New North Carolina NIL Bill

[UKnCincy_rivals]

Hadn’t seen any media reports on this, but they just introduced a new bill in North Carolina to give UNC more options for NIL.

I’m not sure if this is an indication that they’re concerned about UNC’s ability to compete, but it’s designed to allow athletes to keep more of their money and to help local business afford to spend more money on NIL. No idea how much support the bill has at the moment.

Some of the key provisions include:

• Athletes would not have to pay state income tax on NIL earnings
• Businesses receive a 50% tax credit on NIL spending, worth up to $500,000 per year
• UNC’s Board of Governor’s will set up a fund to provide matching funds to donations made to UNC’s collective

https://ncleg.gov/Sessions/2025/Bills/Senate/PDF/S563v1.pdf

 

[JonathanW_rivals]

As a NC resident, that pisses me off.
I have to pay state income taxes. Granted it's not a large amount, I think 4.25% for everyone. But why shouldn't they pay?
And why the tax credit, it's advertising (supposedly).

 

[TigerMoving]

Duke has UNC completely unhinged right now

 

[*Fox2Monk*]

As a NC resident, that pisses me off.
I have to pay state income taxes. Granted it's not a large amount, I think 4.25% for everyone. But why shouldn't they pay?
And why the tax credit, it's advertising (supposedly).

Yeah those who make the most money don’t have to pay. It’s BS for sure. I’m all for making money and stuff but if people who can barely afford to live on 100k salaries now have to pay 30% of their income in taxes. So should these dudes making 2 million a season to play ball. No idea how their federal level is taxed probably like an independent contractor I’d say but they get a break there as well.

 

[Joerules19]

Yeah those who make the most money don’t have to pay. It’s BS for sure. I’m all for making money and stuff but if people who can barely afford to live on 100k salaries now have to pay 30% of their income in taxes. So should these duds making 2 million a season to play ball. No idea how their federal level is taxed probably like an independent contractor I’d say but they get a break there as well.

All three of those bullet points are ********. The third thing…. Is the UNC board of governors paid w state tax $$ or is it privately funded

 

[NociHTTP]

Maybe they'll even pay $50,000 for a C- or better on a course.

 

[bigblueinsanity_rivals250340]

Good god.

 

[TucsonCat]

Man, how times change. This jackass wanted to tax the scholarships just 4 years ago

https://www.wcnc.com/article/news/p...ules/275-a14e739e-1c16-439a-9735-04f5e4a3a737

 

[*Fox2Monk*]

All three of those bullet points are ********. The third thing…. Is the UNC board of governors paid w state tax $$ or is it privately funded

You thinks it’s okay for the lower middle class to be taxed on every penny they make and then some? Then this allows guys who make 2 million in what is supposed to be NIL, but is really a stipend to pledge to a school and they get off tax free? I don’t agree with that but whatever. I mean we can’t even win over $600 gambling without those sharks wanting their cut.

 

[Fancatstik]

Oh that’s just great, as if he outrageous money these guys are getting now we have to get politics involved.

 

[*Fox2Monk*]

Oh that’s just great, as if he outrageous money these guys are getting now we have to get politics involved.

Unfortunately we need it at the federal level or else all state laws will be different and there will never be uniform rules.

 

[Seth_C]

So basically they are diverting tax payer dollars to these athletes AND granting them a special privilege to not even pay taxes on that “earning” stolen from tax payers? Oof.

 

[OliverSimmonsTwinBrother]

Hubert is so bad they gonna change the law lmao.

 

[katwest]

North Carolina* is getting desperate now, the brand is slipping so the state government is stepping in to slow that train down.

 

[phunterd]

Big problem exempting athletes from income tax. This is not a caste society.

 

[ukwildcatwildfan]

Hadn’t seen any media reports on this, but they just introduced a new bill in North Carolina to give UNC more options for NIL.

I’m not sure if this is an indication that they’re concerned about UNC’s ability to compete, but it’s designed to allow athletes to keep more of their money and to help local business afford to spend more money on NIL. No idea how much support the bill has at the moment.

