After House: Read Your School Contract Before You Sign

In June 2025 a federal judge approved the House v. NCAA settlement. Since July 1, 2025, Division I schools that opt in can pay their athletes directly, a practice called revenue sharing. That money comes with a written contract from the school. It is not a scholarship letter and it is not a handshake NIL deal. It is a legal contract, and like any contract, the important parts are the ones about what happens when things go wrong.

What changed, in plain English

• Schools can pay you directly. Each school has a yearly cap on what it can share with all of its athletes combined: $20.5 million in 2025-26 and $21.58 million in 2026-27. The cap is expected to rise about 4% in 2027-28. At many schools, most of it goes to football and men's basketball.
• Roster limits replaced scholarship limits. Football rosters are capped at 105. Athletes cut because of the new limits can be named Designated Student-Athletes, who do not count against the limit for the rest of their eligibility.
• Outside NIL deals get checked. Deals worth $600 or more from anyone other than the school must be reported to NIL Go, run by the College Sports Commission, within 5 business days. Deals from boosters or companies tied to the school must pay about what a non-athlete would get and must promote something real that is sold to the public.
• Small deals got easier. Since July 1, 2026, deals up to $15,000 skip the pay review, unless you have already passed $50,000 in deals from school-linked companies that year.

What is inside a school contract

Every school writes its own. A comparison of three real Big Ten templates (Purdue, Washington, and Minnesota) shows the kinds of terms you should expect to find. Treat these as examples, not as what your school's contract says.

• An exit fee if you transfer. Washington's template says if you leave, you or your new school owe the unpaid balance of the contract. Purdue's lets the school accept a buyout from your new school.
• Ways the school can end the deal. All three let the school end it if you break the contract, are convicted of a crime, or enter the transfer portal. Washington's also allows it after a medical disqualification, a head coach change, or losing athletic aid.
• Pay cuts for time out of good standing. Purdue's cuts your pay day by day for any time you are not in good standing.
• Your name and image, passed to sponsors. Washington's and Minnesota's let the school pass your NIL rights to its sponsors without paying you more.
• The number can move. Washington's and Minnesota's say the amount can be adjusted.

Taxes: nobody takes them out

Revenue share is income. Many schools report it as royalties on a 1099-MISC, which usually means no tax is withheld from your payments. There is no IRS ruling specific to revenue sharing yet, and how it is reported can change whether self-employment tax applies. The safe move is the same as with NIL money: set aside 25% to 35% of every payment the day it lands, and have a CPA look at the first year.

Before anyone signs: 10 questions

1. 1
   How much, and when?

   The total, the payment dates, and whether any of it depends on playing time, roster spot, or good standing.

2. 2
   What do I owe if I transfer?

   Get the exact dollar amount in writing. Ask if it shrinks over time.

3. 3
   What if the coach leaves?

   Some contracts let the school end the deal after a coaching change. Some do not let you leave without paying.

4. 4
   What if I get hurt?

   Does the pay stop after a medical disqualification? Do other benefits continue?

5. 5
   Can the school lower the number?

   Look for words like adjust, modify, or reduce, and what triggers them.

6. 6
   Who owns my name and image, and for how long?

   Can the school pass it to sponsors without paying you? Does it end when the contract ends?

7. 7
   What outside deals are off limits?

   Some contracts restrict categories or competitors of school sponsors.

8. 8
   What do I have to do?

   Appearances, social posts, camps. Get it listed, not left open.

9. 9
   Who read this for me?

   A lawyer who does sports contracts, or a registered agent. In 42 states plus DC, athlete agents must follow state agent laws, and federal law requires an agent to tell the school within 72 hours of signing a college athlete.

10. 10
    Do I have my own copy?

    A signed copy, kept at home, with every page.

For high school recruits and parents

• Offers can come early, signing cannot. A school can make a written revenue-share offer starting August 1 of senior year, but it cannot be signed before the official signing dates.
• Texas lets 17-year-olds sign NIL deals, but no money can be paid until the athlete enrolls in college.
• For minors, a parent or guardian signs. Read it together, and do not let anyone rush you with a deadline.

Still changing (as of September 2026)

• Congress: the Protect College Sports Act (S.4668) passed two Senate procedural votes in September 2026 but is not law. As written, it would cap certain agent fees at 5%, require agents to register, and ban paying recruits before they enroll.
• Employee status: athletes are not treated as school employees today. The Johnson v. NCAA lawsuit over that question is still pending.
• Title IX: the Education Department withdrew guidance in February 2025 that said revenue share had to be split proportionally between men's and women's sports. Appeals in the settlement are pending.