On July 1, 2021, the NCAA formally adopted a policy allowing college athletes to earn money for their name, image, and likeness (NIL).
At the time, one of my acquaintances, Matt Wilson, was serving as the Senior Director of Development for Athletics at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University. He witnessed firsthand the immediate impact that NIL had on college athletics.
Today, Matt sees things from the other side of the table. After leaving Embry-Riddle in 2022, he spent two years as Executive Director of NIL Collective Operations + Development at Athlete Forward Initiative. Now he runs his own consulting group designed to provide leadership, fundraising, communication, and culture development training for college athletic departments.
In his role, Matt closely tracks the evolution of NIL — and it is evolving fast. When the policy was first adopted, student-athletes could be compensated by partnering with local businesses or endorsing a brand, product, or service on their social media channels. Fast forward to 2025, where it looks much different. Athletes can now be paid directly through their schools via revenue-sharing agreements in addition to compensation from NIL deals.
This shift has transformed recruiting. Schools now highlight revenue-sharing opportunities upfront, whether they’re recruiting high school athletes or those in the transfer portal. Many schools will also offer to partner with athletes to help them reach their NIL goals through branding, podcasting, personal marketing, and more. To help support NIL earnings, college programs are increasingly incorporating features that help facilitate these opportunities into their athletic facilities. They’re also providing training to athletes, so they can capitalize on as many opportunities as possible.
The bottom line is that college athletics is about more than competition today. For many athletes, if they can’t reach their earnings goals, they’ll enter the transfer portal and go somewhere they think they can. This is made much easier considering they’re no longer required to sit out a season following a transfer and that athletes can transfer an unlimited number of times while they still have eligibility. It’s part of how college sports are becoming more professional by the day.
That means facility design and construction must go beyond performance and brand building. It’s also for recruitment and retention. Modern facilities now include dedicated content creation zones where athletes can produce high-quality photos and videos for social media and sponsorship campaigns. Some examples Barton Malow has integrated into spaces include:
- Media studios: Equipped with professional lighting, cameras, and editing stations for podcasts, interviews, and branded content.
- Social media walls: Branded backdrops and interactive displays designed for photo shoots and live streaming.
- Tech-enabled lounges: Spaces with high-speed connectivity and digital tools for athletes to manage NIL deals and engage with fans.
Athletic departments are using these NIL-ready features as a recruiting advantage. Barton Malow’s projects often include:
- Luxury locker rooms: Designed with aesthetics in mind for social media appeal.
- Hospitality suites: Spaces for networking with sponsors and hosting NIL-related events.
- Flexible event spaces: Areas that can double as influencer-friendly environments for brand activations.
At Barton Malow, we’ve been building sports projects since the 1930s and have worked through a variety of sports eras, always adapting to meet the needs of our clients and partners. Some of our recent college athletic projects have focused on enhancing fan amenities and luxury viewing spaces. Yet, building with a focus on the athlete’s experience continues to be important, as evidenced in recently finished projects, such as the Greenberg Indoor Sports Complex at Penn State University and the Huber Center as part of the “Vandy United” FirstBank Stadium renovation at Vanderbilt University. This will likely become increasingly important in the current era of college sports.
Building in the NIL era of college sports is just another way that Barton Malow continues to meet the needs of today’s college athletic programs, as today’s facilities are being designed to do more than just develop athletes, but develop their personal brands. Think of it as Hollywood meeting higher education.
Matt echoes a sentiment that’s shared by many in college athletics today — nobody knows what the future of the NIL era holds. But what we do know is that it’s here to stay and we all need to be prepared to meet the needs of the modern-day athletic department and student-athlete.
About the Author: Len Moser is a Vice President and visionary leader in professional and collegiate sports venue construction. With more than three decades of experience, Len’s expertise helps Barton Malow deliver state-of-the-art athletic facilities, including stadiums, ballparks, and multi-purpose arenas.
