“NIL Go,” the new clearinghouse born from the House settlement, is rapidly becoming one of the most discussed and debated developments among college coaches, student-athletes, and their representatives. On December 9, 2024, the NCAA issued guidance requiring any third‑party deal leveraging a student-athlete’s name, image, and likeness (“NIL”) valued at $600 or more be submitted for a fair‑market‑value evaluation. Enter Deloitte’s solution: NIL Go. The new platform forces the threshold deals through a three-step process: (1) payor association verification; (2) business purpose validation; and (3) range of compensation analysis.
STEP 1 Payor association verification begins the process by determining if a payor is considered an “associated” entity or individual, which serves as the threshold question regarding the need for a fair‑market‑value assessment. This evaluation uses criteria including: whether the payor primarily exists to support a school’s athletics program; whether the payor offers exclusive NIL opportunities for the school; if the payor has contributed over $50,000 across its lifespan to the school; and whether the payor employs or is owned by individuals connected to the school or its associated entities.
STEP 2 To make sure a prospective NIL deal has valid business purpose, schools must assess whether the payor’s intention is to legitimately leverage the student‑athlete’s NIL for advancing real business objectives. This assessment at the payor level requires the school to confirm the payor’s identity and intent. Moreover, at the deal level, the schools examine the specifics of the NIL agreement and supporting documentation to identify any concerns. Payors must demonstrate a legitimate commercial rationale behind the deal, such as using the student-athlete’s NIL to promote a good or service offered to the public for profit. Separately, the payor must also ensure the deal is and remains compliant with current NIL regulations and applicable state laws.
STEP 3 The range of compensation analysis conducted by Deloitte applies a multipoint review of the proposed deal to determine if the offered compensation is consistent with deals involving similarly situated student-athletes. Importantly, Deloitte’s analysis only targets third‑party NIL agreements with “associated” payors and relies on historical data from both collegiate and professional athlete deals (excluding squad-based value and recruiting incentives) as benchmarks. Deal factors considered in the multipoint review include (i) the student-athlete’s performance obligations, athletic performance and social media reach; (ii) external benchmarks; and (iii) the local demand and market reach of the student-athlete’s school and athletic program.
Finally, following submission and review, NIL Go will place the deal in one of three categories: “cleared,” “not cleared,” or “flagged for additional review.” The affected student-athlete has the following three options if their executed deal is designated as not cleared: (1) revise the terms of the third-party agreement and resubmit it to the NIL Go platform; (2) terminate the deal in its entirety, which includes the student-athlete refunding whatever monies they already received under the agreement; or (3) appeal Deloitte’s decision through a neutral arbitration process. If a student-athlete fails to act on any of the options and, alternatively, elects to carry out the deal as prescribed, the consequences for both the student-athlete and, if they are aware of the designation, the school could be severe. Student-athletes can anticipate the loss of athletic eligibility being an early consequence of defying the NIL Go process. Importantly, Deloitte does not block deals; instead, it informs student-athletes of the eligibility implications and lets them decide whether to proceed.
NIL Go gives schools and student‑athletes a systematic, transparent method for verifying the perceived legitimacy and objective fairness of NIL deals with associated third-party payors. The platform aims to balance compliance and opportunity, while helping safeguard NCAA eligibility. As more schools onboard the new platform and Deloitte’s processes improve, NIL Go will quickly become central to all qualifying third-party NIL agreements.
Ensuring that student-athletes keep these steps top-of-mind throughout the deal process can be challenging.
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