NIL, Decoded

What NIL actually is

NIL stands for Name, Image, and Likeness. It’s the right to make money off of who you are — your name on a jersey, your face in an ad, your highlight in a brand’s post. For decades, college athletes couldn’t earn a dime from it. Since 2021, they can. That change is real and it’s huge.

But “athletes can make NIL money” turned into a giant game of telephone. By the time it reaches a 14-year-old on TikTok, the truth is unrecognizable. Let’s fix that.

The Texas truth

This is the most important page in this whole course, so read it twice.

A lot of states do let high schoolers do NIL. Texas, as of now, is not one of them — and it’s not even the UIL’s call to change it. It’s up to the state legislature. Until lawmakers act, the answer for a Texas high schooler is simply: not yet.

The one real exception

There is exactly one narrow window where a Texas high schooler can touch NIL, and it’s easy to misread, so here it is precisely:

• If you are a college-bound recruit and you are 17 or older, you may sign an NIL agreement — but only with a college (a postsecondary institution), and only under state law and NCAA rules.
• If you are 16 or younger, you cannot sign an NIL agreement with anyone — not a school, not a company, not a “collective,” nobody.

How college NIL works now

When your kid does get to college, the world they’re walking into changed again in 2025 — and it’s no longer the Wild West everyone pictures.

The House settlement (2025)

A landmark legal settlement now lets schools share revenue directly with their athletes — up to roughly $20.5 million per school in the first year, rising over time. There’s back pay for past athletes too. And a new body, the College Sports Commission, was created to enforce the rules around revenue sharing, NIL deals, and roster sizes.

What that means for your kid

• Real NIL money at the college level is mostly tied to playing time and to school/collective deals — not random brand fame.
• Football rosters were cut to 105 players, so spots are tighter and competition is harder.
• It’s regulated money now. There are rules, disclosure, and an enforcement body. Treat it like a job, not a lottery.

How families get played

Where there’s money and young athletes, there are people looking to take advantage. Here’s how it usually looks:

• A “manager” or “agent” who wants money up front, or a cut of deals that don’t exist yet.
• A “deal” that asks your kid to sign away rights for years for almost nothing.
• Anyone telling a Texas high schooler they can cash in now — that person is either lying or doesn’t know the rules.
• Pressure to sign fast, “before the offer’s gone.” Real opportunities survive a night’s sleep and a parent’s read.

What to actually do right now

So if your kid can’t cash in yet, what’s the move? Build the only two things that turn into NIL money later:

• Get great on the field. NIL follows production. Nobody pays a name nobody’s heard of.
• Protect your eligibility and your grades — the gate to playing in college, where the money actually is.
• Build your film and your verified numbers (your FITE Card) — that’s the asset that gets you recruited.
• Stay clean. One bad deal or a lost season of eligibility costs more than any check you’d have gotten now.