Big Sky Realignment, Charlie Baker's $3.4M Salary, SCOTUS Legal Updates & More | NIL Newsletter #341
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This Monday Newsletter Includes:
1. Southern Utah & Utah Tech Join Big Sky
2. NCAA President Charlie Baker’s Salary Raises Eyebrows
3. FSU’s Revenue Sharing Draws Backlash
4. The Supreme Court Ruling Weakens Use of Nationwide Injunctions in NIL Cases
5. What’s Coming Up for NIL & More
🏆Major News
Southern Utah & Utah Tech Join Big Sky in First Post-House Realignment Wave
Southern Utah University and Utah Tech are leaving the WAC for the Big Sky Conference beginning in 2026, with their football programs also shifting out of the United Athletic Conference.
This marks a return to the Big Sky for Southern Utah, which left the league just three years ago. Their exit coincides with an ASUN-WAC alliance in football, forming a rebranded United Athletic Conference made up of five ASUN football schools.
The moves show how non-FBS conferences are quickly adapting to the realities of the House settlement era by aligning based on competitive priorities and financial fit.
For mid- and low-major leagues, backfilling, brand alignment, and shared NIL philosophies are now core to realignment decisions.
These shifts are less about geographic fit and more about strategic positioning within the new compensation landscape, where even non-revenue sports could face indirect budgetary consequences.
The trend suggests increased autonomy and collaboration among mid- and low-major conferences, potentially impacting governance and NIL alignment strategies.
NCAA President Charlie Baker’s Salary and Settlement Messaging Raise Eyebrows
NCAA president Charlie Baker earned $3.4 million in his first 10 months, per newly disclosed tax records, exceeding former president Mark Emmert’s final annual earnings.
While much of Baker’s pay is base salary, he also received hundreds of thousands in bonuses and “other reportable compensation.”
The disclosure comes just weeks after Baker issued a letter to member schools framing the House v. NCAA settlement as a “new beginning,” outlining NCAA efforts to cut costs, increase revenue, and continue oversight in areas like eligibility and sports betting.
His remarks also acknowledged the NCAA’s failure to enforce NIL rules over the last several years, highlighting litigation as a key disruptor.
The juxtaposition of high executive pay and calls for financial restraint under the House settlement could intensify scrutiny of NCAA leadership.
It also underscores a deeper issue—whether the NCAA can credibly lead in this new regulatory environment when authority and financial responsibility are increasingly decentralized to conferences and schools.
📌Other Notable Stories to Follow
Mid Major Update - Several Big South schools are divided over whether to opt into the House settlement revenue-sharing model. Winthrop and others plan to pay athletes using donor funding, while schools like Gardner-Webb have declined to opt in, citing sustainability and recruiting risks. The philosophical divide may reshape mid-major conference affiliations over time. 🔗 LINK
LaNorris Sellers Lands $3.7M NIL Deal, Rejects $8M Transfer Offer – South Carolina quarterback LaNorris Sellers turned down an $8 million transfer offer to remain with the Gamecocks, securing a $3.7 million NIL deal that now ranks him among the top six college football earners. His loyalty-driven decision demonstrates how brand continuity and team culture can sometimes outweigh raw NIL numbers. 🔗 LINK
VJ Gives Back – Former Baylor guard and No. 3 NBA Draft pick VJ Edgecombe launched a scholarship fund for Bahamian youth after earning $1.4M in NIL during college. His Panini and PSD Underwear deals helped fund educational opportunities at Gateway Christian Academy in Bimini, reflecting how NIL can support international community impact. 🔗 LINK
Williams Lands with Adidas – Texas A&M commit Madden Williams signed with Adidas as part of the Adizero Class of 2025. Williams joins a growing list of pre-college stars monetizing NIL before stepping on campus, raising recruiting implications and highlighting the increasing involvement of brands at the high school level.🔗 LINK
FSU’s Revenue Sharing Draws Backlash - Florida State’s revenue-sharing contracts include provisions allowing unilateral extensions and the ability to reduce or terminate agreements based on injury. Critics argue the contracts resemble employment agreements and reflect a growing shift toward school-favorable NIL deal structures. 🔗 LINK
Wetzel’s Complaints - Dan Wetzel blasted college coaches, including Georgia’s Kirby Smart, for complaining about College Football Playoff rankings despite regularly preaching resilience to players. Wetzel called coaches the “biggest pack of complainers in history” and criticized the hypocrisy of demanding rules, then ignoring them when implemented, particularly in the NIL space. 🔗 LINK
📅What’s Coming Up Next for NIL
July 1: Anticipated effective date for House settlement rules and new Texas NIL law; payroll systems go live
July 1: Florida's new law capping agent commissions at 5% of NIL earnings becomes effective
July 26: EA Sports to release "College Football 26" with increased NIL compensation for players
⚖️Legal Updates
Supreme Court Ruling Weakens Use of Nationwide Injunctions in NIL Cases
In a landmark procedural ruling, the U.S. Supreme Court held in Trump v. CASA that federal courts may no longer issue nationwide injunctions—barring lower courts from blocking federal (or quasi-federal) rules for all parties across the country. The decision effectively eliminates a powerful legal tool that had been used to prevent NCAA NIL rules from being enforced while litigation played out.
