NIL deals are commercial agreements, and like any commercial agreement, they sometimes fall apart. A brand does not pay. An athlete does not post. A deal that was supposed to be exclusive turns out not to be, or an athlete's image keeps appearing in advertising long after the campaign was supposed to end. When that happens, the outcome usually depends on what the agreement actually said, and on what the parties can prove.
How these disputes usually start
- Deals documented in email and text messages, with no signed agreement and no clear terms.
- Payments tied to approval or campaign milestones that the other side controls.
- Usage rights that were never limited, so the brand can keep using an athlete's likeness far longer than anyone intended.
- Exclusivity terms broader than the parties understood, blocking future deals.
- College athlete deals that were never disclosed, which adds eligibility exposure on top of a payment dispute.
- Deliverables that were described in a sentence, leaving both sides with a different idea of what was promised.
What should be in writing, before anything goes wrong
A workable NIL agreement names the parties, describes the deliverables and the deadline, sets the payment amount and schedule, limits exclusivity to a defined category and period, sets a start and end date for the use of the athlete's or creator's name and likeness, and explains what happens if either side wants out. It also says where a dispute will be resolved. Those clauses rarely matter while things are going well. They decide everything once they are not.
If the deal is already in trouble
Start with the written record: the agreement, the messages, the invoices, proof of what was delivered, and proof of what was not. Many of these disputes are resolved with a demand letter and negotiation, especially where the amount in dispute is modest and both sides want the relationship to continue. When negotiation does not work, that same documentation is what supports a breach of contract claim or a related claim over the unauthorized use of a name or likeness.
For athletes, creators, brands, and collectives, the practical lesson is the same: the time to get the terms right, and in writing, is before the money and the content start moving.