn't say a projected 5th ground guy should necessarily jump to the NFL. But if you are a projected 1st-3rd rounder, go to the NFL. You won't have to go to class, you will have better people working with you, more time to focus on football, you will be making plenty of money, and working towards NFL veteran status and that 2nd contract where the money starts to get crazy.

fuddrules · Jan 10, 2026

BashCtIllini said:
And if you have a down year, or even worse, get hurt? It's not like going back to school is risk free.

I didn't say a projected 5th ground guy should necessarily jump to the NFL. But if you are a projected 1st-3rd rounder, go to the NFL. You won't have to go to class, you will have better people working with you, more time to focus on football, you will be making plenty of money, and working towards NFL veteran status and that 2nd contract where the money starts to get crazy.

Or if you don't like where you're drafted, come back to college

Isn't that what happened in basketball @ Baylor?

RabidDawgClassic · Jan 11, 2026

Navy_illini said:
For those who do not think players owe money when they break their contract. This one isn’t NIL but revenue sharing. This almost like MLB trades for cash

Texas Tech transfer Brendan Sorsby owes 7-figure payment to Cincinnati due to NIL contract details

This is a fascinating part of the new world.

www.yahoo.com

The person who wrote that headline clearly doesn’t know the difference between NIL and revenue sharing.

BashCtIllini · Jan 11, 2026

fuddrules said:
Or if you don't like where you're drafted, come back to college

Isn't that what happened in basketball @ Baylor?

I don't think that's allowed. I think the NFL would step in and say no even if the NCAA allowed it.

STLini25 · Jan 11, 2026

BashCtIllini said:
I don't think that's allowed. I think the NFL would step in and say no even if the NCAA allowed it.

The NFL has no ability to say no to NCAA eligibility. In fact, the NCAA has little ability to. This is a legal question. I think it’s highly likely this is tested in the next year or two and will likely go in the student athletes favor.

BashCtIllini · Jan 11, 2026

STLini25 said:
The NFL has no ability to say no to NCAA eligibility. In fact, the NCAA has little ability to. This is a legal question. I think it’s highly likely this is tested in the next year or two and will likely go in the student athletes favor.

The NFL absolutely has the right to set the rules for what it means to enter the draft. You cannot have a world where every player is able to say I don't want to play for Cleveland, I'm going back to college. Your draft becomes a farce and completely unfair. If my 2nd round draft pick says, I'm a west coast guy, I don't want to play for the Jets, the Jets just have to eat that loss? That's absurd. It destroys the purpose of the draft.

You can't force a player to do anything. If they refuse to play for the team that drafted them, they can sit out, but that team owns the rights to that player for the length of the rookie contract. So they can sit at home working out on their own, but you can't just let them go back to college and try again.

STLini25 · Jan 11, 2026

BashCtIllini said:
The NFL absolutely has the right to set the rules for what it means to enter the draft. You cannot have a world where every player is able to say I don't want to play for Cleveland, I'm going back to college. Your draft becomes a farce and completely unfair. If my 2nd round draft pick says, I'm a west coast guy, I don't want to play for the Jets, the Jets just have to eat that loss? That's absurd. It destroys the purpose of the draft.

You can't force a player to do anything. If they refuse to play for the team that drafted them, they can sit out, but that team owns the rights to that player for the length of the rookie contract. So they can sit at home working out on their own, but you can't just let them go back to college and try again.

Your original post wasn’t about NFL eligibility nor is this thread about that. Your post and this thread is about NCAA eligibility. The NFL has absolutely no say or power in that.

BashCtIllini · Jan 11, 2026

STLini25 said:
Your original post wasn’t about NFL eligibility nor is this thread about that. Your post and this thread is about NCAA eligibility. The NFL has absolutely no say or power in that.

Yes they do, they say sign this paper. This paper says you agree to play for whatever team drafts you for the length of the rookie contract. If you don't want to sign it, you're not allowed in the draft. Thus, they own you as a football player.