Some of the key provisions include:

• Athletes would not have to pay state income tax on NIL earnings
• Businesses receive a 50% tax credit on NIL spending, worth up to $500,000 per year
• UNC’s Board of Governor’s will set up a fund to provide matching funds to donations made to UNC’s collective

https://ncleg.gov/Sessions/2025/Bills/Senate/PDF/S563v1.pdf

This is objectively bad governance but it would be funny to see how mad the Duke people got about it

 

[billCgmx]

So what do you guys think about this?

Louisiana is preparing to become the fourth state to introduce legislation that would exempt student-athletes within its borders from paying state income tax on NIL earnings.

In recent statements to NOLA.com, state representative Dixon McMakin (R-Baton Rouge) indicated that the Pelican State will follow Georgia, Alabama, and Illinois in presenting a bill to enshrine the NIL tax shield to make in-state universities more competitive in recruiting.

https://www.si.com/fannation/name-i...-tax-exemption-push-to-aid-athlete-recruiting

 

[Tubbyfan78]

Talk about wasteful govt policy.

 

[MegaBlue05]

As a working man who pays taxes, NIL should be taxed.

 

[UKnCincy_rivals]

This is objectively bad governance but it would be funny to see how mad the Duke people got about it

Assuming the bill has enough support to pass, it probably depends on how the NIL clearinghouse functions.

Duke athletes also wouldn’t have to pay taxes on NIL earnings and any businesses paying Duke athletes could also claim the tax credit. Duke would be happy with that.

What’s less clear is the potential impact of the new clearinghouse. The bill says that the NC Department of Commerce will establish their own clearinghouse to review all NIL deals above $5,000 for all athletes attending any school in North Carolina. This includes assessing whether the deal is consistent with fair market value.

I’m not sure if this means they are wanting to make sure athletes aren’t under paid, or if it’s trying to make sure they’re aren’t paid too much. If it’s the latter, then this may them trying to rein in how much Duke can offer.

 

[ukwildcatwildfan]

Assuming the bill has enough support to pass, it probably depends on how the NIL clearinghouse functions.

Duke athletes also wouldn’t have to pay taxes on NIL earnings and any businesses paying Duke athletes could also claim the tax credit. Duke would be happy with that.

What’s less clear is the potential impact of the new clearinghouse. The bill says that the NC Department of Commerce will establish their own clearinghouse to review all NIL deals above $5,000 for all athletes attending any school in North Carolina. This includes assessing whether the deal is consistent with fair market value.

I’m not sure if this means they are wanting to make sure athletes aren’t under paid, or if it’s trying to make sure they’re aren’t paid too much. If it’s the latter, then this may them trying to rein in how much Duke can offer.

Good points, it could conceivably help Duke in ways. I was mainly referring to the last bullet point, "UNC’s Board of Governor’s will set up a fund to provide matching funds to donations made to UNC’s collective." Assuming this applied only to UNC and they basically got to double all their collective donations, seems like that would give them a huge advantage (not just over Duke, but also over Duke).

 

[UKnCincy_rivals]

Good points, it could conceivably help Duke in ways. I was mainly referring to the last bullet point, "UNC’s Board of Governor’s will set up a fund to provide matching funds to donations made to UNC’s collective." Assuming this applied only to UNC and they basically got to double all their collective donations, seems like that would give them a huge advantage (not just over Duke, but also over Duke).

Yes, that’s true and you’re potentially right about that. That portion of the bill looks like it’s limited to any constituent institution of the UNC system. I assume that means UNC Chapel Hill, UNC Wilmington, etc. could receive matching NIL donations from the fund but schools like Duke or Wake Forest could not.

Whether that ends up being a benefit depends on what the finances of the UNC system look like. I’m not sure how much UNC would be able to put into the fund and how they’d allocate that across the various UNC schools. But if they could somehow manage to funnel UNC Chapel Hill an extra $5 or $10 million, on top of the revenue share, then Duke might be unhappy with that. I have no clue whether that’s a realistic scenario though.