NIL stands for “Name, Image and Likeness.” In the most basic terms, NIL refers to college athletes being allowed to receive financial compensation by profiting from their own personal “brand.” NIL gives college athletes the right to monetize their “name” and “image” and receive profits through doing so. Examples of this include being able to sign sponsorship deals with corporate brands and companies, creating one's own brand “logo” or brand merchandise for profit, as well as being able to charge money for things like pictures, cameo videos, and even autographs. In short, “Name, Image and Likeness” truly just means that college athletes can leverage their own personal brand for profit.
While this policy seems standard, the ability to profit off one’s own brand was not always possible. Since the formation of the NCAA, it has been prohibited for student-athletes to earn anything other than the means of their school scholarship: this means they couldn't sign any brand deals or sponsorships, and couldn't even have any other jobs or ways to receive compensation in any form. Breaking such rules resulted in a loss of eligibility to compete for the athletes' respective school. For context, the NCAA, more formally known as the National Collegiate Athletic Association, is a nonprofit organization that regulates college athletes: as of 2021, the NCAA consists of almost half a million college athletes who compose 19,886 sports teams across 24 sports.
The NCAA approved NIL policy on June 30th, 2021 under an interim “name, image, and likeness” policy. While the policy varies depending on the state, from this date on, it has been legal for student-athletes to receive compensation for their brand. Despite there still being many rules and rights under NIL, which also vary based on the state in which you are a college athlete, NIL policy is a huge step forward in the process of fairly and justly compensating student-athletes. Student-athletes now rightfully hold an increasing level of power over their own agency and brand.