The intersection of NIL (name, image, likeness) and immigration law has become one of the most pressing and complex challenges facing collegiate athletics today. The provisionally approved settlement in House v. NCAA, which proposes direct revenue-sharing of $21–22 million per school, coupled with the growing number of States that have passed laws authorizing higher education institutions to make direct payments to their athletes, has transformed what was once a niche issue into a major compliance concern for universities nationwide. For institutions with international student-athletes, this new reality brings significant risks that demand immediate attention.

From Student Issue to Institutional Liability

Historically, NIL-related immigration compliance was seen as a concern only for individual athletes. If international student-athletes violated the terms of their F-1 visa, the consequences—visa revocation, deportation, or reentry denial—were theirs alone to bear. Universities operated largely on the sidelines, uninvolved and unaffected. The proposed House settlement, or any other legal mechanism through which direct payments could come about, however, shifts the dynamic entirely...