Ross Bjork reveals Ohio State's NIL philosophy, predicts third-party deals as 'next race'

Through the early part of the revenue-sharing era, Ross Bjork’s philosophy at Ohio State has been about being aggressive. That means maximizing the rev-share cap in place following House v. NCAA settlement approval.

But the landscape will continue to shift, and Bjork predicted what the “next race” will be in college sports. He sees third-party NIL deals as the next key area of emphasis.

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Speaking with Front Office Sports, Bjork evaluated the post-House landscape and where it could shift next. The NIL Go clearinghouse is will be a key part of the equation as schools submit deals for approval under settlement terms.

“The next race in this space, how do we create as much third party NIL opportunities as possible – so, above-the-cap – that will pass NIL Go?” Bjork said on FOS Today. “That will pass the clearinghouse?

“That’s going to be the philosophy is go all-in. Create opportunities so you know you have your rev-share cap, and then you know you have a certain pile of resources that can be deployed towards athletes. That’s how we’re looking at it at Ohio State.”

NIL Go is playing an important role in the new era of college athletics. It is meant to vet deals worth more than $600 to help determine fair market value while also ensuring the agreements meet a valid business purpose.

In its first data release, the College Sports Commission – which, along with outside consultation from Deloitte, oversees the clearinghouse – cleared more than $35 million in NIL deals. A total of 8,359 deals have gone in the system to date, which have a $79.8 million total value. Of that total, 6,090 deals have been cleared.

Ross Bjork: ‘We have to embrace everything’

But while third-party deals are and will be important, according to Ross Bjork, there’s also the need to continue making the most of the rev-share cap. Each school has the $20.5 million figure if it opted into the settlement. From there, it comes down to putting the dollars to the right use.

“We have to embrace everything,” Bjork said. “So, really, the philosophy on NIL is embrace it at the highest level, be as aggressive as you can be given the environment. A lot of the rules haven’t been published yet. We’re still waiting on some of that piece of it.

“So, how do you maximize your rev-share number? Which, everybody has the same ability to go up to the $20.5 million. Everybody has that same number. How you spend that can all be variant, depending on your institution.”