NCAA investigating Miami, BYU for potential pay-for-play NIL violation

The NCAA is investigating both BYU and the Miami Hurricanes for a potential pay-for-play NIL violation, per Sportico. NCAA enforcement staffers are trying to determine if two of the schools’ endorsement deals qualify as a pay-for-play set-up, which is prohibited under the NCAA’s temporary NIL guidelines.

The BYU deal is a partnership with the protein bar company Built that provided compensation for every member of the Cougars football team. The Miami deal in question is an offer from American Top Team, a local gym, to all 90 Hurricanes scholarship football players.

“We have communicated with the NCAA concerning the Built Bar NIL arrangement,” Jon McBride, BYU’s associate athletic director for communications, told Sportico. “They have informed us they do not have any additional questions at this time. We will continue to monitor and abide by the NCAA interim NIL policy.” 

A spokesperson for Miami said that the school has not been contacted by the NCAA about the matter.

The investigation could be a pivotal moment for the NCAA and its NIL rules governing each school. Because of the differing NIL laws from state to state, not each university is currently held to the same standards. Just 28 states have passed NIL laws, according to an October article from the Washington Post.

If a school is in a state that does not have its own law, the NCAA permits it to set its own rules. Florida has its own law, while Utah does not.

Should the NCAA determine that BYU and Miami athletes are in violation of its policies, the next step would likely be a formal investigation. There is no clear timetable for when that might happen.

Some view the deals from BYU and Miami as a way to test the NCAA on what it will and won’t allow in this new era of college sports.

Jason Leonard, the NAAC’s president and executive director of compliance at Oklahoma, said his group pushed the NCAA to move swiftly in shoring up the distinction between permissible and impermissible payments from third parties to college athletes.

“There has been this waiting period to see where the NCAA is going to be,” Leonard said. “If they don’t take any action, then potentially more schools are going to jump in with both feet—because you have to.”

If whole-team NIL deals are permitted, either implicitly or explicitly, Leonard questions whether it is even possible for school compliance departments to monitor whether their athletes are, in fact, getting compensation in exchange for publicity work.

“To me, it looks like some of these deals are inducements,” said Leonard, declining to address any specific school.

NCAA president Mark Emmert said Wednesday that they are investigating “a number” of schools for NIL violations, but did not go into further detail.