From the “Wild West” to Fair Play: How Conferences Can Bring Stability and Equal Opportunity to NIL in Collegiate Athletics

Authors

• Sofia M. Giamartino, Fordham University School of Law

Keywords

NIL; name, image, and likeness; college athletics; licensing; group licensing; antitrust law; Sherman Act § 1; NCAA

Abstract

The past twenty years have witnessed a steady dismantling of the National Collegiate Athletic Association’s (NCAA) restrictions on college athletes’ labor rights. As athletes celebrated small victories, both in the courtroom and in state legislatures, the NCAA continued its attempts to restrict benefits granted to its athletes in the name of “amateurism.” Certain restrictions ended on June 30, 2021, with the NCAA continuing to prohibit direct pay and pay from collectives.

With its hand forced, the NCAA abandoned its Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) restrictions, opening the door to long unavailable opportunities for college athletes. These opportunities particularly benefited underrepresented athletes. In fact, some of the highest grossing college athletes are female athletes who have built a brand and following on social media. Over the last few years, the 2024 women’s NCAA March Madness, the 2023 women’s NCAA Volleyball Championship, and the 2026 women’s softball College World Series have drawn the largest total viewership—when combining television and attendance—since these competitions began, sometimes surpassing their male counterparts.

The NIL era of college sports has marked a time of athlete empowerment through the strongest free market proponent: antitrust law. But it also has brought far more questions than answers. With sparse case law on whether certain licensing activities are unreasonable restraints of trade, college athletes must navigate unsettled law and unsettled regulations.

This Note argues that it is up to the conferences, rather than the NCAA, to articulate clear rules regarding the bounds of athlete NIL licensing and to work with athletes to maximize their value. NIL has presented college sports with the opportunity to become not just about the athlete but for the athlete, to work in tandem and for the benefit of the very individuals who are the backbone of the billion-dollar industry of college sports. College sports are on the precipice of a monumental shift in how the industry treats its athletes; this Note simply offers one legal approach to accomplish this task.

Recommended Citation

Sofia M. Giamartino, From the “Wild West” to Fair Play: How Conferences Can Bring Stability and Equal Opportunity to NIL in Collegiate Athletics, 95 Fordham L. Rev. 769 (2026).
Available at: https://ir.lawnet.fordham.edu/flr/vol95/iss2/11