{"id":669655,"date":"2026-05-28T07:16:22","date_gmt":"2026-05-28T07:16:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/669655\/"},"modified":"2026-05-28T07:16:22","modified_gmt":"2026-05-28T07:16:22","slug":"your-questions-about-nil-answered-plus-avalanche-crash-out","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/669655\/","title":{"rendered":"Your questions about NIL, answered. Plus: Avalanche crash out"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Pulse Newsletter \ud83d\udce3 | This is The Athletic\u2019s daily sports newsletter. Sign up here<\/a> to receive The Pulse directly in your inbox.<\/p>\n

Good morning! Send some emails today. Coming up:<\/p>\n

Questions: NIL \u2026 WTF?<\/p>\n

ICYMI yesterday: It\u2019s Pulse Mailbag Week, where we\u2019re bringing in experts to answer your questions. Today\u2019s topic is forever interesting and not going away any time soon: name, image and likeness in college sports, or NIL.\u00a0These are only a few of the many questions we received, with a general labor question at the end.<\/p>\n

Enjoy:<\/p>\n

I don\u2019t understand how NIL and \u201crevenue sharing\u201d under the so-called \u201cHouse agreement\u201d work. Is there any enforcement? Can you help me? \u2014 David F., Highland Park, Ill.<\/p>\n

\ud83d\udcac\u00a0Branch:\u00a0From what I gather, this is pretty above board. Our\u00a0explainer<\/a>\u00a0on this is a great resource, but the simple version is that this is simply a salary, or a direct payment to players via the university. Players are eligible for outside NIL deals, of course, which then need to be vetted. But the revenue sharing is a simple disbursement of the revenue the university earns. There is a cap to what any university can dole out, though, via a set number that increases each year, much like a salary cap in pro sports.<\/p>\n

What is the immediate future for NIL and college sports? How sustainable is this, and who within the NCAA\/college sports world has reasonable and nuanced proposals to fix? What is the bigger picture, not just for football and NCAA men\u2019s basketball, but other sports, too? \u2014 Joe L., New Orleans, La.<\/p>\n

\ud83d\udcac\u00a0Matt Baker:\u00a0My optimistic view (again,\u00a0optimistic) is that we\u2019re near a breaking point. Big brands are upset a salary cap exists in theory. Smaller programs are upset the salary cap isn\u2019t real. That tension is more pronounced now, and it\u2019s growing. There is no easy fix because the system isn\u2019t really \u2014 what\u2019s the word? \u2014 legal, thus the desire for Congress to do something. The latest attempt to bring a House bill to a vote stalled last week, so that\u2019s going great. I think all this (plus future TV contracts\/conference realignment) leads to a Big Bang in the next few years that resets the system and, perhaps, spins football and basketball into their own thing.<\/p>\n

The potential tennis boycott kind of reminds of the situation that led to paying college athletes, athletes fighting for a fair share of the revenue. Given that the major sports are collectively bargained, are there other sports that could follow\u00a0tennis players\u2019 lead<\/a>? Which sport is likely to follow? Golf feels like the obvious answer, but they just got a pay raise after the LIV situation.\u00a0 \u2014 Chris J., San Jose, Calif.<\/p>\n

\ud83d\udcac\u00a0Mike Vorkunov:\u00a0I think maybe the next potential similar effort could actually be in college basketball or football. Things seem like they\u2019re going to eventually get to a breaking point. Maybe that means employee status. Maybe that means unionization and collective bargaining. They\u2019re making more money than ever. There isn\u2019t a friction point at the moment, but if the money spigot turns off, then things can change. I think that\u2019s the interesting one to monitor and would bring us full circle after individualized pushes for NIL rights.<\/p>\n

Back for more tomorrow! Plenty of news to hit:<\/p>\n

News to KnowUSMNT roster goes official<\/p>\n

You can thank Fox Sports and U.S. Soccer for any renewed workplace debate this week about what should and should not just be an email. Consider yesterday\u2019s amusing USMNT roster announcement event in Manhattan:<\/p>\n

Coach Mauricio Pochettino is taking heat for\u00a0emailing out his roster decisions<\/a> to each player, but the Argentinian vehemently defended his stance. (Prediction: This factoid may become a recurring motif of our summer.)
\nAnd also \u2026 there is perhaps no event that embodies \u201cthis could have been an email\u201d culture more than an hour-long, highly produced announcement of a team that was already leaked in full three days prior.<\/p>\n

Pick a lane! Anyway.\u00a0See the full roster again here<\/a>,\u00a0snubs here<\/a> and watch the video below to hear Henry Bushnell\u2019s take on the three key players to know. Also, sign up for our World Cup newsletter<\/a>, which will dive deeper into this all later this morning.<\/p>\n

