The NCAA Division I Board of Directors has adopted emergency legislation that allows the College Sports Commission (CSC) to declare Division I student-athletes ineligible for failing to disclose noninstitutional name, image, and likeness (NIL) deals within five days of entering into those deals. The emergency amendment also imposes obligations on institutions that learn that a student-athlete has failed to disclose the NIL deal.

The emergency legislation, adopted October 28, expands the section on Reporting and Clearinghouse Review of Name, Image, and Likeness Activities in Section 22.2 of the NCAA bylaws. Specifically, Section 22.2.2.2, Timing of Reporting, has been amended to include the following language:

Failure to report an agreement or payment within the five-day period may result in disciplinary action by the CSC, which may include rendering the student-athlete ineligible for future practice and competition.

The NCAA also amended Section 22.2.2.2 to include new “Institutional Obligations Upon Discovery,” which require schools to review and report within two business days whether a violation occurred (i.e., if its student-athlete failed to report an NIL deal of more than $600 to NIL Go). If a school finds that a student-athlete failed to report a deal, the school must notify the CSC of the violation. If, after this two-day period, the student-athlete has not yet reported the NIL deal, the CSC will declare the student-athlete ineligible for practice and competition until the deal is reported.

This emergency amendment came one day before the CSC announced the hiring of Katie Medearis, the former Criminal Division chief at the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Western District of Virginia, as its head of investigations and deputy general counsel. Beginning November 10, Medearis will oversee compliance and enforcement of the revenue-sharing system created in the House v. NCAA settlement for the CSC.

Medearis joins CSC executive leaders Bryan Seeley and Jonathan Bramlette after serving in several prominent roles within the U.S. Attorney’s Offices in Virginia and California, including investigating complex criminal conspiracies such as financial fraud, dark-web narcotics, trafficking, cyberstalking, and counterintelligence.[1] Medearis takes over at a time when there is more confusion than clarity, and many in the industry are questioning the effectiveness of the CSC and its ability to police NIL deals in the “Wild West.”

With the emergency amendment and the hiring of Medearis, both the NCAA and the CSC appear to be signaling an intent to bolster their capability and capacity to enforce the House settlement and ensure compliance with NCAA bylaws. As seen with the hiring of Seeley and Bramlette, the NCAA and CSC seem to be prioritizing their focus on investigating and enforcing NIL-related rules violations. While it remains to be seen whether schools will self-report violations by its student-athletes, as was expected prior to the House settlement and the creation of the CSC, the NCAA and CSC are clearly taking additional steps to clarify that all stakeholders are on notice of their obligations should a student-athlete fail to report an NIL deal.

[1] College Sports Commission hires former federal prosecutor as head of enforcement