Starting this academic year, Division I schools will be capped at $20.5M per year in direct athlete compensation. That cap will rise by roughly 4% annually — meaning it could reach about $32.9M per school by 2034/35. That’s a staggering amount of money flowing through the system, creating a wave of new millionaires — many of them still not old enough to order a drink at a bar.
Here’s the twist:
Top programs won’t let that cap limit their recruiting power. The real game will be in guaranteed, third-party NIL deals — apparel contracts, multimedia rights (MMR) partnerships, and brand sponsorships — that live outside the cap.
Example: Tennessee’s new Adidas deal gives every athlete, in every sport, an NIL offer. It’s structured, scalable, and compliant. This is a blueprint others will follow.
We see a lot of NIL "businesses" cross our desk. Most are hype with no rails: undercapitalized collectives, brand plays with no distribution, or marketplaces chasing a one time transaction. In short: a lot of noise, very few investable signals.
We haven’t seen another NIL platform that comes close to Scout, and that’s exactly why we backed them. They’re already the financial infrastructure for leading athletic departments, moving millions in NIL and revenue share distributions straight into student-athlete accounts, while delivering the financial literacy and tax guidance that helps athletes keep more of what they earn. As the rules tighten, Scout isn’t chasing the latest fad — they’re building the rails the entire industry will run on.
Investor takeaway:
- The NIL cap isn’t a ceiling — it’s a catalyst.
- Winners will control the compliance, distribution, and financial education layer for schools and brands.
- In a market full of hype, durable infrastructure is where the real value gets created.
The next wave of champions in college sports won’t just wear the jersey — they’ll own the rails.
Advice for Founders in NIL & Revenue Share
If you’re building in this space, understand this: it’s not enough to “be in NIL.” The schools, athletes, and brands don’t need another logo, they need solutions that are compliant, scalable, and embedded into the athletic department’s daily workflow.
- Solve for infrastructure, not headlines. The market rewards those who make the rails run, not those who win one flashy deal.
- Build for compliance from day one. The rulebook is evolving. Your product must be able to flex without breaking.
- Deliver tangible value not just to athletes, but also to university administrators, coaches, agents, and other key stakeholders. If your platform doesn’t solve problems for everyone in the chain, adoption will stall.
- Think beyond sports. NIL is an entry point; revenue share and athlete brand equity are long-term plays.
- Prove you can move real money at scale. If your platform isn’t moving seven figures plus through compliant channels, you’re not ready for prime time.
The winners will treat NIL not as a marketing stunt, but as an ecosystem that can be scaled and sustained.
About the Author
Andy Katz knows a little about NIL and the new landscape of collegiate athletics. In addition to being a sports tech venture capital investor, he co-founded and served as Chairman one of the most successful college sports media businesses in the new NIL landscape, The College Sports Company — an athlete-driven media platform that has transformed how universities, athletes, and brands connect.
Andy isn’t from Sand Hill Road. He’s from the other side of the tracks — a builder who’s taken the long, scrappy road through company creation, exits, failures, and wins. Today, he operates at the intersection of Katz & KO — a venture acceleration platform driving proprietary deal flow, operational leverage, and post investment impact — and BrknPar Venture Fund, the capital engine that backs the right founders with conviction. Together, they form a flywheel that finds, funds, and scales market leading opportunities before the institutions show up.