Stanford Athletics:The name, image, and likeness of the game
New rules for paying student-athletes are changing college sports and the role of philanthropy.
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When Stanford cornerback Collin Wright, ’25, MA ’26, darted in front of an opposing receiver, intercepted the ball, and sprinted 19 yards for the go-ahead touchdown in Stanford’s 30-20 victory over Boston College, the crowd went wild.
But outside the stadium, Wright is collecting more than adulation. As a student, he’s earning a master’s degree in sociology to go with his bachelor’s in communication. And as an athlete, he’s among those earning money through the rights to his name, image, and likeness, or NIL.
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Think of a sports jersey bearing an athlete’s name, or a cereal box with his image, or a character in a video game based on his likeness. For decades, pros could profit this way. College athletes couldn’t—NCAA rules allowed only scholarships, banning all outside payments, gifts, or perks.
That all changed in 2021, when the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that student-athletes may be compensated for NIL, just like the pros.
For a small number of players—the biggest stars in the most popular sports—this has translated into seven-figure paydays. Otherwise, the amounts vary widely by student, by sport, and by school. The vast majority of college athletes earn a few thousand dollars, if anything.
In Wright’s case, not much has changed. It wasn’t an NIL deal that brought him to Stanford, it was everything else that Stanford offers. “I’ve met so many great people, gotten so many great opportunities,” he says. “That’s more valuable than money.”
For Stanford as an institution, however, NIL has raised the stakes, not only in marquee sports like football and basketball, but in all 36 varsity programs. That’s because it has changed the behavior of almost every other institution Stanford competes with.
Under the new rules, schools and alumni have gotten creative. For a while, many athletes received payments through alumni “collectives” that brokered NIL deals or simply paid for the right to use a player’s name. In truth, those rights were rarely exercised—eventually, everyone pretty much acknowledged the money was a recruiting incentive. In addition, players can now change schools without penalty; the bidding for top players reopens during periodic transfer portals.
This state of affairs made it virtually impossible for any school, even those providing solid financial aid, to attract and retain top athletes in revenue producing sports like football and basketball, without some kind of NIL offer.
Now schools can share revenue with student-athletes directly—so-called “institutional NIL.” At Stanford, President Jon Levin has pledged that only philanthropy and new athletic revenue will fund such initiatives—never tuition, general funds, or academic resources. That’s part of Stanford’s principled approach to NIL and athletic competition generally.
“We’ve set ourselves three goals,” Levin told Stanford Magazine. “We want to ensure that even in this new era, Stanford student-athletes are true Stanford students. We want athletics to be financially sustainable and hopefully have strong support from alumni. And we want our athletes and teams to excel.”
Some would say Stanford, in its devotion to the ideal of the student-athlete, was late to the NIL game. For many years, the quality of a Stanford education outweighed other considerations, especially in combination with the university’s complete and utter dominance in college sports. Stanford has won more championships than any other school, and Stanford student-athletes have the highest grades and graduation rates in the NCAA. So for students gifted both academically and athletically, the choice was very clear. When Collin Wright enrolled at Stanford in 2022, NIL was in its infancy and had little role in his decision.
These days, however, it’s fair for the students to think about money, says Stanford football general manager Andrew Luck. “For many, it impacts the trajectory of their family. It’s an amazing opportunity and we’re viewing it as such.”
Luck knows what he’s talking about. In 2012, the star quarterback graduated from Stanford straight into the NFL. He returned to the Farm to earn a master’s degree in education. His wife, Nicole, ’12, was a Stanford gymnast.
Stanford’s strategy in offering NIL is first to level the playing field with other schools, so that the kind of education and experience only Stanford can provide will continue to be the university’s main competitive advantage.
NIL is the smaller wave in the tsunami breaking over college sports.
The biggest source of revenue for schools is media rights—chiefly TV broadcasts of football and basketball. Schools typically sign over their media rights to regional athletic conferences, which make deals with broadcasters. As deals have ballooned, conferences have expanded to capture more markets. Schools move from one conference to another in pursuit of those deals, hence the demise of the Pac-12 and the need for Stanford to find another home in the ACC.
Media revenue can be spent not only on NIL payments, but also on coaches, scholarships, and training facilities. More importantly it can be spent on any sport. Which means it’s pouring into every sport.
That’s the ultimate challenge for Stanford, because the Cardinal fields many more teams than almost any other institution. (That’s one reason Stanford students and alumni won more medals at the last Olympic Games than any other school, and all but 10 countries.) Once upon a time, Stanford’s football and basketball receipts helped these “non-revenue” squads. That’s no longer feasible. As a result, virtually every Stanford team is being outspent by schools that focus their growing media revenues on far fewer sports.
The truth is, the only way Stanford could field all those teams at a championship level—the secret of the Cardinal’s success—was always philanthropy. In today’s athletic landscape, only philanthropy can keep all of those teams in the game.
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Collin Wright, ’25, MA ’26, holds the ball and the rights to his name, image, and likeness.
Of course, you didn’t have to understand any of this to enjoy the sight of Collin Wright running his interception into the end zone. Tucking the ball under one arm, he saluted the fans. Players and spectators shared the glory.
But for those in the know, Wright had also demonstrated that academics and athletics can be combined, as part of a culture of excellence that helps knit together a community, and as an inspiration to everyone to excel in their respective fields.
As for Wright’s NIL earnings, the graduating senior is taking to heart what he learned from the financial advisors who speak to Stanford student-athletes about money management. Some kids at some schools may use their NIL money to buy flashy cars. Wright has invested it all for the future.
Stanford Athletics: The impact
Why it matters
College athletics are in the midst of a once-in-a-century transformation. Name, image, and likeness (NIL) rights and the explosion of media revenue have redrawn the competitive landscape—upending long-held assumptions about amateurism, recruiting, and equity among programs. For Stanford, which has built the most successful and academically rigorous athletics program in the nation, the question is not whether to compete, but how to do so without compromising its principles. Supporting Stanford Athletics means sustaining the model of the true student-athlete—where excellence in the classroom and on the field are mutually reinforcing, and where success continues to reflect the university’s deepest values of integrity, education, and opportunity.
The opportunity
Philanthropy has always been the quiet engine behind Stanford’s extraordinary athletic success—and today, it is more vital than ever. Gifts to Stanford Athletics help ensure that all 36 teams can thrive in an era when media deals and NIL payments increasingly drive outcomes. Donor support fuels scholarships, coaching, facilities, and NIL participation, so that Stanford can continue to attract and empower world-class student-athletes. With sustained investment, the university can preserve its distinctive approach—one that keeps education at the core, sustains championship-level excellence across all sports, and demonstrates that doing things the right way is still the surest path to victory.
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