Big 12 Conference Leads in NIL Agreement Participation

The Big 12 has become the first of the Power Four conferences to have all its members sign participation agreements with the College Sports Commission (CSC). This agency was established last year to oversee name, image, and likeness (NIL) payments.

“The Big 12 desires rules and enforcement and aims to lead in this area,” stated Brett Yormark, the commissioner of the Big 12, following four days of annual meetings. “Signing the participation agreement certainly demonstrates our commitment to that.” The agreement compels schools to waive their right to pursue legal action against the CSC. It grants the agency broad authority to penalize programs for infringing on rules governing player payments following the previous year’s House settlement.

However, for the 11-page document to become effective, all 68 Power Four schools must sign. Initially, schools were requested to review and sign the document by last December. “I cannot speak on behalf of other conferences. While they express a desire for rules and enforcement, they have not signed the participation agreement,” Yormark commented.

Richard Linton, president of Kansas State, mentioned that the Big 12 board of directors — which includes presidents and chancellors from the league’s 16 schools — unanimously decided to sign the document. Yormark anticipates obtaining all signatures by early next week.

The document specifies the rules established post-House settlement approval last summer. This includes details about the salary cap and the CSC’s role in evaluating third-party NIL deals through its NIL Go platform. Bryan Seeley, the CSC CEO, addressed Big 12 members and officials during their meetings in North Texas.

The CSC reports that it has approved over 26,000 NIL deals worth approximately $242.3 million through May 1 since its inception.

Yormark shared that he had a call with the CSC and other conference commissioners. “Similar to any startup, and the CSC is indeed a startup, under a year old, we need to assess what is effective and what isn’t, along with necessary short-term and long-term adjustments,” he explained. “We plan to explore this further in the coming weeks to outline potential changes. But I remain optimistic about the CSC’s future.”

Source: AP News