LOOK: Player Opts Out of Bowl Because of NIL Dispute

Originally posted on Mike Farrell Sports
By Mark Pszonak | Last updated Jan 2, 2025 3:21 PM ET

NIL and transfer portal stories continue to pile up. The latest involves Louisville punter Brady Hodges who decided to opt out of Tuesday’s Sun Bowl against Washington due to a lack of NIL payments.

This isn’t the first time something like this has happened and it won’t be the last. The most public disagreement came earlier this season when UNLV quarterback Matthew Sluka left the team because of a similar situation. This time, Hodges went on X (formerly Twitter) to explain why he decided to opt out:

I have not been with the team since December 10th. @502_Circle told me September 6th, they would be paying and are still yet to hold up their end of the deal. I graduated on December 13th and had every intention on being with the team had they held up their end of the deal.
— bradyhodges (@bradyhodges2) December 31, 2024

502Circle is the official NIL Collective of the Louisville Cardinals, and they have yet to respond to Hodges’ allegations. As usual, this will be a “he said/she said” situation with some people criticizing the player while others criticize the university.

Unless some form of contract is signed, expect situations like this to continue. There are little to no rules and nobody around to police the situation. Because of this, it has become a regular occurrence in college sports.

This article first appeared on Mike Farrell Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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