DOE & Title IX requirements for school-provided NIL

LurkerJoe
Sun, 19 Jan 2025 21:50:50 +0000

Thank you for posting that. There is still much that is up in the air, but my big takeaway is that schools will be on the hook for the actions of NIL collectives in terms of title IX compliance. This stance feels “right” to me, but I wasn’t sure how it would be handled.

There was also some language that there could be exceptions to strict 50/50 rules, with the examples of Olympic athletes or national champions. I have heard the phrase “fair market value” attached to some discussion along these lines. It feels like an attempt to draw a distinction between an athlete you are paying to help your team, and an athlete who will truly bring marketing value if they endorse a product. I bet that distinction will get pushed, abused and negotiated, but not until we see how it plays out a bit.

I am not a lawyer, and this is just me reading and speculating, so would love to hear what others think.