re: Opt out and NIL

Are you asking how it could be construed as “pay for play” if an athlete’s NIL deal gets yanked as soon as they stop playing for a particular school?

If playing for said school is a condition of the endorsement deal, then it is quite literally pay for play. Again, it may not matter to the player since he’s gone anyway but the university could still get in hot water.

I know it’s against the rules for an NIL deal to be contingent on signing with a particular school - e.g. a company saying “we will give you $XX to sign autographs if you come to LSU.” Although I’m not naive, and I realize these kinds of deals will almost certainly happen under the table.

What I’m not sure of is whether saying “we will give you $XX to sign autographs as long as you continue to play for LSU” would fall under the same rules. I would think that NIL deals would be structured based on a time period, not enrollment status, to be safe.