Some of the biggest college football programs are facing questions about whether they’re using NIL deals to get around spending limits.

The College Sports Commission (CSC) is looking into possible violations involving five to ten Power Four schools.

The concern? Schools may be arranging payments through outside businesses to give athletes more money than the rules allow.

The issue isn’t whether college athletes should be making money. It’s whether those payments are legitimate sponsorships or a way around the rules.

A real sponsorship and a recruiting payment aren’t the same thing.

Let’s say a business offers a college football player $100,000 to promote its products.

That isn’t automatically against the rules.

Maybe the athlete has a valuable audience and the company has a legitimate marketing campaign.

But what if the business is closely connected to the school and isn’t actually expecting any meaningful promotion?

What if the payment is really being made because the school wants that player on its roster?

That’s the difference regulators are looking at.

Who decides whether a deal is allowed?

The CSC oversees a system called NIL Go, which reviews qualifying third-party NIL deals.

For current NCAA Division I athletes, deals totalling US$600 or more from the same payer must be reported.

But here’s what’s important:

Reporting a deal doesn’t automatically mean it’s been approved.

The CSC looks at whether the payment has a legitimate business purpose and meets the applicable rules.

The current investigations go further, looking at whether schools and outside businesses are working together to get around spending limits.

There’s also a complication: the CSC’s broader punishment powers are still being worked out, so exactly how serious violations would be handled remains an open question.

What does this mean for hockey players?

Right now, the headlines are about football.

But the Division I NIL rules also matter for college hockey.

Here’s an example.

A local company offers you $5,000 to create two videos, attend an event and let it use your content in advertising.

There’s a clear reason for the business to pay you.

Now imagine a company connected to the school offers you $15,000 with no real promotional requirements, shortly after you commit to playing there.

That doesn’t automatically make the second deal against the rules.

But it raises questions about what the company is actually paying for.

And those questions matter.

What should you do?

If you’re considering a brand deal, make sure you understand what you’re agreeing to.

Who’s paying you? What are you expected to do? Is the business connected to your school?

And before accepting, check with the appropriate school compliance staff about the rules that apply to you.

A legitimate brand partnership should make sense as a business arrangement, not just as a way of getting money to an athlete.

That’s the bigger lesson from what’s happening in college football.

Putting the word sponsorship on a payment doesn’t automatically make it one.

For more on hockey NIL and brand partnerships, visit Player Partnerships.