If a team like Cleveland can't draft any players because no one wants to play for them, then your league becomes a joke. If a team loses their 1st round pick because that guy doesn't want to play in the cold, or in that particular city, or for whatever reason, you create a complete imbalance in your league.

So yes, this is a very simple for the NFL (it probably already exists), and the NFL absolutely can control the future of any player that enters the draft by their own free will.

STLini25 · Jan 11, 2026

BashCtIllini said:
Yes they do, they say sign this paper. This paper says you agree to play for whatever team drafts you for the length of the rookie contract. If you don't want to sign it, you're not allowed in the draft. Thus, they own you as a football player.

If a team like Cleveland can't draft any players because no one wants to play for them, then your league becomes a joke. If a team loses their 1st round pick because that guy doesn't want to play in the cold, or in that particular city, or for whatever reason, you create a complete imbalance in your league.

So yes, this is a very simple for the NFL (it probably already exists), and the NFL absolutely can control the future of any player that enters the draft by their own free will.

If your point is the NFL can force their employees (drafted players) to sign agreements restraining the players from playing football in other football leagues, that is beyond super illegal already and cannot be done. If you were in charge of the NFL and did that you would immediately bankrupt the NFL with antitrust lawsuits.

Dkayak · Jan 11, 2026

STLini25 said:
If your point is the NFL can force their employees (drafted players) to sign agreements restraining the players from playing football in other football leagues, that is beyond super illegal already and cannot be done. If you were in charge of the NFL and did that you would immediately bankrupt the NFL with antitrust lawsuits.

I don’t think that’s what he’s saying at all.

It sounds like @BashCtIllini is saying players sign an agreement to play in the NFL (for a defined period) before they’re allowed to enter the draft. Correct or no? It all hinges on this question. I’ll assume that’s how it works, that the NFL owns the NFL draft process? If not, then who does?

Of course nobody is forcing anyone to participate, but accepting the outcome is likely a prerequisite for draft eligibility. After being drafted, you have no option to return to college until after serving your first contract. But if you did default on your draft contract you shouldn’t expect another draft opportunity later. Terrible career move. That’s probably why it doesn’t happen.

There’s a reason it’s called a “draft”. The NFL is the draft board, but unlike a military draft, participation in theirs is entirely optional. However, like a military draft, once you’re drafted they own you for that first contract period, including deciding where you’ll serve. After serving, you can re-enlist or move on to do anything else, including more NCCA football.

The NCAA could remove eligibility limits, allowing NFL players whose careers have peaked to move back down to the NCAA. Slightly over-the-hill NFL QB’s for example could make a lot of money playing college football. The Wild, Wild West lies ahead.

ChiefGritty · Jan 11, 2026

BashCtIllini said:
You cannot have a world where every player is able to say I don't want to play for Cleveland, I'm going back to college.

That is in fact exactly how the MLB draft works.

STLini25 · Jan 11, 2026

Dkayak said:
I don’t think that’s what he’s saying at all.

It sounds like @BashCtIllini is saying players sign an agreement to play in the NFL (for a defined period) before they’re allowed to enter the draft. Correct or no? It all hinges on this question. I’ll assume that’s how it works, that the NFL owns the NFL draft process? If not, then who does?

Of course nobody is forcing anyone to participate, but accepting the outcome is likely a prerequisite for draft eligibility. After being drafted, you have no option to return to college until after serving your first contract. But if you did default on your draft contract you shouldn’t expect another draft opportunity later. Terrible career move. That’s probably why it doesn’t happen.

There’s a reason it’s called a “draft”. The NFL is the draft board, but unlike a military draft, participation in theirs is entirely optional. However, like a military draft, once you’re drafted they own you for that first contract period, including deciding where you’ll serve. After serving, you can re-enlist or move on to do anything else, including more NCCA football.

The NCAA could remove eligibility limits, allowing NFL players whose careers have peaked to move back down to the NCAA. Slightly over-the-hill NFL QB’s for example could make a lot of money playing college football. The Wild, Wild West lies ahead.

