SEC Commissioner Puts ‘Unhealthy’ NIL System on Blast in Interview

SEC commissioner Greg Sankey went to friendly ground to launch an attack on the current NIL system in college sports.

Oct 15, 2024; Birmingham, AL, USA; SEC commissioner Greg Sankey talks with the media during SEC Media Days at Grand Bohemian Hotel. / Vasha Hunt-Imagn Images

Greg Sankey is never shy about saying what believes in.

Case in point? The SEC commissioner has been vocal about pushing for automatic playoff berths for his conference teams in a 14-team College Football Playoff, which could come as soon as the 2026 season. He believes the conference he runs should get four automatic berths into that expanded playoff.

He’s also been vocal about name, image and likeness. He’s not against it. But he certainly doesn’t like the current collective system.

To criticize it, he went to a friendly face — Paul Finebaum. During his appearance on Finebaum’s daily show on the SEC Network, he put the system on blast yet again for what he considers a lack of transparency when it comes to NIL collectives.

“We need a name, image and likeness system that has a level of transparency, where there is protection for young people,” Sankey said. “There [are] a lot of reports about promises made that weren’t fulfilled, deals that were struck that were never authorized and problems that come. Collectives are out there, but I hear about collectives that are struggling to pay bills for promises made. That is not a healthy system. The way we’re functioning can’t go on.”

"It's not a healthy system...the way we're functioning can't go on."@GregSankey with some extended thoughts on the state of college sports in light of the House vs NCAA Settlement and continued calls for government intervention: pic.twitter.com/F4HqDbr6Cz

— Paul Finebaum (@finebaum) February 5, 2025

Sankey is right about some NIL deals going awry and players not getting paid. Most prominent right now is a lawsuit lodged by Florida State basketball players against its outgoing head coach, Leonard Hamilton, as they allege Hamilton promised to get them $250,000 in NIL funds.

Like other college commissioners and NCAA president Charlie Baker, he’s asking for federal intervention in terms of legislation that would help govern NIL nationally. That is a controversial topic as it also includes questions about whether college athletes should be considered school employees, since they’re getting paid.

The issue only gets more complex as the House vs. NCAA settlement gets closer to completion in April. Once it is final — which is not a guarantee — schools will learn the final amount they can share with student-athletes in revenue sharing. That number is expected to be at least $20 million. That would be direct payments from athletic departments to their players.

Most of the power conference schools are expecting to share at the top of the scale. That would include a higher percentage of funds to football and men’s basketball assuming everything is approved.

NIL won’t be going away. Some schools are planning to bring it in-house, as the settlement requires that deals over $600 be approved by a third-party clearinghouse. Perhaps that will solve Sankey’s issue. Perhaps it won’t.

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