What actually governs a NIL deal.
Federal, NCAA, state, and high-school layers, each with the source and the date it was checked. This is a working reference for Champions, Ambassadors, parents, and programs, not legal advice; a real question goes to counsel, and UnyKorn will say so rather than guess.
| Layer | What it says | What it means for a NIL33 deal | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Federal · statute | None in force. The SCORE Act (H.R. 4312, 119th Congress) was pulled from the House floor in December 2025 and again in May 2026. The Protect College Sports Act of 2026 was introduced in the Senate (Cruz, Cantwell, Schmitt, Coons) in June 2026. Executive Order 14400 (April 3, 2026) directs agencies but does not preempt state law or grant antitrust immunity. | A NIL33 agreement relies on state contract law, the FTC guides, and NCAA/school rules, not on a federal NIL statute. | Congress.gov H.R. 4312; Morgan Lewis, May and June 2026; Bradley, June 2026 |
| Federal · FTC | 16 CFR Part 255 (Endorsement Guides), revised June 29, 2023: material connections must be disclosed clearly and conspicuously (unavoidable, on-screen long enough, spoken when speaking), tags and silent placements count, advertisers must monitor endorsers, AI and virtual influencers in scope. | Every paid Champion placement carries the disclosure; Ambassadors say "unpaid"; UnyKorn logs placements and checks them. | eCFR 16 CFR 255; FTC, June 29, 2023 release |
| NCAA · Division I | Interim NIL policy since July 1, 2021. House v. NCAA settlement approved June 6, 2025 ($2.576 billion): schools may share revenue with athletes, cap about $20.5 million per school in 2025-26; third-party NIL deals over $600 go through the NIL Go clearinghouse for valid-business-purpose and fair-market-value review; enforcement by the College Sports Commission. | A Champion agreement with a Division I athlete is a third-party deal: flat fee, real deliverables, fair value, and (over $600) reported by the athlete to NIL Go. UnyKorn provides the agreement and the ledger entry for that report. | CRS LSB11349; Ropes & Gray, June 2025; CUPA-HR, June 9, 2025 |
| Georgia · college | House Bill 617 (signed May 2021, effective July 1, 2021; O.C.G.A. Title 20, Chapter 3) let athletes be paid for NIL and barred schools from penalizing them. By its own text it remained in effect only until the earlier of a federal law or June 30, 2025. That date passed; the 2025-26 biennium produced no re-enactment (its NIL bill, HB 383, was high-school only). Georgia therefore has no operative state college NIL statute as of the check date. The governor's 2025 executive order limiting NCAA enforcement stated it would end on a formal settlement or federal legislation; the House settlement was approved June 6, 2025. | For a Georgia college athlete, governance is the House settlement, the College Sports Commission and NIL Go, NCAA bylaws, and the school's own policy. Do not cite the 2021 statute as current. | Georgia General Assembly, HB 617 as passed (sunset clause); LegiScan GA HB 383 (2025-26) |
| Georgia · high school | No statute. HB 383, the Georgia High School NIL Protection Act, passed the House 171-0 on February 11, 2026 and was read and referred in the Senate on February 12, 2026; it did not pass before the session ended and would need reintroduction. GHSA's Appendix N (approved October 2023, vote 65-10) is the only operative rule: no pay for performance, no recruiting inducement, no school liaison, no school IP or facilities, nothing against district policy, and NIL may not be mentioned in recruiting. | A high-school Champion or Ambassador in Georgia signs with a parent or guardian, uses no school marks or facilities, and nothing in the agreement depends on athletic performance or school choice. GHSA Appendix N is the only thing between a high schooler and a bad contract; NIL33's guardian-first flow and Contract Shield exist for exactly that gap. | GHSA Appendix N; LegiScan GA HB 383; Atlanta News First, February 12, 2026 |
| Georgia · right of publicity | Georgia recognizes a right of publicity under common law (Martin Luther King, Jr. Center for Social Change v. American Heritage Products, 250 Ga. 135 (1982)). Using a person's name or likeness for commercial advantage without consent is actionable. | UnyKorn never uses a name, photo, or quote without the person's signed agreement and item-by-item approval; imagery on nil33.com is illustrative and depicts no real person. | Georgia Supreme Court, 1982 |
| Other states | Most states have a NIL statute or executive order for college athletes and, increasingly, a high-school association rule. They differ on agent registration, school disclosure, and high-school eligibility. NIL33 does not list them here because a stale table is worse than none. | Before signing an athlete outside Georgia, UnyKorn checks that state's current statute and the athlete's school and association rules, and records the check in the signature record's notes. | NCAA NIL resource page |
Standing rules on every NIL33 agreement, regardless of jurisdiction
Flat fee or none
Never a commission, never a share of any client fee, never anything tied to recovered funds or to athletic performance. This is what keeps a deal a real endorsement and not pay-for-play.
Say it every time
Paid placements carry the paid-partnership tag; Ambassadors say "unpaid". UnyKorn logs placements and checks them, as the FTC guides require of the advertiser.
Only what records verify
Honors and affiliations come from the league's or awarding body's own records. No recovery promises, no "bank", "insured", "licensed", or "guaranteed".
Parent or guardian signs
Under eighteen: a parent or guardian countersigns, no school marks or facilities, and the deal never depends on performance or school choice.
Ready for the clearinghouse
Every countersigned agreement has a ledger entry with the fee type, term, and deliverables that a Division I athlete can hand to NIL Go.
Signed, hashed, countersigned
The signature record keeps the document digest and a chain hash; the receipt verifies live. See Sign.
Georgia, in one sentence: Georgia's college NIL statute expired by its own sunset on June 30, 2025 and has not been re-enacted. High school NIL in Georgia is governed by GHSA rule, not statute; HB 383 passed the House in February 2026 and did not pass the Senate. Dated information, not legal advice.
Corrections welcome at hello@nil33.com. Each row is re-checked when the source changes; the date at the top is the last full check.