"Reflections From NACDA..." or "How I Spent My Summer Vacation Discussing NIL, Settlements, and Revenue Generation, With 7500 Friends."

Of course I wore pink pants.

When I was told that Bryan Fischer from Sports Illustrated would be conducting the interview I inquired if I should wear a Speedo. That request was denied and for sound reason.

At the 2025 NACDA annual meeting, I had the privilege of being interviewed with Cornell University Athletics AD Nicki Moore and Mizzou Athletics AD Laird Veatch where we discussed the evolving state of #NIL especially in light of the recent House VS. NCAA Settlement.

Full video to follow; key takeaways:

• Although the Ivy League has opted out of the settlement, they still have incredibly entrepreneurial and engaging athletes ripe for NIL opportunities. The key is education on how to utilize all the resources available to them- especially tools like Linked In and other resources allowing them to capture the attention of the corporate recruiters, not just the corporate marketers.

• Schools like Missouri get the big picture and have been incredibly proactive leading up to the settlement (as opposed to NUMEROUS (!!!) programs that have taken a "wait to see" position and are now finding themselves woefully behind.) Engaging on-campus resources such as marketing and law students to help enhance NIL practices is not only smart but further fosters an overall team / school environment and ownership.

• Education is still king. While symposiums and alums offering time to do seminars on financial literacy and career transition have been beneficial, meeting the students where they are and through methodologies they can relate to is paramount to successful knowledge retention and growth. An athlete's time and bandwidth are among their greatest resources and needs to be maximized.

• Revenue generation is EVERYTHING. This was echoed throughout numerous conversations during the conference- across ALL levels- D1, D2, and D3. With the introduction of private equity into the conversation at Penn and UCLA, this is only the beginning. Unique, consultative approaches with the schools via private equity can unlock revenue generating opportunities without necessarily having to sell the school's soul to the devil. (No Duke University we are not alluding to you; it's just an expression.)

• Supporting ALL athletes across ALL sports will be a hallmark of a successful athletic program. As much as the settlement brings football and basketball front and center, taking away key support systems from other teams have left certain athletes at some universities feeling like "second class citizens," and questioning why they should stay with a certain program that is clearly cutting every which way possible (without cutting the sport outright- que the lawsuits- while other schools are building out their programs. See also: women's volleyball, lacrosse, and soccer.

• Streamlining service providers and anything else to ease the workload for school NIL staff is a welcomed relief. As a focus on costs and time involved in the space with the athletes and staff grows, ensuring that the athletes are getting the services they need across a spectrum of NIL related areas- brand building, financial literacy, mental health services, career transition, etc. is beneficial beyond belief.

Some additional considerations from the various panels and cocktails, some of which may or may not have happened at the same time.

• Non-Power 5 and D2 and D3 schools are going to be much more aggressive and competitive within the NIL world and should not be overlooked. They are also taking a renewed (and welcomed) focus on a holistic approach to true college athletes who are also students. This sentiment was echoed by Eric Hildenbrand from Bowling Green State University, Bert Epting, Jr., Ph.D. from Anderson University (SC), and Colin Hargis Florida Gulf Coast University.

• Although compliance and deal reporting are set to go into effect almost by the time you read this, NOBODY (this was universal) has any real idea of how to work through NIL GO and there is a significant need for education around this. While the compliance and deal evaluation mechanisms were endless fodder over cocktails, it was generally agreed that it was a positive step forward to getting some much-needed guardrails and structure in place. Kristi Dosh, Katie Davis, CPA, and Ksenia Maiorova did a great job walking through some of the legal minefield in the compliance area- especially given the added issues concerning international students.

Finally...

Hopefully as an attendee, you didn't just use the exhibition hall as a place to see how many tuna poke ice cream cones you could eat in between Coronas. (I reached double digits.) If you didn't spend some time with Kennedy Muff and Sara Day from Podium X, Andrew Phillips from Fanstake, Keith Miller from Influxer or Joe Giunta from AG Insurance, you missed out on key opportunities to bolster your NIL services. (I should probably disclose that we work with all of these folks on some level and love all the service providers equally as if they were our own children- a lesson my own parents could have learned, but I digress.) A focus on empowering the athletes and thereby, the athletic departments, is EVERYTHING.

Being able to engage with everyone on a personal level when so much is done on Zoom or Linked In, is one of the greatest attributes of #NACDA and shout out to Erik Christianson and his staff for the thankless work of putting it all together. Including Noreen at the registration desk who was kind enough to let me know my car was on fire in the valet. (It wasn't actually, although I did come in running a little hot out of fear of being late for the interview, so it was smoking a tad...)

NACDA even brings rivalries together in a spirited competition of a makeshift table football game with University of Florida Ben Chase graciously losing to University of South Florida Allison Iverson.

See y'all in '26...

#NIL #LinkedInSports #NCAA #athleticdirectors #marketing #brandbuilding #education #NILENT