Power Conferences to Take Over NIL Oversight as NCAA Forfeits Control

The SEC, Big Ten, ACC, and Big 12 are forming a new entity to regulate NIL payments, enforce salary caps, and oversee revenue sharing.

Ohio State athletic director Ross Bjork leaves the field following the NCAA football game between the Buckeyes and the Michigan Wolverines at Ohio Stadium in Columbus on Saturday, Nov. 30, 2024. Michigan won 13-10. / Adam Cairns/Columbus Dispatch / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

With the NCAA’s grip continually loosening on NIL enforcement and athlete compensation, the power conferences have taken matters into their own hands. A new entity is in the works to oversee and regulate direct payments to athletes, a crucial juncture in the ongoing transition of college sports. While the NCAA has long been the governing body, its enforcement failures have forced Power Conferences to attempt to build their own structure designed to police NIL payments, enforce salary caps, and maintain competitive balance in the era of professionalized college sports.

Power conferences this week took steps in creating a new entity to govern college sports’ rev-share system, sources tell @YahooSports.

The entity, overseen by a CEO, is built around an enforcement arm to police cap violators, phony NIL deals & tamperers.https://t.co/5EWh4iTN0O

— Ross Dellenger (@RossDellenger) February 6, 2025

Spearheading this shift is a transition team composed of top athletic administrators and compliance officers from across the Power Four. Athletic directors like the Ohio State Buckeyes Ross Bjork, Clemson Tigers Graham Neff, and Texas A&M Aggies Trev Alberts are leading the charge, along with legal and compliance experts from schools such as the Arizona Wildcats, Washington Huskies, Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets, and Kentucky Wildcats. Their mission is to create an independent LLC that will function alongside the NCAA, providing direct oversight of the House settlement’s revenue-sharing model, set to begin on July 1.

The new entity will serve three primary functions. First, it will oversee a cap management system, ensuring schools stay within the $20.5 million annual revenue-sharing limit. It will additionally establish an NIL clearinghouse, run by Deloitte, to assess the fair market value of NIL deals and prevent schools from using booster-backed collectives to bypass the cap.

A new investigative and infractions unit will police violations, including tampering and salary cap circumvention. Penalties will include fines, revenue-share reductions, and suspensions for coaches and administrators. The power conferences believe this structure will prevent the chaos and unchecked spending wars that have defined the NIL era thus far.

Even with these new plans and oversights, not everyone is convinced that this new framework is the right choice. Critics argue that the settlement replaces one arbitrary restriction with another, swapping the NCAA’s blanket prohibition on athlete pay for a predetermined revenue-sharing cap that suppresses potential earnings.

Athletes have also voiced strong opposition. A group of 67 players, led by former Mississippi State running back Kylin Hill, has filed a new antitrust lawsuit challenging the revenue-sharing structure, arguing that it fails to compensate players for their market value fully. Meanwhile, roster limits included in the settlement have already begun eliminating walk-on spots, forcing thousands of athletes to either transfer or give up their playing careers entirely. What was meant to be an equitable solution is now being seen by many as another attempt to exert control over athlete compensation while keeping school costs predictable.

Despite these objections, the power conferences have little choice but to move forward. The House settlement’s approval hearing is set for April 7, and if it is finalized, schools will need to be prepared to implement revenue-sharing by July. Whether this new model is the answer remains to be seen, but the power conferences cannot afford to wait any longer.

The NCAA has already been pushed to the sidelines, and if college athletics has a structured compensation system, it will have to come from those running the sport at the highest level. With or without legal challenges, the new governance structure will define the next era of college sports. The power conferences have made their move, and while uncertainty remains, one thing is clear: the NCAA’s days as the ultimate authority in college athletics are rapidly ending.