What NIL actually is

NIL stands for Name, Image, and Likeness. It’s the right to make money off of *who you are* — your name on a jersey, your face in an ad, your highlight in a brand’s post. For decades, college athletes couldn’t earn a dime from it. Since 2021, they can. That change is real and it’s huge.

But “athletes can make NIL money” turned into a giant game of telephone. By the time it reaches a 14-year-old on TikTok, the truth is unrecognizable. Let’s fix that.