The Dark Side of NIL Collectives: How You May be Getting Scammed

College sports fans love supporting their teams, and the easiest way to do that in 2025 is by donating to your favorite school’s NIL collective. Right?  Well, as it turns out, many are investing money into NIL collectives that operate with little transparency, broken promises, and sometimes even outright scams. While NIL was supposed to empower athletes, the rise of booster-funded collectives has created a system where fans are being taken advantage of. But what even are NIL collectives, and what do they actually do? 

NIL collectives are booster-led organizations that pool money from fans and businesses to pay college athletes for brand endorsements, public appearances, social media ads, and more. Sounds fair, right? In theory, yes, but in reality, many collectives operate with zero accountability while misleading donors about where the money goes, and generally failing to deliver on their promises.

Now that we understand the purpose of an NIL collective, let’s talk about some of the specific methods and sneaky tactics that collectives use to squeeze as much money as possible from their vulnerable supporters. First is the classic "Donate or We’ll Lose Recruits!" method. Many collectives use fear tactics to pressure fans into donating, even when there’s no guarantee the money will actually keep players at the school. Athletes will often take the cash and enter the portal anyway, the complete opposite of what the donors intended. The second tactic often used by collectives is to be as vague as possible about where donor money actually goes. Unlike official school donations (which fund scholarships and facilities), collective money is murky. How much goes to athletes vs. “operating costs?” (Some collectives take a 20-30% cut of all donations for "operating costs.") Which players actually get paid? And what happens if a player transfers? These are all questions that collectives intentionally ignore, leaving donors unanswered until it’s far too late. Last but not least, collectives often offer “perks” as bartering tools that often aren’t worth it in the end. To incentivize donations, collectives offer benefits such as exclusive meet-and-greets (which frequently turn out to be overcrowded, 5-minute photo ops), VIP access to players (but only if you donate another $10,000), or autographed memorabilia (mass-produced, low-value items), just to name a few. Many fans donate expecting real engagement, only to be met with disappointing, overpriced experiences.

NIL was supposed to help athletes, but collectives have turned it into a wild west of fan exploitation and murky waters. Due to the frequent usage of NDA’s by collectives, it can be hard to identify and punish collectives who practice in ways that screw over their donors, so until there’s real oversight, ordinary supporters should think twice before donating to these often-unaccountable groups.