College Sports Commission CEO Bryan Seeley urges schools to enforce existing NIL rules

Bryan Seeley, chief executive of the newly formed College Sports Commission (CSC), told reporters at the Big Ten spring meetings that the agency will enforce name, image and likeness (NIL) regulations exactly as they were written. “I was hired to launch the CSC and enforce the rules as written,” Seeley said.

Many athletic directors are frustrated by soaring third‑party NIL deals, calling the current model “unsustainable.” Michigan State AD J. Batt described the system as “unsustainable,” while Ohio State AD Ross Bjork and Washington AD Pat Chun discussed the possibility of breakaway conferences and a “fraudulent market” for compensating athletes.

The CSC recently secured an arbitration win in a case involving Nebraska football players, where the arbitrator classified multimedia‑rights firm Playfly as an “associated entity” and criticized the “warehousing” of players’ NIL rights. Seeley warned schools they are struggling to submit compliant NIL deals, especially when guarantees are made to recruits before enrollment, which violates NCAA rules.

The controversy comes as federal legislative efforts to address NIL issues have stalled, and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries noted political opposition if SEC schools support certain proposals.