The Best Name, Image, and Likeness Resources for College Athletes

Many people nickname name, image, and likeness (NIL) as the Wild West, and unfortunately, the moniker accurately represents the lack of oversight in NIL. 

College athletes are often left to their own devices for navigating NIL because the NCAA delegates all governing to the schools, conferences, and states.

Instead of navigating it alone, all college athletes should consider the following resources on branding, taxes, and compliance as their guidebook to their monetization. 

BRANDING

To establish a personal brand, look no further than the book “Athletes Are Brands Too” by Jeremy Darlow. This book, broken down into easy-to-understand concepts, “teaches athletes at every level how to build a brand that can lead to success in life, regardless of what happens in their athletic career.” 

It is a phenomenal resource that guides athletes through deciding how they want to be known and then taking that knowledge and allowing it to dictate everything they do. 

TAXES

Money and taxes are difficult enough without adding in the layer of college athletics, which is why it is crucial to understand how NIL earnings can be taxed. A great resource is On 3’s article titled “College players who made NIL money have new homework – paying taxes.”

@Jeremy Crabtree’s article includes the following critical points:

• “Tax experts say any net income from NIL activities – including non-cash compensation – is considered taxable income.”

• “As independent contractors, college athletes are responsible for making their own estimated federal and state tax payments. This includes both the employer and employee portion of Social Security and Medicare taxes.”

H&R Block, like many tax advising companies, dedicates resources to college athletes to go along with their services. 

Whether it is a service like H&R Block or other assistance, athletes should do their best to find an outside source to review their taxes. 

COMPLIANCE

if the athlete's NIL deal isn't NCAA compliant, their compensation is negligible. The best place to go for compliance information is an athlete’s compliance office and the detailed compliance rules on the athletic department's website. For example, the University of Texas at Austin’s NIL rules are HERE. Conferences and states can also have specific rules, and Business of College Sports has a great aggregate in their “Tracker: NIL Policies by Institution.”

Whether it’s branding, taxes, or compliance, the best piece of advice for college athletes trying to navigate branding, taxes, or compliance is not to do it alone.