Vegas sweeps, OKC bounces back<\/p>\n

The Avalanche, the NHL\u2019s top regular-season team, are out of the playoffs after a 2-1 loss last night completed a tidy Western Conference final sweep by the Golden Knights. It marks Vegas\u2019 third conference title since debuting in 2017, and this one comes with a coach who was hired in the final days of the regular season. Colorado star Nathan MacKinnon played after getting hurt in Game 3 but was not in top form. Full takeaways here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Over in the NBA,\u00a0the Thunder bounced back from their worst game of the season to take a 3-2 lead over the Spurs, led by 32 points from Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. OKC\u2019s defense\u00a0made life difficult<\/a> for Victor Wembanyama (20 points, six rebounds), who skipped postgame media availability. Hm<\/a>.
\nMore news
\nA\u00a0Wemby rookie card\u00a0sold for over $5 million.\u00a0See it here<\/a>.
\nTwo-time Ballon d\u2019Or winner Alexia Putellas will leave Barcelona this summer<\/a> after 14 years with the club.
\nThe NCAA denied\u00a0Texas Tech quarterback Brendan Sorsby\u2019s\u00a0request to have his eligibility reinstated for the 2026 college football season.\u00a0Read our full report<\/a>.
\nThe PWHL\u00a0is publicly disclosing\u00a0player salaries\u00a0for the first time in an effort to promote transparency.\u00a0It\u2019s a big step for women\u2019s pro sports<\/a>.
\nDodgers prospect Kendall George\u00a0injured his left knee Monday trying to avoid his Double-A team\u2019s\u00a0bat dog.\u00a0So unfortunate<\/a>.
\nBrian Flores\u2019 discrimination lawsuit\u00a0against the NFL\u00a0can move toward\u00a0a trial,<\/a> the Supreme Court ruled yesterday. The league had appealed to keep the case out of court.
\nBoston\u2019s\u00a0Joe Mazzulla\u00a0won NBA\u00a0Coach of the Year\u00a0honors, an award\u00a0he has previously deemed \u201cstupid.\u201d<\/a>
\nMeanwhile,\u00a0the Cavaliers\u00a0plan to retain\u00a0coach Kenny Atkinson<\/a>, even after getting swept by the Knicks in the conference finals, Joe Vardon reports.
\nPackers running back Josh Jacobs\u00a0was\u00a0arrested\u00a0yesterday on five charges related to an alleged domestic violence incident over the weekend.\u00a0More details here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\ud83d\udcf0\u00a0Find more news here 24\/7<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Watch Guide<\/p>\n

\ud83d\udcfa French Open: Second round
5 a.m. ET on TNT, TruTV and Max
Novak Djokovic versus Valentin Royer\u00a0(around 10 a.m.) might be sneaky-interesting. The heat isn\u2019t Djokovic\u2019s thing, and the 24-year-old Frenchman Royer should have some of the crowd on his side. Read our full Day 3 recap here<\/a>, including details of Coco Gauff\u2019s \u201cmini car accident.\u201d<\/p>\n

\ud83d\udcfa Scripps National Spelling Bee
8 p.m. ET on Ion
It\u2019s a quieter evening with the NBA off, and there is a\u00a0clear\u00a0sports crossover here: ESPN\u2019s Mina Kimes is hosting tonight\u2019s tape-delayed semifinals and tomorrow\u2019s finals.\u00a0Read more about that here<\/a>. Watch tonight, and be prepared to vote tomorrow on whether the bee itself counts as sports.<\/p>\n

\ud83d\udcfa NHL: Hurricanes vs. Canadiens
8 p.m. ET on TNT
The last two matchups in this Eastern Conference final have gone to overtime. Enough said. Catch up quickly with James Mirtle\u2019s\u00a0three learnings from the first three games<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\ud83d\udcfa WNBA: Dream vs. Lynx
9 p.m. ET on USA Network
Atlanta (4-1) is the league\u2019s\u00a0final one-loss team<\/a> and bested 4-2 Minnesota by 1 point in their season opener. Sparks should fly between two teams expected to be in the mix for the championship this season.<\/p>\n

Pulse Picks<\/p>\n

The NWSL has\u00a0a record number of mothers rostered this season. In the first piece of an important new series devoted to motherhood and soccer, Melanie Anzidei and Megan Feringa explore the emotional and physical journey<\/a>\u00a0for\u00a0elite players after pregnancy.<\/p>\n

The balancing act of being a\u00a0parent and pro athlete\u00a0isn\u2019t reserved for moms, though. I appreciated\u00a0this perspective from\u00a0Dodgers star Freddie Freeman<\/a>, whose baby daughter is making him re-evaluate his baseball longevity.<\/p>\n

Mike Sando on his\u00a0favorite offseason move for every NFL team?\u00a0Yes, please<\/a>.<\/p>\n

This week\u2019s\u00a0MLB Power Rankings\u00a0include\u00a0a first-half prediction for every team.\u00a0Will Fernando Tatis Jr. ever homer again?\u00a0Probably<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Naomi Osaka debuted another\u00a0couture-inspired outfit yesterday at the French Open. Ava Wallace has the backstory<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Most-clicked in the newsletter yesterday:\u00a0The\u00a0NCAA baseball tournament field<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Most-read on the website yesterday:\u00a0Tim Spiers\u2019 ranking of this season\u2019s\u00a0189 Premier League transfers<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\ud83d\udceb That\u2019s all for now! Say hello at\u00a0thepulse@theathletic.com<\/a>, and\u00a0check out our other newsletters<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Pulse Newsletter \ud83d\udce3 | This is The Athletic\u2019s daily sports newsletter. Sign up here to receive The…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":669656,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[72],"tags":[2662,99,428],"class_list":["post-669655","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tennis","tag-college-sports","tag-sports","tag-tennis"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/669655","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=669655"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/669655\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/669656"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=669655"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=669655"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=669655"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}