NIL Collective Shutdown: The End of SANIL and What It Means for NIL’s Next Chapter
By Beyond NIL | October 2025
The End of an NIL Era — and the Start of Something New
In the fast-moving world of college sports, some stories feel bigger than a headline. The recent news that Student Athlete NIL (SANIL) is ceasing operations is one of those moments.
For years, SANIL was a fixture in the evolving NIL ecosystem, powering more than 40 school-specific collectives and playing a key role in shaping the infrastructure of athlete support across the country. Their model wasn’t just about raising funds — it was about building sustainable systems to deliver NIL opportunities at scale. SANIL also focused on developing a robust national infrastructure to support NIL activities, aiming to provide a reliable framework for athletes and institutions nationwide.
At Beyond NIL, we had the chance to engage with SANIL leadership on several high-level discussions. While we never worked with them formally, we always respected their professionalism, strategic vision, and collaborative spirit. SANIL operated within the broader college sports ecosystem, working alongside athletes, collectives, and regulatory bodies to adapt to the rapidly changing landscape. One team member who stood out to us was Olivia Nuss, an LSU alumna and New Orleans native whose approach reflected the thoughtful, local-first mindset SANIL tried to cultivate in markets across the country. Notably, SANIL partnered with major institutions such as Georgia Tech, further cementing its influence in the NIL ecosystem.
That’s what makes this moment more than just another business closure. It’s a turning point for the NIL industry — and a chance to re-evaluate what works, what doesn’t, and where we go from here.
SANIL’s Rise and Fall: An Overview
A Promising Blueprint
SANIL positioned itself as a full-service collective operator — not just a fundraiser, but a platform that helped schools, boosters, and athletes navigate the NIL era with legal structure and financial efficiency. Over the past few years, it supported dozens of collectives and processed millions in NIL transactions, working closely with associated entities such as boosters and other third parties involved in NIL deals.
In early 2025, SANIL was acquired by Blueprint Sports, a move that was supposed to create a $100M+ NIL powerhouse by combining SANIL’s operational infrastructure with Blueprint’s marketing and tech strengths. The merger was intended to create a new organization that leveraged both companies' resources. Blueprint’s expertise included acting as marketing agencies, pairing athletes with local businesses to secure endorsement deals and maximize NIL-related revenue. Together, they were poised to support over 70 collectives nationwide.
But that acquisition, according to reports, never fully closed. Instead, SANIL continued to operate independently, even as communications to the public suggested a more unified entity. Cracks began to show as regulatory challenges, industry shifts, and internal pressures mounted.
Why It Shuttered
The NIL collective space has changed dramatically in just the last year:
Regulatory uncertainty from the NCAA and Congress made it harder for collectives to plan long-term.
IRS scrutiny around nonprofit collectives raised legal risks for operators using 501(c)(3) status.
Revenue-sharing proposals from the NCAA–House settlement encouraged schools to bring NIL operations in-house, with some schools opting to participate while others opted out of these arrangements.
Market saturation meant some collectives were competing for the same donor base within the same school.
As schools bring NIL operations in-house, athletic departments are increasingly responsible for managing these changes, including funding and resource allocation.
SANIL’s business model, built on serving multiple collectives at scale, may have simply become too complex to maintain under these new pressures. According to a recent Sports Business Journal report, several collectives powered by SANIL, which are part of the broader landscape of NIL collectives facing regulatory and legal challenges, were left scrambling — particularly schools like Syracuse, where its collective Orange United is now in limbo.
Opendorse Steps In
With SANIL winding down, Opendorse — one of the largest NIL infrastructure providers and one of the largest third party collectives in the NIL space — has stepped in to help collectives transition. In an interview with Front Office Sports, CEO Blake Lawrence confirmed that Opendorse has already onboarded nearly 10 of the collectives previously operated by SANIL and is working with others to ensure athletes continue to get paid without interruption. Collectives must choose to participate in the transition process to be onboarded by Opendorse, and only those collectives or schools that are eligible under Opendorse's criteria can be included.
This is a big move for Opendorse and potentially a sign of where the industry is headed: fewer, more centralized players handling compliance, payments, and operations at scale.
For collectives, that’s both reassuring and sobering. The bar for execution, transparency, and sustainability is getting higher. Those who want to stay in the game will need to evolve quickly.
A Personal Perspective
While our paths didn’t always overlap formally, SANIL’s approach to collective management was something we often admired from afar. They brought structure to a chaotic space and did so with a professionalism that earned the respect of many across the industry.
Getting to know people like Olivia Nuss, who helped represent SANIL in Louisiana and beyond, added a layer of authenticity to that impression. Her background — rooted in LSU and the New Orleans community — reflected SANIL’s belief in the power of local connection, school loyalty, and athlete-first programming.