That violates antitrust laws BIG TIME

Dkayak · Jan 11, 2026

STLini25 said:
That violates antitrust laws BIG TIME

Sounds like an ordinary employment contract, where you commit to a job for a period of time. Except I guess that the NFL isn’t the employer?

Without guardrails, any team could Hoover up a disproportionate pool of top players. Yet somehow this is prevented. So how does the NFL enforce its draft process? Why aren’t the top guys ignoring the draftoutcomes in a Wild West bidding contest? What keepsthe playing field level? Just goodwill among players and teams? Confused.

STLini25 · Jan 11, 2026

The NFL and your typical employment law situations are very different. I’ll give two brief reasons but there are lots more.

1) Drafted players are NOT employees or in any way contracted with a team or the NFL. Drafted players (obviously) do not have to sign with team that drafts them. They can do anything they want to do instead. Go sell cars, teach, coach, anything. Including playing in another football league. The Canadian Football League or whatever they want. NFL is not allowed to prevent that just because they drafted someone.

2) The NFL restricting drafted players from performing other work related tasks especially playing football SIGNIFICANTLY violates antitrust laws.

The employment laws of the local business and the NFL are night and day different in these aspects.

BretMyBeachHouse · Jan 11, 2026

People might recall the most brilliant draft choice of all time which was Auerbach drafting Larry Bird after his junior year because he had gone through four years in college (one a red shirt).

It would be fascinating to see something like that return. X comes back this year but a team uses a 7th round pick on him and sit on him for a year.

illinistephen · Jan 11, 2026

Dkayak said:
Sounds like an ordinary employment contract, where you commit to a job for a period of time. Except I guess that the NFL isn’t the employer?

Without guardrails, any team could Hoover up a disproportionate pool of top players. Yet somehow this is prevented. So how does the NFL enforce its draft process? Why aren’t the top guys ignoring the draftoutcomes in a Wild West bidding contest? What keepsthe playing field level? Just goodwill among players and teams? Confused.

If you're drafted by an nfl team, that team has your nfl rights for 1 year. The players can either sign with the team that drafted them (what normally happens), request a trade (John Elway/Eli Manning), or re-enter the draft again (Bo Jackson). Players don't usually hold out like this because they lose a year of income, delay the 2nd contract, and risk getting drafted even lower the following year. If a player doesn't want to play for a certain team they can request that team to not draft them but this will cost them money if they are drafted later and the team doesn't have to give in to this request.

The NFL sets rules like needing to be 3 years out of school just like the NBA sets the one and done rule. But it is the NCAA the says whether the player can come back after the draft decision.

In baseball and hockey it is normal for players to be drafted, still go play in college, and get re-drafted later. The NCAA sets different eligibility rules for different sports.

Dkayak · Jan 12, 2026

illinistephen said:
If you're drafted by an nfl team, that team has your nfl rights for 1 year. The players can either sign with the team that drafted them (what normally happens), request a trade (John Elway/Eli Manning), or re-enter the draft again (Bo Jackson). Players don't usually hold out like this because they lose a year of income, delay the 2nd contract, and risk getting drafted even lower the following year. If a player doesn't want to play for a certain team they can request that team to not draft them but this will cost them money if they are drafted later and the team doesn't have to give in to this request.

The NFL sets rules like needing to be 3 years out of school just like the NBA sets the one and done rule. But it is the NCAA the says whether the player can come back after the draft decision.

In baseball and hockey it is normal for players to be drafted, still go play in college, and get re-drafted later. The NCAA sets different eligibility rules for different sports.

Thank-you. Makes sense. The NFL is meticulous about maintaining a level playing field in everything they do. They protect their business by ensuring all teams have similar opportunities. The NCAA business model is broken by comparison.

