NCAA Stopping Investigations Into NIL Collectives, Wild West Is Officially Here

Getty Image / Julio Aguilar

It wasn’t that long ago where the NCAA limited how many and what kind of meals a student-athlete could receive in a day. Those days are long gone.

Now, with the advent of Name, Image and Likeness rights being granted to student-athletes in 2021, they can earn big bucks playing college athletics.

Some of that money comes through legitimate sponsorships or brand deal with companies of all sizes, large and small. But, a lot of it comes through NIL collectives that are loosely affiliated with specific schools.

These collectives have one main purpose, which is to raise and distribute money to their preferred school’s athletes. Basically, they’re footing the bill for compensating the majority of power conference football and basketball players.

The NCAA was regulating the activities of these collectives, which can’t use pay-for-play as an enticement for players to pick certain schools. But, when they tried to come down on the Tennessee Volunteers for conduct relating to their NIL collective, Tennessee fought back.

The state’s Attorney General’s office sued the NCAA in late January for what they claimed was illegal enforcement of private enterprise. They won a preliminary injunction stopping such enforcement, dealing a huge blow to the NCAA. That basically has created a Wild West situation when it comes to how collectives are operating.

On Friday, the NCAA basically gave up on any kind of enforcement when it comes to NIL collectives. NCAA President Charlie Baker put out a letter saying that the NCAA would not open any more investigations relating to collectives and would pause investigations currently underway.

So, it seems like anything goes now. That’s probably fine. But, it’s a far cry from where college athletics were a decade ago, that’s for sure.