NIL deals mark the latest chapter in a long, uneven saga of college athlete pay

Since the NCAA’s inception in 1906, college athletes have received various forms of compensation, from travel vouchers to tuition coverage, often without formal oversight. The 1948 Sanity Code sought to limit recruiting gifts, but the practice continued, prompting the NCAA to standardize scholarships in 1956. The turning point arrived with Ed O'Bannon’s 2014 class-action suit, which challenged the use of athletes’ likenesses and paved the way for cost-of-living stipends.

Subsequent settlements have permitted schools to allocate up to $21.3 million in revenue to players and legitimize third-party NIL agreements, inflating some football payrolls to $50 million. Lawmakers are now considering a Senate bill that would raise the NIL salary cap to nearly $49 million per institution, aiming to shift spending from third parties to regulated school budgets. If the bill fails, power conferences such as the SEC and Big Ten may develop their own frameworks, with smaller programs fearing financial strain.