STLini25 · Jan 12, 2026

Dkayak said:
Thank-you. Makes sense. The NFL is meticulous about maintaining a level playing field in everything they do. They protect their business by ensuring all teams have similar opportunities. The NCAA business model is broken by comparison.

That’s true. It’s because one has significant power to make rules (within constraints for instance CBA) and one has no power.

sbillini · Jan 12, 2026

based in what's been said here, it seems like a potential avenue that the NFL (or NBA) could take is some attempt to restrict future eligibility if you back out once getting drafted. You didn't like how far you down you were on the draft board and/or you don't like the team that drafted you, go back to college, and then try to come back and get drafted again. Seems like that's theoretically possible, but could the NFL/NBA say if you do this, you can't re-enter the draft or, more likely, can't do so for a certain number of years? I'm not sure how anti-trust and CBA sides would play a role in this, but seems like a reasonable way to prevent abuse of the system.

sbillini · Jan 12, 2026

BashCtIllini said:
Yes they do, they say sign this paper. This paper says you agree to play for whatever team drafts you for the length of the rookie contract. If you don't want to sign it, you're not allowed in the draft. Thus, they own you as a football player.

If a team like Cleveland can't draft any players because no one wants to play for them, then your league becomes a joke. If a team loses their 1st round pick because that guy doesn't want to play in the cold, or in that particular city, or for whatever reason, you create a complete imbalance in your league.

So yes, this is a very simple for the NFL (it probably already exists), and the NFL absolutely can control the future of any player that enters the draft by their own free will.

pretty sure this is not the case. The prospective draftee is not contractually obligated to anything prior to being drafted and signing a contract with a team.

STLini25 · Jan 12, 2026

sbillini said:
based in what's been said here, it seems like a potential avenue that the NFL (or NBA) could take is some attempt to restrict future eligibility if you back out once getting drafted. You didn't like how far you down you were on the draft board and/or you don't like the team that drafted you, go back to college, and then try to come back and get drafted again. Seems like that's theoretically possible, but could the NFL/NBA say if you do this, you can't re-enter the draft or, more likely, can't do so for a certain number of years? I'm not sure how anti-trust and CBA sides would play a role in this, but seems like a reasonable way to prevent abuse of the system.

At a quick glance, all of that appears to be allowed except could not take away current CBA rights like being able to re-enter draft.

ChiefGritty · Jan 12, 2026

sbillini said:
based in what's been said here, it seems like a potential avenue that the NFL (or NBA) could take is some attempt to restrict future eligibility if you back out once getting drafted. You didn't like how far you down you were on the draft board and/or you don't like the team that drafted you, go back to college, and then try to come back and get drafted again. Seems like that's theoretically possible, but could the NFL/NBA say if you do this, you can't re-enter the draft or, more likely, can't do so for a certain number of years? I'm not sure how anti-trust and CBA sides would play a role in this, but seems like a reasonable way to prevent abuse of the system.

In the NHL (in which players are drafted at age 18 regardless of where they're playing and don't even "declare", they're just automatically eligible for teams to select if they're of age), a team retains the rights to a player who goes to college for the entirety of their college career.

Once they leave college the player can still refuse to sign though, and become a free agent if they are old enough to no longer be draft eligible.

The moral of the story is that there are a lot of different ways to do this, none of the Big Four sports drafts are exactly the same in terms of eligibility and what rights are conferred to the players drafted.

STLini25 · Jan 12, 2026

ChiefGritty said:
In the NHL (in which players are drafted at age 18 regardless of where they're playing and don't even "declare", they're just automatically eligible for teams to select if they're of age), a team retains the rights to a player who goes to college for the entirety of their college career.

Once they leave college the player can still refuse to sign though, and become a free agent if they are old enough to no longer be draft eligible.

The moral of the story is that there are a lot of different ways to do this, none of the Big Four sports drafts are exactly the same in terms of eligibility and what rights are conferred to the players drafted.

That’s correct. One similarity is that while there some reasonable rules, the restrictions are fairly minimal especially regarding earning income other places.