Name, Image and Likeness (NIL), a fairly new landscape enacted by the NCAA for the past three years, refers to providing college athletes the opportunity to monetize their name, image and likeness. Granting some of the biggest college athletes in the country the ability to sign hundreds of thousands to million-dollar deals with top brands.
Boise State Athletics has achieved excellence in the NIL space since the initial rules were implemented in 2021. Recognized as the “Best Institutional NIL Program” in 2022, Boise State Athletics has provided student-athletes with the opportunity to maximize their NIL through education and resources.
With the NIL space today being dubbed as the “Wild, Wild West” of college athletics due to its complex rules and regulations, schools like Boise State are making decisions to quickly adapt to the ever-evolving NIL landscape to better support Bronco student-athletes.
Boise State Athletics opts-in House vs. NCAA Settlement
On Oct. 24, 2024, Boise State Athletics announced their plan to opt-in the House vs. NCAA settlement in part of their “What’s Next Initiative” to strengthen the future of Boise State Athletics.
The settlement is set to change the future financial structure of college athletics. It includes an approximate $2.78 billion retroactive payment plan over a 10-year period paying back college student-athletes who played during the 2016-2021 years that missed out on potential NIL opportunities.
The deadline for student-athletes to join in the settlement is Jan. 31, 2025.
Chris Kutz, associate athletic director for Strategic Communications and Brand Advancement, explained Boise State Athletics’ decision to opt-in the settlement.
“As being a non [Power Four Conference] school, there’s a bit of an expectation of opt-in, opt-out at this level,” Kutz said. “For us as an institution, we want to alway strive for the top of college athletics. So when we looked at it in terms of opting into the pending final approval of that settlement, we felt like Boise State is positioned to do it.”
In addition, the settlement details a proposed formula called the “Revenue Sharing” method beginning July 1, 2025, aiming to promote a more competitive balance for schools to share up to 22% of the Average Shared Revenue with their student-athletes. The estimated amount is set to be around $22 million for the 2025-2026 year.
Boise State announced in November the creation of “BroncoPRO”. In partnership with Boise State University Foundation, Boise State Athletics and BroncoLife, “BroncoPRO” focuses on supporting student-athletes through providing NIL services, revenue-sharing opportunities and custom brand development, according to a press release.
Kutz mentioned that Boise State Athletics is still in the process of analyzing their total revenue across factors such as: ticket sales, multimedia rights, licensing, tv rights, etc. with the main goal being to “compete”.
“We have a standard of excellence at Boise State that we want to uphold no matter what version of college athletics we are facing in the future,” Kutz said. “For us, [Athletic Director] Jeramiah [Dickey] says it all the time, ‘what’s next?’ and for what’s next for us is competing just like we did before.”
Among Group of Five Conferences, Mountain West Conference is second in NIL Collective Funding estimates for 2025. In Annual Revenue Sharing estimates for the 2025-2026 year, Boise State is second highest in the Mountain West Conference at $24,372,780. Twenty-two percent of that revenue totals roughly $5,362,012.
Kutz added that although there may be a financial disparity between Boise State, a Group of Five school, compared to Power Four schools in TV revenue, Boise State Athletics is still looking to set the bar high for their future.
Boise State Men’s Basketball Assistant Coach Lexus Williams, who formerly played for Boise State Men’s Basketball in 2017-2018, says he intends to join in on the settlement and be one of the former student-athletes to receive retroactive payment.
“It just says to that era of people [student-athletes] that what you did didn’t go unnoticed and [NCAA] didn’t just try to run you dry for what you had to give to the game while you were in college,” Williams said. “So I think it’s great.”
Williams said being a student-athlete in the NIL era would have benefited him, primarily by establishing networking opportunities with local businesses in the Treasure Valley.
“I think that’s the biggest thing, you can build that network and have those really close business type relationships with people that own the small businesses locally in your city,” Williams said. “Especially in Boise — we have so many local businesses and small business owners that when you’re able to rub shoulders with them in a way where you’re dealing with business when you’re done playing basketball, that can help you in a tremendous way.”
Williams expressed his excitement for student-athletes now having the opportunity to benefit off their name, image and likeness.
“As a student-athlete, these guys and girls put in a lot of time into their sport and also into school, but with the added travel, practice, weights, recovery and treatment, this is a full time job,” Williams said. “So, for them to be able to get paid now, it’s really a blessing for them and I’m happy that it’s happening now.”
Williams says that amongst the current state of NIL today, the proposed settlement and revenue sharing method is a “step in the right direction” for the NCAA.
“It’s a process, because I don’t think it’s ever going to be perfect, but the way they’re going at it right now, I think it’s good to even get the conversation started and get everything going,” Williams said. “Then they can scale back on whatever they want to do, but I think this is definitely a step in the right direction.”
The final approval of the House vs. NCAA settlement is scheduled for spring 2025, where schools like Boise State will await the final settlement terms.
