College watchdog group rejected 500-plus NIL deals worth nearly $15 million, but cleared many more

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The College Sports Commission has rejected nearly $15 million in name, image, likeness agreements since it started evaluating them over the summer, representing more than 10% of the value of all the deals it has analyzed and closed.

The CSC released its latest statistics Monday, saying it did not clear 524 deals worth $14.94 million, while clearing 17,321 worth $127.21 million. All the data was current as of Jan. 1.

The numbers came against the backdrop of a “reminder” memo the commission sent to athletic directors last week, citing “serious concerns” about contracts being offered to athletes before they had been cleared through the commission's NIL Go platform.

The CSC is in charge of evaluating all deals worth more than $600 that are offered by third-party businesses that are often affiliated with the schools recruiting the players.

“Without prejudging any particular deal, the CSC has serious concerns about some of the deal terms being contemplated and the consequences of those deals for the parties involved,” the Friday night memo said.

The CSC said primary reasons for deals not being cleared were that they lacked a valid business purpose; they didn't directly activate a player's NIL rights, instead “warehousing” them for future use; and that players were being paid at levels that weren't “commensurate with similarly situated individuals.”

The memo reminded ADs that signing players to deals that hadn't been cleared by the CSC left the players “vulnerable to deals not being cleared, promises not being able to be kept, and eligibility being placed at risk.”

Other statistics from the latest report:

—There were 10 deals in arbitration as of Dec. 31, eight of which have since been withdrawn. All involved a resolved administrative issue at one school not named by the CSC.

—52% of deals submitted to NIL Go were resolved within 24 hours.

– 73% of deals reached resolution within seven days following submission of all required information.

–56% of the 10,848 athletes who have at least one cleared deal play football or men's basketball.

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