Agency for college athlete payment deals agrees to loosen third-party restrictions

• Third-party collectives are main source of NIL deals

• Collectives must have a valid business purpose'

The new agency vetting name, image and likeness (NIL) deals in college sports reached an agreement Thursday that relaxes standards on player agreements with third-party collectives and avoids taking the issue back to court after years of legal wrangling.

The College Sports Commission said it will now consider a third-party company that seeks to pay a player to have a valid business purpose" if the deal is related to the promotion or endorsement of goods or services provided to the general public for profit."