On Feb. 12, 2025, the Trump administration rescinded the Department of Education Office for Civil Rights’ guidance on how it planned to analyze name, image and likeness (NIL) activity under Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972. The Department issued the guidance, which can no longer be found on its website, on Jan. 16, 2025, shortly before President Donald Trump took office.
Craig Trainor, the Department’s acting assistant secretary for civil rights, called the guidance “overly burdensome, profoundly unfair, and it goes well beyond what agency guidance is intended to achieve.” He went on to say that the guidance was made “without a credible legal justification” supporting its position that “NIL agreements between schools and student athletes are akin to financial aid,” which was the Department’s basis for saying that NIL benefits must be proportionately distributed under Title IX.
It remains to be seen whether the Department will issue new guidance on NIL payments to student athletes.
