Four years after NIL was established on June 1, 2025 comes another historic landmark settlement in the world of college athletics.
Last Friday, Judge Claudia Wilken approved a deal struck between lawyers representing current eligible players and the NCAA, determining that colleges are now able to pay athletes directly.
In addition to reshaping the NIL landscape under which boosters would indirectly fund salaries for college athletes, the ruling determined that the NCAA has to pay back 2.8B worth of damages to athletes who competed over the last 10 years.
The sentiment behind NIL regulation was echoed by SEC commissioner Greg Sankey.
“If you want an unregulated, open system, just raise your hand and let me know,” Sankey said he asked his coaches, per ESPN. “And universally, the answer is, ‘No, we want oversight. We want guardrails. We want structure,” he added in a call with reporters on June 10.
Arkansas stands to benefit greatly under this system. In prior rankings of NIL efforts, Arkansas shared the No. 33 spot with the Kansas State Wildcats. Six out of ten SEC programs are ranked in the top 10 of NIL efforts.
Under this new system, however, Arkansas is operating under a leveled playing field. Each school has 20.5 million to spend at their discretion, and any other NIL-related effort over $600 has to be cleared by a third-party accounting firm.
In addition to no longer being outbid by programs with a better financial outside backing, the increase in roster size from 85 to 105 could be of great help as a program that historically favors walk-ons. There have not yet been any odds released that take into these changes however, so the outlook on the next season from an outside perspective is not yet clear.
The new rules are set to be enforced immediately and will effectively end the era of collegiate athletics and transition into its brand of professional sports.