Real NIL vs. Pay for Play: What's the difference?

And why these are not the same thing

Author

Tariq Ahmad
June 25, 2025

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Real NIL vs. Pay for Play: What's the difference?

And why these are not the same thing

NIL Pay-For-Play graphic (Photo Credit: YouT

There has been plenty of talk over the past few years about ‘Real NIL’ and ‘Pay for Play’ NIL for college student-athletes.

Although the terms sound similar, is there really a difference?

Yes.

But before going further, one important note: As I wrote about NIL Go last week, Deloitte officials recently claimed that 90% of past deals from public companies (Real NIL) would have been approved in the NIL Go system, while 70% of past deals from booster collectives (Pay for Play) would have been denied in their algorithm.

Deloitte also shared with officials that about 80% of NIL deals with public companies were valued at less than $10,000 and 99% of those deals were valued at less than $100,000.

These figures suggest that the clearinghouse threatens to significantly curtail the millions of dollars that school-affiliated, booster-backed collectives are distributing to athletes.

Moving on…

The breakdown

  • Real NIL

    • This is the ability of college athletes (and select high school athletes where NIL is permitted) to profit from the use of their name, image and likeness via promotional and marketing activities.

    • Think endorsement deals, meet and greets, autograph signings, etc.

  • Pay for Play

    • This is direct compensation to student-athletes for their athletic performance or participation in a team sport.

    • Think payments from NIL Collectives to athletes in exchange for minimal obligations. (ie., monthly posting on social media promoting the Collective, two hours of community service every semester, etc.)

Advantages and disadvantages of each

  • Real NIL

    • Advantages: Ability to partner with multiple brands for sponsorships, building your personal brand with your own efforts, based on you, your content and social media profiles agnostic of sport or school.

    • Disadvantages: Can earn very few deals (and little to no money), can be excessive work for no rewards.

  • Pay for Play

    • Advantages: Easy payday, very little effort from the student-athlete, monthly payments.

    • Disadvantages: Only benefits a small subset of athletes, not knowing to report and pay taxes on this income, potential for greed.

Which is better?

They both have benefits (and disadvantages).

As I’ve noted multiple times before, student-athletes should first focus on building their personal brand and be proactive on connecting with brands and Collectives. After that, Real NIL (and Pay for Play) will come.

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