Her presence in their orbit reminded us that NIL isn’t just about money, structure, or legal frameworks — it’s about people. Athletes, alumni, advocates. When fans support their favorite team through contributions, they help sustain athletic programs and enhance the experience for everyone involved. When a collective closes, those people feel the ripple effects most directly, highlighting the importance of supporting entire programs, not just individual athletes.
What SANIL’s Closure Means for the NIL Landscape
This isn’t just one company going under. It’s a sign that the collective model is entering a new phase. SANIL's closure highlights broader shifts in college athletics, where financial pressures, legal changes, and evolving funding strategies are reshaping the landscape.
As the collective model evolves, the importance of supporting entire athletic programs—not just individual athletes—becomes clear. Sustained program-level support ensures that facilities, resources, and team cohesion are maintained, which is essential for long-term competitiveness.
Industry trends show that reliable funding is critical for the survival of collectives and the success of athletic programs. The benefits of steady, program-level funding include improved facilities, enhanced resources, and greater opportunities for both athletes and teams.
1. Consolidation of Power
Opendorse and a small number of platforms are becoming central hubs for NIL operations. Conferences play a significant role in shaping how these NIL operations are structured and regulated, ensuring that organizational standards are met across college athletics. Power conferences, in particular, have considerable influence over the consolidation trend, often leveraging their resources to set the pace for compliance and policy adoption.
This centralization not only reduces fragmentation but also raises the bar for compliance, transparency, and scale, making it essential to support entire teams—rather than just individual athletes—to maintain the community spirit and competitive balance in college sports.
2. Schools Taking Control
With the introduction of formal revenue-sharing models, many schools are now more motivated to internalize NIL operations — or work only with vetted third parties under tight oversight. Institutions are key stakeholders in this evolving landscape, shaping how athlete compensation and partnerships are managed.
Schools can opt to bring NIL operations in-house or continue collaborating with external collectives, depending on their strategic goals. Under the new regulatory frameworks, only certain activities are permitted, and schools must ensure all NIL transactions comply with these allowed practices to avoid violations.
3. The End of the Nonprofit Era?
The IRS is challenging the nonprofit status of many collectives. In response to these regulatory changes, a new organization called the College Sports Commission (CSC) has been established to oversee NIL compliance and enforce rules within college athletics. The college sports commission now plays a central role in regulating collectives, managing NIL contracts, and ensuring compliance with evolving standards.
Recent guidance CSC issued outlines stricter regulations and enforcement policies for collectives, which could force a major shift toward for-profit or university-affiliated entities with cleaner legal frameworks.
4. Focus on Athlete Trust and Payment Security
Athletes need to know the deals they sign will be honored. The more collective failures we see, the more important reputation and trust will become in deal-making. Endorsement contracts, which formalize the relationship between athletes and third parties, often require regulatory approval to ensure legitimacy and compliance.
Endorsements are a key way athletes earn income through NIL opportunities. It is essential that NIL deals serve a valid business purpose, not just as disguised payments, to maintain compliance and uphold the integrity of these agreements.
5. Higher Stakes for Compliance
As lawsuits, audits, and federal legislation loom, collective operators must treat NIL like a regulated industry — not a startup side hustle. Recent legal challenges, particularly those involving antitrust laws, have played a significant role in shaping NIL policy and athlete compensation.
The NCAA settlement, which addresses these legal issues, marks a major shift in the industry, but it still requires final approval from the courts before its provisions can take effect. Legal, financial, and governance infrastructure will separate the sustainable from the short-lived.
Where Do We Go from Here?
The NIL era is still young — and, in many ways, unstable. The future of NIL and college sports remains uncertain, with ongoing debates about the best models for athlete support and funding. But instability also creates opportunity.
Recent image and likeness regulations have brought significant NIL changes, allowing student athletes to earn money through name image and likeness opportunities, NIL deals, and outside NIL opportunities that provide new revenue streams beyond traditional school-imposed payment caps. These changes have also led to the creation of new models for athlete support, with formal agreements and legal agreement frameworks now playing a central role in ensuring fair compensation and compliance.
At Beyond NIL, we see SANIL’s exit as more than a cautionary tale. It’s a moment to learn, rebuild, and refocus. Collectives must become leaner, more compliant, more mission-driven. Schools must evaluate the right mix of in-house versus third-party management, and continue to provide scholarships as a key support mechanism for student athletes. Brands must push for deal security and athlete education. And athletes themselves deserve transparency, consistency, additional benefits from recent settlements, and creative support beyond just financial offers.
As the ecosystem recalibrates, we remain committed to supporting athletes and partners in smart, ethical, and forward-looking ways. CEO Chris Brown’s leadership in SANIL’s final phase highlighted the need for strategic partnerships and innovation as the industry adapts.
The end of SANIL is not the end of NIL — it’s a reminder that this space, like any industry in transition, must keep evolving to survive.