Thanks to rule changes, college athletes can now receive compensation for their name, image, and likeness (NIL). However, it's important that sports organizations deal with these donations in ethical ways and these tips can help with that.

Make Sure Donations Are Awarded to Current Players

Your sports team probably will put a lot of energy into scouting players. However, until these players are signed, they can't be awarded NIL compensation. It's strictly reserved for players that are currently on your team. This keeps the playing field fair as it prevents your team from attracting talented prospects with the promise of ample NIL compensation.

If they decide to join your college sports team because of its history or winning percentage, then they can be awarded NIL compensation after they've officially signed. As long as your team stays aware of this, it won't suffer any kind of infraction. 

See What Forms of Compensation Are Acceptable

So that your college sports team abides by the right regulations as far as your players accepting NIL compensation, you need to find what forms of compensation are acceptable. There are other forms besides strictly donations, such as discounts and donors paying for meals of players on your team.

You just want to find out exactly what compensation your players can accept and then make sure all of your players know about this. Your team will then have no issues remaining compliant and maximizing NIL donations for college athletes every year.

Consult With a Licensing Attorney

In order for your college athletes to receive compensation from donors for their name, image, or likeness, these deals have to be properly licensed. Otherwise, your team and its players could come under scrutiny and may even face infractions that are hard to come back from.

You won't have to worry about this so much if your sports team just consults with a licensing attorney who's well-versed in NIL donations and protocols that must be followed in regards to them. They can structure NIL deals appropriately and get your players the proper licensing, so they don't have to worry about doing anything illegal when it comes to profiting from their name, image, or likeness.

College athletes now can receive NIL donations from donors, which is great because it lets them benefit from their hard work on the field. If you manage a sports organization with athletes receiving these donations, you want to make sure they do everything by the book.