NIL Director Is the Trendy New Job in College Sports. But the Role Is Chaos

Every month, dozens of athletic department NIL directors hop on a Zoom call.

All of the participants are in-house staffers at their various schools. Consultants, installed at athletic departments and hired by NIL (name, image, and likeness) companies like Altius Sports Partners, aren’t allowed. The email invitation goes out to more than 100 people all across the country. They work through problems, compare notes on the newest third-party companies, and sometimes welcome guests. But often, the goal of the meeting is simply to commiserate.

The Zoom meeting is an attempt to build camaraderie for a group of roles that are, in many cases, less than a couple of years old. From recruiting and fundraising to acting as de facto agents, directors have around-the-clock jobs that often touch every area of the athletic department. They’re also tasked with vetting third-party companies, keeping up with the ever-changing legal landscape, and helping figure out how to implement the House v. NCAA settlement—and looming athlete revenue-sharing model.