The ruling directly impacts cases like the Tennessee federal court’s 2023 injunction that halted NCAA NIL enforcement nationwide. Going forward, any challenges to NCAA policies—such as collective enforcement, fair market valuation, or eligibility restrictions—will need to be litigated on a jurisdiction-by-jurisdiction basis. This fragmented approach could create inconsistent enforcement across states and circuits, weakening uniformity and further decentralizing NIL governance.
For the NCAA, the ruling is a lifeline. It curbs the ability of athlete plaintiffs or state AGs to single-handedly derail enforcement through favorable courts. It also allows the NCAA and its partner conferences to test new NIL compliance mechanisms (like NIL Go) without the immediate risk of being halted nationwide.
However, the ruling also increases uncertainty for athletes and collectives. Without the leverage of a universal injunction, challengers may have to file repetitive lawsuits across multiple states to achieve meaningful reform, raising litigation costs and allowing the NCAA to act more boldly in gray areas. In a landscape already shaped by state-specific NIL laws and shifting court precedents, this decision adds another layer of complexity and potential chaos to enforcement efforts post-House settlement.
FOIA Ruling Challenges Big Ten Secrecy on NIL Strategy
An Illinois state court denied the University of Illinois’ motion for summary judgment in a lawsuit filed by journalist Daniel Libit, seeking access to communications sent by the university’s chancellor through the Big Ten’s BoardVantage messaging platform.
The Big Ten and Illinois claimed that BoardVantage, a private Nasdaq platform, does not constitute public record—even when used by public officials—because the conference itself is a private entity. The court rejected that view, keeping alive a growing legal battle over transparency in how conferences and public universities handle high-stakes issues like NIL policy, media rights, and athlete compensation.
Illinois’ position highlights the strategic use of private communication tools by public universities to avoid disclosure, even as those tools are used to make decisions about publicly funded athletic programs. This ruling serves as a warning shot: public institutions cannot shield administrative decision-making by outsourcing it to private platforms.
The implications extend far beyond the Big Ten. As schools negotiate NIL policies, revenue-sharing frameworks, and House-related liabilities behind closed doors, journalists and legal watchdogs may increasingly test the boundaries of what constitutes “public business” in the NIL era. This case could set a precedent requiring greater transparency in how public schools contribute to collective governance, potentially surfacing sensitive details about compliance, NIL enforcement, and media negotiations that institutions have long tried to keep private.
🗣Hear from Leaders on NIL
“Florida Gulf Coast’s AD talked about how they’ll determine how much to pay athletes. They’ll use models that look at factors such as position played & expected role.”
— @WinterSportsLaw
🔗 Tweet“Why isn’t there a clearinghouse to approve a school’s rev share deals? Per Chris, FSU’s has a clause that would negate the contract if a player is seriously injured.”
— @slmandel
🔗 Tweet“A volley of non-FBS realignment moves are coming. Per sources, the ASUN & WAC are forming an “alliance,” where 5 FB-playing ASUN members will move in 2026 into the WAC, which will then rebrand as United Athletic Conference. Southern Utah & Utah Tech are leaving WAC for Big Sky.“Why isn’t there a clearinghouse to approve a school’s rev share deals? Per Chris, FSU’s has a clause that would negate the contract if a player is seriously injured.”
— @RossDellenger
🔗 Tweet
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