Boise State international athletes seize NIL opportunities despite limitations
Nearly 25,000 athletes across all NCAA collegiate sports are international, according to data from the NCAA. Representing different countries around the world, one universal issue these athletes face is the lack of NIL opportunity.
International student-athletes play in the United States through a F-1 student visa, which prohibits them from making money in the United States that’s deemed as “labor”.
International athletes aren’t legally allowed to participate in certain “labor” NIL opportunities in America, such as commercial endorsements, social media posts or event appearances.
However, international athletes have a couple avenues for generating income: securing NIL deals in their home country or when their team travels outside the U.S.
Boise State Men’s Basketball senior point guard Alvaro Cardenas, who’s from Spain, began his collegiate basketball career in 2021 for San Jose State, around the same time the initial NIL rules went into effect on July 1, 2021.
“I wasn’t even thinking about that when I first [came to college],” Cardenas said. “Getting this scholarship and having a chance to play college basketball was already a dream, so to me, that was already like getting paid.”
Cardenas says he feels that he’s missing out on NIL opportunities based on his visa regulations.
“It’s honestly a disadvantage because not only you can’t get money from [NIL] collective in the U.S. but you can’t sign with any brands,” Cardenas said. “One of the things that is kind of annoying is for example if some brand wants to give me free food, I can’t even post them on my Instagram.”
Cardenas says he’s been capitalizing on some of the NIL opportunities for international athletes outside America by appearing in basketball camps in France and Spain during the offseason.
Recently, Cardenas appeared in a basketball clinic hosted by Boise State Men’s Basketball for youth athletes during the team’s trip to the Cayman Islands to compete in the “Cayman Islands Classic” tournament. The earnings from this event came from Boise State’s NIL Collective.
Another international athlete for Boise State Men’s Basketball is sophomore power forward and Netherlands native Emmanuel Ugbo. Ugbo is playing collegiate basketball for the first time in his career.
Ugbo credits Boise State Athletics for the NIL opportunities presented to him despite the limitations as an international athlete in America.
“Boise State does a good job with making sure that we get stuff handled when we’re out of the country or when we’re back home,” Ugbo said.
Ugbo says he hopes that the law for limiting international athletes with NIL opportunities in America will change in the future.
“I hope they make it possible for international student-athletes to be able to profit a little bit from that because we put just as much work in as the other guys and we don’t get the same benefits just because we’re not a U.S. citizen,” Ugbo said.
Boise State Men’s Basketball Head Coach Leon Rice shared his thoughts to the media regarding the regulations surrounding NIL and international athletes.
Rice referred back to past college athletics that dealt with issues in illegal recruiting and eligibility since the late 1800s, with college football teams recruiting non-students, known as “ringers”, to bolster their lineup.
“It’s just symptoms of the same old problem, that’ll maybe never get solved,” Rice said. “There’s just weird stuff that isn’t regulated right yet, but it’s [a] problem that’s as old as athletics.”
Despite this, Rice believes that the laws for regulating international athletes with NIL opportunities will be fixed in the future.
“We’ll get it figured out is my guess,” Rice said.
Boise State junior punter James Ferguson-Reynolds garnered attention from Bronco Nation because of his record breaking punts and is also known as one of the very few international players on the team.
Similar to other international athletes, Ferguson-Reynolds is playing at Boise State on a F-1 student visa. In February 2024, Ferguson-Reynolds signed with the “AussieNIL”, an organization that helps Australian college athletes get paid through NIL opportunities in Australia.
For a deal to be done, Ferguson-Reynolds, who’s from Melbourne, Australia, said he must be physically present in his home country to conduct any NIL promotion and sign the necessary documents. Ferguson-Reynolds mentioned that the trip back home is around a 17-24 hour flight.
“It’s very physically demanding,” Ferguson-Reynolds said.
Additional ways Ferguson-Reynolds is able to monetize off his NIL is through “passive” income opportunities, which require no labor.
Examples of these are through the NIL merchandise store and recently with the new Electronic Arts (EA) Sports College Football 25 Video Game, marking the first college football video game in the NIL era. College athletes who allowed their name, image and likeness to be used in the game received $600 and a free copy of the game.
“The video game was so cool, I think I’m still trying to get over that,” Ferguson-Reynolds said. “Being able to say that I’m in a video game and play as myself — my family and everyone back home can’t believe it too, it’s an awesome opportunity that only comes around once in a lifetime.”
Ferguson-Reynolds mentioned he’s made an estimated $5,000 through NIL deals in Australia.
Boise State senior defensive end Ahmed Hassanein expressed why he believes international athletes should receive the same NIL opportunities in America like himself.
“If you’re committed to a team and you give all your heart and effort, you shouldn’t say ‘oh, he’s international, he can’t do NIL,’” Hassanein said. “It’s all the same really, we’re in the boat together, we’re trying to go and win, so just don’t take away the opportunities to go make money for [their] family.”
