The New NIL Go Tool is Already a Disaster

Remember when we were told that the House settlement would fix the NIL mess? That there would be guardrails to get everyone operating under the same rules? Buddy, I got some bad news for you, and some swampland for sale in Idaho.

The House settlement created a revenue-sharing model as the primary way to compensate athletes. Leaders did not intend to completely replace NIL, but this would take power back from handlers and agents and put it back into the hands of schools.

Completely eliminating a player’s power to use their Name, Image, and Likeness to make money was out of the question. However, they wanted to create a system that would ensure players received fair market deals, rather than simply being paid to play. The new College Sports Commission teamed up with Deloitte to create NIL Go as a clearinghouse for all NIL deals.

Three months later, schools are already bypassing the process.

NIL Collectives Bypass NIL Go

Front Office Sports reports that at least two NIL Collectives have started paying players before deals have been approved by NIL Go. Some aren’t even being submitted to the clearinghouse. Why are they breaking the rules? Because the clearinghouse is moving too slow.

“Since NIL Go launched in mid-June, however, players, agents, and NIL collective operators have told FOS they’ve waited weeks or longer to receive any feedback on submitted deals. (Last month, a group of collectives reported that about $11 million worth of deals were stuck in limbo.) As a result, many across the industry have begun to eschew NIL Go altogether.”

Front Office Sports sources say that a pair of SEC collectives began paying smaller four-figure deals while athletes and agents “badgered” them to receive compensation for deals that hadn’t been approved by NIL Go. The other problem with the system: Players don’t want to submit deals into the system because they don’t know how to use it.

Why This is a Predictable Disaster for Kentucky

For the House settlement to effectively work, it requires a federal antitrust exemption. In short, they need Congress to pass a law so the NCAA can spend its time governing, rather than losing lawsuits. Mitch Barnhart encouraged Kentucky fans to urge the representatives to pass the SCORE Act, but the legislation’s time on the floor was delayed earlier this month.

Why does this matter specifically to Kentucky?

Mitch Barnhart has tried to stay ahead of the curve in the rev-share era. It started by transitioning UK Athletics to an LLC. That was praised throughout the SEC. His other early move? Move Kentucky’s NIL collectives in-house. All NIL efforts are now managed by JMI, who is operating under the letter of the NIL Go law. Meanwhile, Kentucky’s competition around the SEC is still using NIL Collectives that are doing whatever they want because they can.

Right now, there are no rules in college athletics. Mitch Barnhart is following the rules that aren’t being enforced. The only way for them to be enforced is for Congress to pass legislation, and they can’t even keep their doors open. Kentucky has backed itself into a corner.