Where Does Wildcat NIL Fall In The New Era of College Athletics?

Originally posted on Kansas State Wildcats on SI
By Seth Kunz | Last updated Jul 4, 2025 12:29 PM ET

Phil Didion

In April of 2022, former Kansas State football players Jesse Ertz, Ryan Henington, Ross Elder and Brad Fulner came together to help create Kansas State's NIL collective. The collective helped Kansas State navigate the changing world of name, image and likeness. Things changed on Tuesday as a new era of NIL was ushered in, and college athletic programs are now able to pay their athletes directly.

While this is a significant shift in college sports, the impact on Wildcat NIL may be more of a pivot than a complete overhaul. Kansas State Director of Athletics Gene Taylor discussed the collective’s evolving role on this week's Ask the A.D.

"Their [Wildcat NIL] role will now be going out and getting that third-party NIL, the true NIL that was supposed to be back in the day," Taylor said. "When coaches come to us and say, 'Where does so-and-so go out and try to get an opportunity for a corporate relationship?' We can go to either one of those groups [Wildcat NIL or Learfield] and Wildcat NIL will be very involved with that in the future."

The change completely shifts Wildcat NIL away from fundraising, which was one of its primary functions before Tuesday.

"Donors won't give money directly to Wildcat NIL," Taylor said. "The corporate side of that will be the roll they'll play."

The ruling on the House settlement established the College Sports Commission, a group responsible for overseeing payments exceeding $600, including those from collectives.

"The College Sports Commission, and the new CEO (Bryan Seeley), who is coming from Major League Baseball, that has that background, and he's done this for Major League Baseball, making sure teams stay within the cap," Taylor said. "He has come out and said in meetings with our commissioners, 'We will go after the bad actors, and once we do, we will act swiftly and we will punish those bad actors...' If that works, then this will be a level playing field."

NIL collectives knew change was coming, and their behavior reflects that. The Commission went into effect on July 1; on June 30, collectives reportedly paid out $20 million to college athletes (Front Office Sports). Front Office Sports also reported that compared to last June, the payments collectives made were 824 percent higher.

The clock struck midnight on the old era of NIL. Wildcat NIL will look to keep third-party deals coming to K-State athletes as their focus shifts away from donor funding.