Glossary

A dispute resolution process in which student-athletes can appeal determinations about their NIL deals. A neutral arbitrator or arbitrators will assess whether a third-party NIL deal is compliant with the new rules.

A third-party NIL deal reported in NIL Go that meets necessary requirements and can proceed.

A reporting system used by participating institutions to track, manage, and report their revenue sharing distribution to ensure compliance with the cap.

An independent governing body responsible for ensuring compliance with the new rules around roster limits, revenue sharing and student-athlete third-party NIL deals.

Any student-athlete who a school attests was or would have been removed from the school’s 2025-26 roster due to the implementation of roster limits who was either:

a. certified as eligible for practice or competition at the school (i.e., on a roster whether as a recruited or walk-on player), during the 2024-25 academic year, prior to April 7, 2025, including student-athletes who transferred, or

b. a student-athlete initial enrollee at a Division I school for the 2025-26 academic year who, prior to April 7, 2025, was recruited to be, or was assured by an institutional staff member they would be, on the school’s roster for the 2025-26 academic year.

A person’s name, nickname(s), picture, portrait, likeness, signature, voice, caricature, identifying biographical information, or other identifiable features.

An online portal developed by the College Sports Commission and Deloitte to determine whether NIL deals are made with the purpose of using a student-athlete’s NIL for a valid business purpose and do not exceed a reasonable range of compensation. This will allow student-athletes to move forward with their deals confidently while protecting their eligibility.

An NIL deal that does not meet the standards for compliance with the new rules based on payor classification, compensation amount, or lack of a valid business purpose.

Refers to the option available to Division I institutions outside the ACC, Big Ten, Big 12, Pac-12 and SEC to be a part of the new model for college sports overseen by the College Sports Commission and share revenue directly with student-athletes and abide by all relevant rules as part of the settlement agreement.

The entity or individual providing NIL compensation to a student-athlete.

A framework for determining if a student-athlete’s third-party NIL compensation is commensurate with compensation paid to similarly situated individuals with comparable NIL value. The RoC is a deal level calculation that is intended to capture a student-athlete’s unique NIL value based upon multiple factors, including but not limited to the deal’s performance obligations, the student-athlete’s athletic performance and social media reach, the local market and the market reach of his or her institution and program. The RoC will also be informed by external benchmarks.

The maximum amount an institution can allocate toward revenue sharing for student-athletes, calculated based on 22% of the average revenue of defined revenue streams among schools in the ACC, Big Ten, Big 12, Pac-12 and SEC.

The total number of student-athletes allowed to be part of the team in each NCAA sport.

Institutions can now award scholarships to any/all student-athletes on the roster for each team, eliminating previous NCAA restrictions on the number of scholarships per team. Schools can now determine how many scholarships to allocate per sport.

Whether the payor is seeking to use the student-athlete’s NIL for a valid business purpose, meaning to sell a good or service to the public for profit.