NIL (Name, Image, Likeness)

A college athlete's right to earn compensation from the commercial use of their name, image, or likeness — established for U.S. college athletes by NCAA policy change in 2021. Restructured the recruiting economics of college sports overnight. Now operates through NIL Collectives at most major programs, and intersects with the 2024 House settlement that introduced revenue sharing. The fastest-evolving compliance and athlete brand frontier in sports.