Representing College Athletes in the Private-Capital Era: NIL Deals and Revenue-Share Contracts

Joshua Frieser, Principal Attorney | Frieser Legal

Joshua Frieser is a sports and business lawyer and the Principal Attorney at Frieser Legal, a boutique sports law practice based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He represents elite athletes, sports agents and agencies, sports industry businesses, and corporate sponsors, with a practice centered on NIL negotiations, licensing, intellectual property, business structuring, and regulatory compliance.

• Education & Credentials

Josh earned his J.D. from Marquette University Law School in 2021 and holds a B.S. in Kinesiology, with Distinction, from Indiana University Bloomington (2018). He is admitted to practice in Wisconsin.

• Recognition & Leadership

Josh is recognized as a leading voice on the legal and regulatory landscape of college athletics. He has been quoted by the Associated Press, Front Office Sports, and the Wisconsin State Journal, and he frequently speaks at CLE programs and industry panels on NIL and the business of college sports.

• Professional Involvement

He serves on the American Arbitration Association’s Sports Advisory Committee and is a member of the Sports Lawyers Association and the State Bar of Wisconsin’s Sports & Entertainment Law Section. His recent presentations include programs for the Federal Bar Association, the American Arbitration Association, Strafford Publications (Barbri), and the State Bar of Wisconsin.

• Experience

Josh advocates for sports clients in high-stakes settings, from athletics association regulatory proceedings to complex NIL negotiations, helping athletes capitalize on opportunities, maintain eligibility, and protect their brands. Before founding Frieser Legal, he gained experience at the NCAA’s Office of the Committees on Infractions and the National Sports Law Institute, and through judicial internships with judges of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit and the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin.

John Long, Transition Partner | Kutak Rock LLP

John Long has more than a decade of experience representing universities, coaches, and sports organizations in high-profile collegiate and professional sports matters. A member of Kutak Rock’s College Athletics Industry group, he focuses his practice on NCAA infractions and compliance, Title IX gender equity, sports wagering investigations, and name, image, and likeness (NIL) issues.

• Education & Credentials

John earned his J.D. from Marquette University Law School, where he studied through the National Sports Law Institute, and his B.S. from the University of Texas. He is admitted to practice in Texas.

• Recognition & Leadership

While practicing at a large labor and employment law firm, John obtained one of the largest appellate victories in the history of NCAA infractions appeals.

• Professional Involvement

John serves as Chair of the American Bar Association’s Sports and Entertainment Planning Committee and is a member of the American Football Coaches Association.

• Experience

John has served as lead counsel for numerous Division I institutions in NCAA major infractions matters and has advised conferences and universities on complex compliance and eligibility issues, including landmark waiver cases involving student-athletes at the University of North Carolina and West Virginia University. Before joining Kutak Rock, he was a member of the Collegiate Sports Practice Group at a large full-service law firm, where he represented Division I institutions and conferences on high-profile matters, including the NCAA House Settlement. Earlier in his career, he served as Executive of Athletics Compliance at Southeastern Louisiana University.

Ken Witt, Partner | Kutak Rock LLP

Ken Witt is an experienced corporate and securities attorney in Kutak Rock’s Scottsdale office. He represents commercial banks and other institutional clients, private investment funds, and companies across industry verticals including AI, quantum computing, and energy, with work spanning institutional investments, mergers and acquisitions, venture-backed companies, and securities regulation.

• Education & Credentials

Ken is a graduate of Harvard University (A.B., 1980), where he was elected to Phi Beta Kappa, and Harvard Law School (J.D., 1983). He is admitted to practice in Arizona.

• Recognition & Leadership

Ken serves as Co-Chair of Kutak Rock’s Institutional Investment Group and is rated AV (Preeminent) by Martindale-Hubbell. Called “business friendly” by his clients, he emphasizes quality, value, and results.

• Professional Involvement

Ken is a member of the Arizona Bar Association and a frequent CLE presenter, panelist, and author, with speaking engagements for the Arizona Bar Association, Strafford, and Kutak Rock CLE programs, and publications in Law360, Bloomberg Law, and the Denver Law Review.

• Experience

Ken’s work runs from assisting major commercial banks with SBIC fund investments to M&A transactions and the representation of venture-backed clients developing AI and quantum computing technology. Representative matters include private fund investments for major commercial banks, venture financings for technology and ag-tech companies, public offerings and shelf registrations for energy companies, and private placements for real estate developers.

SESSION 1 – Representing College Athletes in Revenue Sharing and Third-Party NIL Deals Against PE-Funded and Well-Resourced Counterparties | 1:00pm – 2:00pm

This session examines the legal landscape an attorney must understand to effectively represent college athletes in NIL negotiations against sophisticated counterparties—PE-backed collectives, public, private, and now commercial university entities, and multimedia rights companies—under the post-House v. NCAA settlement framework. Attendees will learn how to structure contracts that survive Deloitte’s FMV review, identify and neutralize red-flag provisions including overbroad exclusivity, transfer clawbacks, perpetual IP rights, and exploitative agent fee structures, and advise clients on risks arising from an ever-changing regulatory landscape, two Executive Orders, and pending federal legislation. Attorneys will leave with a practical framework for drafting, negotiating, and auditing NIL agreements on behalf of individual athlete clients.

BREAK | 2:00pm – 2:10pm

SESSION 2 – Drafting Athlete Revenue-Share Agreements with Schools Funded by Private Capital | 2:10pm – 3:10pm

This session addresses key compliance elements related to athlete revenue-share and NIL agreements in the post House v. NCAA settlement era. The settlement permits participating Division I institutions to compensate student-athletes directly, beginning with an approximately $20.5 million institutional cap for the 2025–26 academic year, with the cap increasing over the settlement term. Attendees will learn to identify the key drafting and counseling risks in this emerging market: cap allocation and adjustment, NIL rights grants and activation obligations, interaction with third-party NIL and associated-entity deals, Title IX uncertainty, employment-status and wage-and-hour exposure, tax characterization and reporting, transfer-related restrictions, termination rights, liquidated damages and buyout enforceability, state-law variation, and payment-source risk where schools or conferences use private-capital or commercial-rights structures to fund athletics operations. By the end of the session, attendees will be able to evaluate a revenue-share agreement against the House settlement framework and the CSC compliance regime, spot provisions that may create Title IX, antitrust, employment, tax, state-law, transfer, or enforceability risk, and draft contractual protections that preserve institutional and athlete flexibility while the regulatory framework continues to evolve.

Additionally, this session addresses the college athletics’ potential transition from a donor-based model to an investment model which has been fueled by private capital offerings and the possibility of major college football and basketball transitioning to a private-owned collective bargaining model. The session will address those transition possibilities, including public=private partnership, booster-led private ownership, PE-backed spin-offs, conference credit facilities, and equity proposals— which are reshaping the industry.