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Callan G. Stein

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Cal's broad litigation and investigation practice encompasses white collar criminal matters, corporate and commercial civil litigation, internal investigations, and health care litigation. Cal frequently represents and advises higher education clients, particularly in areas related to collegiate athletics and Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) rights and compliance. Cal provides NIL compliance advice and internal investigation services to major universities, including those that participate in Division I football and basketball, and likewise advises schools on athletics contracts, conference affiliations, conference realignment, and other NCAA-related issues. Cal also represents and advises businesses on NIL contracts, as well as NIL collectives on formation and compliance matters. Cal hosts the firm's "Highway to NIL" podcast that discusses the legal landscape and developments in the area of NIL law.

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In this episode of Highway to NIL, Troutman Pepper Locke attorneys Cal Stein, Chris Brolley, and George Pla look at the post-House settlement landscape, including the revenue-sharing pool that allows schools to pay athletes up to 22% of athletic revenue. They examine how those payments may impact athletic budgets and nonrevenue sports, and how schools may seek to make up any shortfalls by, among other things, maximizing their media rights revenue through incentive-based agreements and exploring private capital investments.

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.

In this episode of Highway to NIL, Troutman Pepper Locke attorney Cal Stein breaks down President Trump’s “Saving College Sports” executive order. Stein highlights the order’s push for new name, image, and likeness (NIL) guardrails, protection and expansion of women’s and nonrevenue sports, and a crackdown on third-party pay-for-play payments. He also discusses the call for federal agencies to clarify student-athlete status, signaling possible changes ahead for college athletics governance. 

As we reported last week, the College Sports Commission (CSC) issued initial guidance on how it would evaluate student-athlete NIL deals. As part of that guidance, the CSC promised to make available additional information “pending discussions with House class counsel.”

In this episode of Highway to NIL, Troutman Pepper Locke attorneys Cal Stein, Mike Lowe, and Brett Broczkowski delve into the latest guidance from the College Sports Commission (CSC) regarding name, image, and likeness (NIL) deals. They explore the criteria set by the CSC for evaluating NIL deals, including payer association, valid business purpose, and range of compensation. The discussion highlights the implications for associated entities, particularly collectives and boosters, and the potential shift in their roles due to the new guidelines.

In this episode of Highway to NIL, Troutman Pepper Locke attorneys Cal Stein and Chris Brolley discuss the recent Q&A document released by the NCAA and conferences, focusing on the guidance providing clues for how enforcement may look under the College Sports Commission in the post-House settlement landscape. Among other topics, they examine the role of the College Sports Commission in investigating NIL rule violations, the arbitration process for contested penalties, and enforcement issues related to high school and transfer athletes. The episode also covers compliance with roster limits, the benefits cap, and scrutiny of third-party NIL deals involving associated entities.

The newly formed College Sports Commission has named its first two executive leaders as it begins formal operations in the wake of the House v. NCAA settlement. Bryan Seeley[1] will serve as the commission’s inaugural chief executive officer and Jonathan Bramlette[2] will serve as its director of operations…

A week after the approval of the $2.5 billion class action settlement of House v. NCAA (settlement), the NCAA and defendant conferences (i.e., Atlantic Coast Conference, Big Ten Conference, Big 12 Conference, Pac-12 Conference, and Southeastern Conference) released a question and answer document (Q&A Guidance) providing guidance on the settlement’s implementation. This post covers insights from some of the Q&A Guidance for Division I membership to consider on the eve of radical collegiate athletic change.