SEC Reportedly Proposes Tiered Roster‑Spending Fines and New NIL Rules

Overview

• Reporting by Yahoo Sports describes a tiered fine system that would tax roster spending at rising rates tied to specific thresholds, with the lowest tier under $50.5 million and the top tier for spending above $70.5 million.
• Under the model fines would start below 1% for low spenders then rise to 1% for $50.5–$60.5 million, 3% for $60.5–$70.5 million and 10% for amounts above $70.5 million.
• League sources say the penalty rates would increase in later cap years with examples that move the middle tiers to roughly 5% and the top tier toward 15–20%, which would sharply raise cash costs for repeat high spenders.
• The proposal would apply House‑settlement language to treat certain school‑affiliated, third‑party NIL deals as 'institutional pay,' and officials are discussing making those rules retroactive to Oct. 1 for deals that redirected school revenue.
• The account says the plan would remove the need to clear associated‑entity deals through the NIL Go clearinghouse to stop so‑called 'money‑washing,' that many universities currently use third parties to route funds to athletes and sometimes pay firms about 20% to process deals; the reporting is based on unnamed sources and the policy is not final.