Many college football programs have moved their NIL in-house as they prepare for the impending House settlement.
In turn, several have eliminated their NIL collectives as they focus those efforts on the future of revenue sharing.
Thus far, however, it’s been a bit of a gray area for head coaches to operate within. There’s a lack of clear guidance on how to structure contracts and move without federal legislation.
For schools in Louisiana, however, that landscape has changed, and the Tulane Green Wave football team gains a competitive advantage with NIL.
On Tuesday, Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry signed an executive order that will allow state schools to directly pay college athletes for the use of their name, image, and likeness.
The use of state-allocated funds is prohibited, and the order will remain in effect until either federal legislation is enacted or the effective House settlement date.
“Louisiana is proud to be home to student-athletes who consistently compete and win at the highest levels of college athletics,” Landry said. “As national policies and developments continue to reshape the landscape of college sports, this executive order is about fairness — for our Louisiana students, our schools, and our athletes.”
The order aims to keep state schools competitive in the race to attract star talent, as other states have already taken steps to allow similar measures.
Importantly, it protects them from any adverse actions by the NCAA, athletic conferences, or any other governing bodies if they begin directly paying student athletes.
It comes on the heels of several proactive moves by the Green Wave to keep up with the ever-changing environment.
Athletic director David Harris recently announced that they will take NIL efforts in-house beginning July 1.
“This responsibility will be in addition to traditional areas such as our annual fund, facility enhancements, student-athlete development, and overall departmental needs,” Harris said in the release. “The proposed House settlement allows universities to manage all these operations, including bringing the responsibility for fundraising for NIL/pool payments inside the department.”
The program also received a massive $3.5 million gift to launch the Green Wave Fund, which will assume those NIL responsibilities.
They now have the green light to allocate that money directly to student-athletes. Should they wish, they now can do so prior to the impending date of the House settlement.
Once approved, the schools that opted in can share up to $20.5 million in revenue with their athletes in the 2025-26 athletic year.
In the American Athletic Conference, all schools outside of Navy and Army will be held to a league minimum of $10 million that was set in March.
Tulane football can now operate freely without the risk of adverse actions, directly pay athletes using NIL funds, and begin efforts to retain star talent on the roster should they choose.
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