NIL33 — NIL in 2026: the four layers every athlete deal sits under

People say "NIL law" as if there were one. There are four layers, and a deal has to clear all of them. As of 2026-09-10:

1. Federal: no statute, but the FTC is very much in force

Congress has not passed a NIL law. The SCORE Act (H.R. 4312) was pulled from the House floor in December 2025 and again in May 2026. A broader Senate bill, the Protect College Sports Act of 2026, was introduced in June 2026. An executive order on April 3, 2026 (EO 14400) directed federal agencies but did not preempt state law or grant the NCAA antitrust immunity.

What is federal and binding is the FTC's Endorsement Guides, 16 CFR Part 255, revised June 29, 2023. If you are paid, or get anything of value, and you say something good about a product or service, you disclose the connection clearly: on screen long enough to read, spoken if you are speaking, in every post, including tags and "silent" placements. The advertiser is responsible for monitoring you. That is why NIL33 logs every placement and why Ambassadors say "unpaid" out loud.

2. NCAA: the House settlement changed the money, not the honesty rules

The NCAA's interim NIL policy has been in place since July 1, 2021. On June 6, 2025 a federal judge approved the House v. NCAA settlement ($2.576 billion in back damages). Division I schools that opt in can now share revenue with athletes directly, capped at about $20.5 million per school in 2025-26. Third-party NIL deals over $600 go through a clearinghouse called NIL Go, which checks for a valid business purpose and fair market value, with enforcement by the College Sports Commission.

A NIL33 Champion agreement is a third-party deal. It has a flat fee, named deliverables, and a public ledger entry, which is exactly the shape a fair-market-value review wants to see. An athlete over the threshold reports it; we give them the paperwork.

3. Your state

Georgia's HB 617 took effect July 1, 2021 and carried a sunset of June 30, 2025 or a federal law, whichever came first. That date passed and the statute was not re-enacted: the 2025-26 session's NIL bill, HB 383, covered high school only, passed the House 171-0 in February 2026, and did not pass the Senate. So Georgia has no operative state college NIL statute; the settlement, the College Sports Commission, NCAA bylaws, and school policy govern. Other states differ on agent registration, school disclosure, and high-school eligibility. Check the current statute before signing; we do, and we note it in the signature record.

4. High school

In Georgia there is no high-school NIL statute: HB 383 died in the Senate in 2026. The GHSA rule from October 2023 is the only thing in force, with hard limits: no pay for performance, no recruiting inducement, no school marks or facilities, no school liaison, nothing against district policy, and no mention of NIL in recruiting. A high-school athlete signs with a parent or guardian. That thin rulebook is exactly why a guardian-first verification and a contract check matter more in high school than anywhere else.

What this means at signing time

Flat fee or none. Nothing tied to performance, school choice, or client outcomes.
Disclosure on every placement, logged.
Honors only as the league's own records state them.
Minors: guardian countersigns, no school marks.
Over $600 at a Division I school: report it to NIL Go with the ledger entry.

Sources

Imagery on this site is original and illustrative. No real athlete is depicted, and no one is endorsing anything until their countersigned agreement is on the ledger.