Attorney
You negotiated the deal, your client signed, and everything looked clean. Then the school files for a TRO, or a liquidated damages clause gets triggered for six figures, and you’re reading the contract again looking for the language that should have been tighter. For agents operating in the NIL space, that moment is becoming less rare. Knowing when to bring in a licensed attorney for NIL contract review isn’t about covering gaps in your knowledge — it’s about recognizing that the contracts have outpaced the space they were written for.
Your Role Ends Where Legal Advice Begins
Agents are deal-finders, negotiators, and relationship-builders. Attorneys are legal advisors. The two roles complement each other. The question is not whether to bring in counsel, but when. What separates an agent’s role from an attorney’s in NIL contracts is covered separately for context. Below is a practical framework for the deal types where that line demands action.
When any of the following apply, bringing in a licensed attorney is the right call.
Multi-Year Deals with Buyout Provisions
NIL agreements running longer than one academic year carry legal exposure that standard agency work is not designed to address. Schools are inserting liquidated damages clauses into revenue-sharing contracts. How courts are beginning to test NIL contract enforceability is no longer theoretical.
In late 2025 and early 2026, three contract enforcement disputes showed the risk was real. Duke sought a TRO over an $8 million, two-year agreement after the athlete entered the transfer portal. Georgia’s athletic association sued for $390,000 in liquidated damages after a player transferred to Missouri. Washington pursued legal enforcement of a deal reported at approximately $4 million with quarterback Demond Williams Jr., who reversed his transfer decision.
These are contract enforcement disputes, not agent disputes.
Things agents need to watch for include:
- Liquidated damages tied to transfer or portal entry
- Performance-based termination triggers
- Repayment obligations surviving the student-athlete’s departure
- Restrictions on participation or brand activity
When a deal runs two or more years and includes penalties for portal entry or transfer, a licensed attorney should review it before your student-athlete signs.
Agreements That Cross State Lines
When a student-athlete signs with a brand or collective operating in another state, the compliance picture shifts. Oregon’s requirements for athlete agent registration and Nebraska’s student-athlete NIL rights statutes operate under separate statutory frameworks. Failure to register where required has direct consequences for agents.
An agency contract resulting from unregistered conduct in Oregon is void, and the agent must return any consideration received. Nebraska operates under a parallel structure.
Agents working across state lines should confirm:
- Registration status in the state where the student-athlete is enrolled
- Whether the deal implicates a second or third jurisdiction
- Institutional disclosure requirements at the signing school
Voided contracts mean uncompensated student-athletes and direct liability for the agent.
Revenue-Sharing Arrangements Under the House Settlement
The 2025 House v. NCAA settlement permits schools to share up to $20.5 million per year directly with student-athletes. For background, how schools are now sharing revenue directly with student-athletes is covered separately. What matters here is how these agreements work. They function as IP licensing transactions, not standard endorsement deals.
How revenue-sharing contracts are structured as IP licensing agreements makes the scope plain. These contracts can grant schools rights to a student-athlete’s:
- Name
- Nickname
- Pseudonym
- Voice
- Signature
- Caricature
- Likeness
- Image
- Picture
- Portrait
- Quotes
- Statements
- Writings
- Biographical information
Additionally, the school has sublicensing rights to third parties that survive the student-athlete’s departure from the school. When you are working with a student-athlete on a revenue-sharing arrangement, bring in an attorney before the agreement is signed.
Deals Involving Broad IP Rights or Sublicensing
Even outside revenue-sharing arrangements, third-party brand deals increasingly include language that conflicts with rights the school already holds. A personal endorsement deal granting exclusive image rights to a sponsor can directly conflict with an existing school sublicense to a conference multimedia rights holder. Student-athletes typically receive no compensation or control over those institutional sublicensing decisions.
Agents often do not have full visibility into what a school already holds. That information gap creates legal exposure for the student-athlete and for the agent.
When a brand deal includes any of the following, call an attorney:
- Exclusivity over name, image, or likeness
- Sublicensing rights granted to undisclosed third parties
- Post-deal usage extending beyond the contract term
- Digital likeness or AI-generated image provisions
A legal review before signing can ensure the student-athlete and agent are protected.
When Your Student-Athlete Has Not Yet Reached the Age of Majority
This trigger applies to agents working in Nebraska. Nebraska’s general age of majority is 19 under Neb. Rev. Stat. § 43-2101, though the statute allows persons 18 and older to enter binding contracts. A high school recruit who signs a revenue-sharing agreement before turning 18 may have grounds to void the contract and questions about the enforceability of NIL contracts signed by minors remain unsettled.
Before any revenue-sharing deal is executed for an incoming Nebraska student-athlete under 18, verify the athlete’s age. An attorney licensed in Nebraska can assess enforceability and structure the agreement correctly before both parties are committed to terms that could prove unenforceable.
Contact The Hughes Companies Before the Contract Is SignedIf you are working with a student-athlete on any of these deal types, we are available for a consultation. The Hughes Companies provides legal counsel to athletes and the professionals who represent them across Oregon and Nebraska. Contact us to schedule a time before the next deal moves to signature.