NIL money is accelerating — and the latest numbers are eye‑popping

• The College Sports Commission approved over $75 million in NIL deals for student-athletes in March and April 2026.
• Total approved NIL deals for the 2026 calendar year have surpassed $115 million.
• The commission reports a slight decrease in the speed of deal approvals, with 66% resolved within seven days.

Revealing the latest numbers in name, image and likeness deal-brokering for NCAA student-athletes, the College Sports Commission is coming off a two-month stretch of approving more than $75 million in NIL pacts.

In its Thursday, May 7 report, the CSC notes a two-month approval — March 1, 2026, through April 30, 2026 — of more than 5,500 deals worth $75.85 million.

The numbers reflect an increase of more than $36 million from the opening two months of 2026; it brings to total $115.14 million in deal approvals this calendar year -- an average $28.79 million per month.

Overall, since the launch of the CSC and its partnership with the Deloitte-framed NIL Go third-party approval system, nearly one-quarter of a billion dollars -- $242.35 million -- in NIL money across 26.556 deals are being paid out to student-athletes.

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While the value of deal approvals is up overall, the CSC does count 442 deals worth $26.87 million not cleared. Additionally, the pace of deal reviewal and approval reflects a slight dip to 66% resolution within seven days, down from 70% approval within seven days per its previous release.

"IN many of the remaining 34% of deals, the CSC must seek additional information from the student-athlete, deal sponsor or institution via communication outside of the software platform to make a determination on the deal," per the CSC's release. "The CSC often is able to make determination on these deals within seven days of receiving such additional information, but NIL Go currently does not allow us to readily calculate this percentage.

"The CSC is working to update the platform in the coming months so that all or most communication occurs within NIL GO and those percentages can be calculated precisely."

In the nearly 11 months since the inception of the NIL Go platform, 1,153 deals with value projections of $56.17 million have not met clearance requirements.

The CSC also shares that the 21 deals pending arbitration are now merged into three arbitration cases. The CSC's first arbitration case is due for resolution this month, with the expectation a ruling will be provided by mid-May.