College athletics has changed considerably in recent years as NCAA rules have expanded student-athletes’ ability to benefit from their name, image, and likeness (NIL). Today, athletes have more opportunities to build their personal brands, earn compensation, and gain professional experience while in college.
As the official NIL Collective for Hampton University, our mission is to equip them with the tools they need to navigate these new ventures. We help build financial literacy, business skills, and personal marketing knowledge to support them throughout their careers. That means investing not only in NIL opportunities but also in the education and industry connections that help athletes approach them with greater confidence.
Preparing Athletes for the Business Behind NIL
An NIL opportunity can require an athlete to make real business decisions almost overnight. They may be asked to review a contract, negotiate compensation, create content for a brand, make an appearance, work with an agent, or determine whether a partnership aligns with the personal brand they are building. Effective NIL education helps prepare athletes to ask the right questions, including:
- What should I know before entering an NIL partnership?
- What does a brand expect from me in return?
- How do I evaluate whether an opportunity fits my personal brand?
- What am I agreeing to when I sign a contract?
The goal is to give athletes the knowledge to make informed decisions and recognize when additional expertise may be needed. For 68 Oak, that education is also strengthened through Hampton’s alumni network and relationships with business and industry leaders. These connections give supporters an opportunity to contribute beyond financial backing by sharing the insight, experience, and professional guidance that can help athletes grow throughout their careers.
What Impact Do NIL Regulations Have on College Athletes?
To understand why NIL education matters, it helps to look at just how quickly the rules surrounding college athletics have changed.
2021: College Athletes Gain Broad NIL Opportunities
On June 30, 2021, the NCAA adopted its interim Name, Image and Likeness policy, allowing incoming and current student-athletes across all three divisions to benefit financially from their NIL. That change opened the door for college athletes to participate in opportunities such as brand endorsements, sponsored social content, appearances, autograph signings, camps, and other commercial activities.
2024: Schools Can Provide More NIL Support
The NCAA continued to adjust its rules as the NIL marketplace developed. In April 2024, the NCAA Division I Board of Directors updated its NIL rules to allow schools to provide greater assistance to student-athletes pursuing NIL activities. Schools could identify opportunities and facilitate agreements between student-athletes and third parties, while athletes retained authority over the terms of those agreements.
Later that year, the focus expanded to NIL education and transparency. Student-athletes had access to additional resources covering tax implications, intellectual property, NIL agreement trends, and more. This became an integral component of student-athlete protection.
2025: The House Settlement Changes the Financial Landscape
Another significant change arrived on June 6, 2025, when the federal court approved the House v. NCAA settlement. It created a framework that allows participating Division I institutions to provide direct financial benefits to student-athletes, with the initial benefits cap set at approximately $20.5 million for the 2025–26 academic year.
The new model brought additional oversight to third-party NIL arrangements. Under the NCAA's NIL guidelines, legitimate third-party NIL arrangements must serve a valid business purpose and provide compensation within a reasonable range of comparable compensation. Pay-for-play remains prohibited.
That is exactly why NIL education has become so important. Today’s students are being introduced to business decisions that previous generations of college athletes rarely had to navigate as they maintained their eligibility.
Continuing NIL Education at Hampton
68 Oak’s relationships with organizations and professionals working directly within the NIL industry help bring real-world expertise into that learning experience. In our recent Q&A with Antoine Burrell, founder of B.E. Collective+, he identified clarity and preparedness as two of the biggest gaps in NIL education facing student-athletes. While opportunities continue to grow, athletes still need greater exposure to brand expectations, sponsorship literacy, and long-term positioning.
That is the environment our collective is working to strengthen at Hampton. This September, we will host an educational event in partnership with Burrell. The focused three- to four-hour workshop will give athletes a practical understanding of how to approach NIL from day one, with an emphasis on real-world application.
Stay connected with 68 Oak Collective for more information about the upcoming B.E. Collective+ session and future opportunities to support our Pirates.