The Office for Civil Rights ( OCR ) of the Department of Education has issued guidance regarding the names, images, and likenesses of college athletes, placing an emphasis on schools to ensure that their male and female athletes receive equal opportunities and resources, regardless of whether the funding comes from outside.
In a nine-page “fact plate” released Thursday, OCR clarified that, under Title IX, NIL cash paid to college sports should be held to the same gender-equity criteria as athletic scholarships. Particularly, it stated that the sums paid to runners through NIL deals should be considered part of a school’s sport financial aid, just as grants-in-aid and cost-of-attendance resources are.
Two weeks before settlement objections are due in House v. NCAA, a monumental case where the parties have come to an agreement to allocate billions in future revenue to college athletes, with an overwhelming portion going to male athletes in football and men’s basketball, OCR’s release comes.

This is the first formal guidance on the subject, despite OCR’s previous general statement to ESPN from last July that claimed federal gender equity laws would apply to NIL payments.
A number of state laws expressly permit those relationships, even though the NCAA currently forbids schools from directly entering into NIL agreements. OCR now determines that in such cases, NIL agreements would be regarded as a form of “athletic financial assistance” and would be used to determine whether schools are providing equal athletic opportunities for both men and women.
OCR added that schools are still responsible for making sure that sex-based disparities are prevented even when NIL payments are made by third parties, such as booster clubs or collectives.
OCR wrote that “OCR has long recognized that a school has Title IX obligations when funding from private sources, including private donations and funds raised by booster clubs, causes disparities in a school’s athletic program or a program component” The fact that money is provided by a private source does not relieve a school of its obligation to treat all of its student-athletes in a nondiscriminatory manner.
The provision of the guidance comes at a time when former University of Oregon athletes are suing for Title IX violations related to the ungleich NIL opportunities offered by the institution and its affiliate collective, Division Street. Lead attorney Arthur Bryant, who represents the plaintiffs against OU, praised the fact sheet as a critical affirmation of their claims despite OCR’s requirement that it be legally binding and that it be applied to any particular matter.

It makes clear that our Title IX lawsuit strategy is sound, Bryant told Sportico. Additionally, it” aeso indicates that the proposed settlement in House v. NCAA should not be accepted.”
House plaintiffs ‘ representatives in Oregon and their attorneys did not respond to a request for comment right away.
One of the Department of Education’s final acts, under President Joe Biden, is the OCR fact sheet. As such, this guidance could soon be amended or reversed under President-elect Donald Trump.