FOS Explains: Inside the $10 Million NIL Portfolio Reshaping College Athletics

College QB Carson Beck has made more money than several NFL starters over the past 12 months.

How?

Nearly $10 MILLION in NIL deals over the last year.

Brief History of NIL?

The concept of amateurism was the rule for decades. If an athlete even accepted something as small as a free meal from a fan or booster, they could face serious consequences.

But then, in 2009, former UCLA basketball player Ed O’Bannon filed a lawsuit against the NCAA and EA for using his likeness without permission or compensation in NCAA Basketball 09.

The lawsuit became class action, and in 2015, the appeals court found the NCAA was violating the law. But in a ruling, it stopped short of forcing the NCAA to allow NIL rights.

People began asking why athletes shouldn’t capitalize off their own NIL and build their own brands.?

Then in July 2021, everything changed.

College athletes were officially allowed to make money from their NIL–and the flood gates opened.

Athletes started signing brand deals left and right. The ones with tons of social media followers were in prime position for big paydays.

Carson Beck’s $10M NIL Portfolio

Enter: Carson Beck.

It took less than five years into the NIL era for the first college athlete to earn $10M in a calendar year.?

The former Georgia QB entered the season ranked as a top two prospect at his position for the 2025 NFL Draft, according to ESPN’s Mel Kiper. Despite suffering a season ending UCL injury, Beck finished the season as Kiper’s No. 4 QB prospect for this year’s Draft.

But Beck shocked the world when he entered the transfer portal instead of declaring—and committed to the University of Miami.

A partner at the firm that represents Beck told FOS that the QB had secured nearly $10M in NIL deals over the past year–a combination of his earnings from brand partnerships and Miami’s NIL collective–setting a new standard for the college sports landscape.

The 23-year-old has over 125K instagram followers and is dating a fellow Miami athlete and influencer Hannah Cavinder, who also earns millions in NIL dollars. Beck’s partnerships include: Beats by Dre, Powerade, Chipotle, and Airstar Charter.

$10M is roughly the same amount of money as the average annual value of 2024 No. 1 draft pick Caleb Williams’ rookie contract. And since Beck was originally projected to be a late first or second rounder, that means he’s making more money in a year of college football than he would by declaring for the draft.

We’ve already seen high school recruits prioritize schools with strong NIL collectives. And those same collectives are now offering MILLIONS to entice top players to transfer.?

Beck’s story suggest that these are becoming increasingly more important in the space.

Problems with NIL

NIL has also caused legal trouble for the NCAA.

In 2024, Vanderbilt QB Diego Pavia sued the NCAA for more CFB eligibility to continue cashing in. Pavia played two years of JUCO football, which previously counted towards eligibility–but Pavia argued that NIL made that illegal.

The most controversial NIL story of 2024, however, was Matthew Sluka. The UNLV QB’s? agent told ESPN that a UNLV assistant “verbally promised” $100K, but when he actually arrived in Las Vegas, the school’s collective offered him $3K a month for the season–and had only paid a $3K relocation bonus.

So Sluka sat out the rest of the year before ultimately transferring to James Madison.

For more on the NIL era in college sports, watch this week’s FOS Explains.

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