💸 WTF is NIL: PayPal Just Became the Official Wallet for College Athletes 🚀
Big news dropped: the Big Ten and Big 12 have inked major deals with PayPal (and Venmo) to handle revenue-sharing payments for student-athletes starting July 1, thanks to the House v. NCAA settlement. This isn’t just another sponsor plug. PayPal is being positioned as the central payment hub where athletes receive, spend, and manage their NIL money—right from their phones. Think tuition, gear, game tickets, even that late-night campus snack run.
🎯 What This Means for Athletes
Instant payments: No waiting weeks for checks—Athletes can access revenue-share disbursements instantly on PayPal/Venmo.
Built‑in spending tools: PayPal is rolling out Venmo debit cards (some even decked out in school colors) usable across campus.
Campus integration: Big Ten Rivalry Series events, concessions, bookstore—Venmo taps are becoming the norm.
🚀 Why This Is a Power Move
PayPal isn’t just facilitating payments—they’re building an ecosystem:
Financial lock‑in: Student‑athletes who bank on Venmo/PayPal will likely stick around—popular tools breed loyalty.
Data-driven advantage: With an eye on behavior (spending, saving, transfers), PayPal gathers intel to potentially pitch athlete-targeted credit, loans, and financial tools.
First-mover dominance: By embedding itself now, PayPal plants itself in a $20.5M per-school, potentially billion-dollar NIL revenue market.
⚠️ What Athletes Need to Know
Payment ≠ Protection: PayPal processes the money—but it doesn’t advocate for you.
➤ You still need someone to review deals, define terms, and handle tax issues.Privacy & transparency: Payments will flow through digital trails—understand how that affects your data, reporting, and IRS filings.
Platform limits: Beware of fraudulent links, Venmo scams, or pushy brands trying to piggyback on NIL payments via PayPal.
🧠 Final Take
This PayPal rollout is huge—it's the start of monetizing athlete compensation at scale. Convenient? Yes. Game-changing? Definitely.
But remember:
Getting paid is one thing.
Managing that money—and your brand—is another.
⚖️ Don’t just accept payments—own your NIL strategy.
🛡️ Newburg Law – Your Family. Your Future. Your Foundation.