In July 2021, parents began forwarding screenshots. Coaches started getting questions they could not answer. Athletes were asked to sign deals they did not understand, sometimes before their season even started.
Since then, NIL has splintered into a patchwork of booster-backed collectives, agent-run marketplaces, school-adjacent groups, and tech platforms, all operating under shifting rules. Some promised quick money. Others promised structure. Very few delivered both.
The NIL system will look very different by 2026. The House v. NCAA settlement framework introduced the concept of direct revenue sharing, potentially allowing schools to distribute roughly $20–22 million annually to athletes. At the same time, there was more oversight. Proposed oversight bodies, including clearinghouses and the planned College Sports Commission, are expected to review NIL deals.
NIL Club has carved out a unique niche in that environment.
YOKE's NIL Club serves as a 'Patreon-for-Teams,' providing a platform where athletes join as part of a team rather than as individual stars. Its business model allows fans to pay a monthly fee to support their favorite team, with the money being split evenly among all the athletes on the team. Athletes can sign up via the NIL Club's mobile app or website by creating an account and selecting their team, making it a straightforward process to get started.
The approach is different from NIL collectives that are based on recruiting or donor influence, and from individual marketplaces that focus on deals with athletes who have a lot of social media followers. A backup volleyball player on a Power Five roster isn’t likely to land a shoe deal or a local endorsement. Through a team-based NIL Club, she might still see a monthly payout for the first time, modest but tangible, simply because fans chose to support the entire roster.
Athletes can join through a mobile app or website, make or join a "club" based on a team, and post content for their followers. The platform also makes it easy to run opt-in brand campaigns, sell goods, and hold performance-based events.
The company says that NIL Club has hundreds of thousands of registered athletes on thousands of teams across the country and has paid out more than $50 million through subscriptions and brand campaigns since it started. There hasn't been an independent audit of those numbers. While those figures are self-reported, the platform’s visible team listings suggest broad national adoption.
For athletes, the appeal is that it's easy to get to. You don't need an agent. There is no one-on-one sales pitch to businesses in the area. Participation is mostly easy.
Individual payouts are usually small, especially on larger rosters, because all the athletes who participate get the same amount of money from fan subscriptions. For a lot of players, NIL Club income is more of a side job than a main source of income.
Let’s use the Butler women's tennis team with 10 players that raised $2,150 a month toward a $2,600 goal in January 2026 just from fan subscriptions, with no brand deals. After paying the platform fee, using a hypothetical 10% platform fee for illustration, there is about $1,935 left to split. If you divide it up evenly, that comes to about $190 per athlete per month from fans.
That amount can help pay for groceries, utilities, transportation, or part of a phone bill for a small group. For bigger teams like football, track, or rowing, the payout per athlete is usually lower because the same number of fans is spread out over more players.
The difference is important. NIL Club is not about one big payment. It fits with the reality of college sports that there is steady, predictable income that comes from fans who care. Most college athletes don't make a lot of money through NIL. NIL Club is designed for the vast majority of college athletes who aren’t major influencers, emphasizing team equality, compliance with NCAA/state NIL rules, and athlete control (not run by boosters, donors, or schools; distinct from traditional NIL collectives).
You can also make more money with brand campaigns. NIL Club has teamed up with well-known companies like Subway, SoFi, and Amazon Prime Student, to name a few. This lets athletes choose campaigns that fit their sport, school, or schedule.
More than 50,000 athletes have completed at least one brand deal through NIL Club, based on the platform's official announcements and press releases.
NIL Club gives fans a direct way to help athletes financially without having to give money through a school foundation or booster club. Subscriptions are sold as support for a whole team instead of just one player.
Fans get access to exclusive content in return. For teams that stay active, posting often follows a loose weekly rhythm: a short clip after practice, a travel-day update, maybe a quick post after a game. When classes, workouts, film sessions, and rehab pile up, that rhythm is usually the first thing to break.
That inconsistency isn't just a problem for NIL Club. It shows a bigger problem in NIL, where athletes have to balance making content with full-time training, schoolwork, and competition.
Parents often see NIL through the lens of compliance because of decades of strict amateurism rules. That caution has grown stronger since the House.
NIL Club says that it is focused on compliance. It works on its own, not with schools or boosters, and only allows college athletes to join. It also stresses following state laws and NCAA rules. The platform also has educational materials on best practices and disclosures.
Families are still responsible for understanding the terms, fees, and tax consequences. Athletes get 1099 forms for their NIL income, which is taxable. Documentation and recordkeeping are still very important.
From an administrative perspective, NIL Club is generally viewed as manageable. Unlike donor-driven collectives that raise recruiting concerns, the platform does not promise compensation tied to playing time or enrollment decisions.
That does not solve all problems. Coaches still keep an eye on how well players manage their time, how they get along in the locker room, and how social media can be a distraction. Sharing revenue equally helps reduce differences, but comparisons still happen.
NIL Club gives brands more exposure than just one athlete endorsement. A typical campaign might get 100 to 200 athletes from different campuses to join at the same time. This is different from a traditional NIL deal, which is based on one famous player. Instead of putting all their money on one voice, brands get their message out by having dozens of peer-level creators talk to their own campus audiences at the same time.
The content is intentionally simple. Athletes make short videos in their dorm rooms, locker rooms, or around campus, talking to their own fans in a way that sounds natural instead of scripted. That lack of formality is often what brands want when they try to reach college.
A recent example demonstrates the model. More than 170 athletes from different campuses took part in a Subway campaign run by NIL Club. The company says that the campaign got more than a million impressions and ‘significantly exceeded expectations.’
What’s more important, the company recently announced a partnership with Impact.com, a marketing and affiliate-tracking platform brands use to verify conversions and performance.
The NIL Club does not answer the bigger questions about how college athletes should be paid. It promises realistic earnings to most participants, and it confirms that NIL is sometimes unfair.
It gives athletes who might not otherwise be able to get into the NIL economy a structured, easy way to do so. That clarity is important in a system that is becoming more regulated and based on revenue sharing.
It's still important for athletes, fans, parents, and schools to know what NIL Club is and what it isn't. Realism may be the most important thing about the crowded NIL market.
