By Panayiotis Constantinou, The Sports Financial Literacy Academy
A few years ago, NIL was relatively easy to explain.
Build a following. Find a brand. Post some content. Get paid.
In 2026, that explanation is nowhere near enough.
College sport has entered a new financial era. Student-athletes can still earn through traditional NIL deals, but many can now also receive direct payments from their schools. At the same time, third-party deals face greater scrutiny, commercial opportunities are becoming more sophisticated, and personal brands are increasingly valuable assets.
Opportunity has grown. So has the responsibility to understand it.
NIL is much bigger than social media
An NIL opportunity does not have to involve an Instagram post.
Athletes can earn through:
- brand endorsements
• camps and clinics
• merchandise
• autograph sessions
• public appearances
• content creation
• licensing their name or image
The market has already shown how broad NIL can become. In 2025, McNeese basketball team manager Amir Khan even signed an NIL deal during the team’s NCAA Tournament run, showing that commercial value can come from personality and cultural relevance, not simply playing statistics.
The lesson is simple. Your NIL value is not limited to how many followers you have. It comes from the audience, story and opportunities attached to your identity.
The college sports environment has changed
The biggest change is structural.
Following approval of the House settlement in 2025, participating Division I schools gained the ability to make direct financial payments to athletes. The College Sports Commission now oversees this new system alongside rules governing third-party NIL activity.
This means athletes can potentially have two major streams of college sports income.
The first comes directly from their institution through revenue sharing.
The second comes from outside businesses using their name, image or likeness.
Understanding the difference matters.
School revenue sharing is not the same thing as a sponsorship agreement with a restaurant, sportswear company or local business. Different agreements can carry different tax, contractual and reporting implications.
In other words, “How much am I making?” is no longer enough.
Athletes also need to ask: Where is this money coming from, and what am I agreeing to in return?
Your personal brand is now an asset
This is where athletes need to start thinking more like businesses.
Your brand is not just your logo or social media aesthetic. It is what people associate with your name.
That includes:
- how you communicate
• what you stand for
• the audience you attract
• how consistently you present yourself
• whether businesses see value in reaching your followers
A backup quarterback with a highly engaged local audience could potentially offer more value to a regional business than an athlete with more followers but little connection to that company’s customers.
That is why athletes should start building deliberately.
Clean up your profiles. Decide what type of content represents you. Understand who follows you. Think carefully about which partnerships actually fit.
You do not need millions of followers.
You need an audience that trusts you.
More opportunity means more responsibility
The 2026 environment also has more structure around third-party NIL deals.
Under the post-settlement system, qualifying deals can face reporting requirements and review around whether compensation reflects legitimate commercial activity and fair market value. The objective is to distinguish genuine sponsorship opportunities from payments disguised as recruiting incentives or pay for play.
That means athletes need to become comfortable with documentation.
Know what you are being paid for. Keep contracts. Track payments. Understand your deliverables. Ask questions before signing.
Those habits may sound boring compared with landing the deal.
They are also what protect you after the excitement disappears.
Final thought
NIL in 2026 is no longer simply about getting paid for being an athlete.
It is about understanding a rapidly developing financial system.
Athletes can receive institutional revenue sharing while continuing to build commercial partnerships of their own. That creates enormous opportunity, but it also demands greater awareness around contracts, taxes, branding and compliance.
Your name has value.
Your image has value.
Your audience has value.
Start treating all three like assets.
The Money Smart Athlete® Blog is established and run by the Sports Financial Literacy Academy® (SFLA). Through its education programs, the SFLA has the vision to financially educate and empower athletes of all ages to become better people, not just better athletes. For more information on our courses, our SFLA Approved Trainer Program®, and how they can benefit you and your clients, please get in touch with us at info@moneysmartathlete.com