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Cheesehead
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Middleton's understanding of it, at that time, was pretty much straight forward. It indicated the separation between the schools and the NIL money. So, what's changed? Essentially schools are now actually giving money directly to student athletes and being reimbursed by the outside collectives. The amount is insignificant what it means is that schools can give a player NIL money directly and essentially accepting it makes the agreement a binding contract. That's what Wisconsin is essentially doing from all outside appearances.Are you confusing "Letters of Intent", with a students intent to attend a certain University and compete in a sport(s) there? An NIL deal is completely separate from those.
From what I understand about an NIL "Deal", is it is a written contract. However, one rule the NCAA does enforce is "no pay for play contracts." The NIL deal is supposed to be just what the name implies "Name, Image and Likeness". So the athlete is signing that deal with someone that will profit from using any or all of those 3 things. Just like any written contract, as long as it is "legal contract", once both parties sign to it, it is enforceable.
As far as "services" to be performed by the athlete, guessing that would be stipulated in the contract, ie "promo's, tours, photo shoots, etc.", as would the amount of pay be stipulated. However, I don't think it can have anything to do with their actions in their particular sport. Meaning it can't say "You get paid for playing at this level or that level."
Somehow the deals are tied to the athlete playing for a specific team during the contract. Otherwise, they would be useless to one party, as to what they were intended to do.
The article below is a year old, so who knows if things have changed since it was written.
Know the Law: Understanding a NIL Contract - McLane Middleton
Q: I am a student-athlete and I just received a NIL contract from a business. What should I be aware of before I sign the contract? A: As the twowww.mclane.com
If Wisconsin and Lucas signed an agreement where he would get so much money over a period of time, and advanced him any portion of it, this would mean he's already collecting on what can be considered a contract. If you look at the situation that happened with A.J. Storr, you get a little better picture of what's happening.
AJ Storr has a partnership with Mass St. Collective, an NIL collective that supports University of Kansas student-athletes.
Explanation
- Storr is a basketball player who transferred to Kansas from Wisconsin in 2024.
- Storr was a top scorer for Wisconsin, averaging 16.8 points per game.
- Storr was looking for a seven-figure NIL deal with Kansas, but the Jayhawks offered $750,000. Storr turned down the offer.
- Storr also considered NIL deals with other schools, including Illinois and Kentucky.
- Storr's NIL partnership with Mass St. Collective involves promoting products on social media and participating in events.
KU Sports
With a new era of compensation for college athletes on the horizon, the Mass St. Collective has ceased operations, Executive Director Keon Stowers told the Journal-World on Thursday. The collective has long facilitated payments to University of Kansas athletes for name, image and likeness...
You'll also notice in the statement relating to Storr, the school itself set the limit at $750k while Storr wanted $1 million. The difference between Storr and Lucas is that Storr left Wisconsin and put feelers out for the 2nd year in a row to get the best deal he could, and it ended up Kansas.
The way NIL is structured now, I'd venture a guess that the newest NIL agreements tendered by the schools is going to be considered a contractual agreement, and the length will be determined at the time of signing.
It takes a lawyer or someone who is talking to insiders to fully understand where this is going. Like I said, I trust my sources.
