Side by side
| Option | What it does | What it costs | What it cannot do |
|---|---|---|---|
| An agent | Finds deals, negotiates, handles the team or brand, refers you to advisors, chases what is owed | A percentage of each deal. Pro playing contracts are capped by the union (NFL 3%, NBA 4%, WNBA 5%). Endorsement and NIL work is uncapped; 10 to 20% is quoted and 15 to 30% is reported on lifetime marketing agreements. | Represent an enrolled college athlete for pro marketing (NCAA Bylaw 12.3.2); act without registering in 42 states; avoid the written contract, warning box and 14-day cancellation the state acts require |
| A marketplace | Lists brand and local offers, matches by sport, school and reach, processes the deal and the payment, often routes the school's disclosure | Varies by platform: some charge the brand a transaction fee on each deal, some take a percentage from the athlete, some are paid by the school. The platform's own terms say which. | Explain the contract, tell you what the rules in your state and level require, negotiate, or see deals that arrive outside it |
| A lawyer at a flat fee | Reads the contract, explains what each clause does, advises, drafts changes you ask for | A fixed fee per review or an hourly rate; no published price list was found. Some law school clinics review NIL contracts at no cost. | Negotiate an enrolled athlete's pro contract or talk to the team (NCAA 12.3.2.4); negotiate a pro playing contract without union certification; find deals |
| The school | Compliance reviews deals at most Division I schools, takes the required disclosure, runs or licenses a marketplace, answers rules questions | Nothing to the athlete | Advise the athlete (it advises the school); negotiate; act as the athlete's agent, which several state laws forbid; see deals the athlete does not disclose |
| Yourself, with Leave | Explains any contract part by part, shows what similar work pays at your reach, the rules and deadlines for your state, level and age, public opportunities as threads, and keeps every deal and its exclusivity in one record; works inside ChatGPT, Claude and Gemini and in its own app | $49 a month after a 14-day free trial, $588 a year; 0% of any deal | Negotiate, represent, solicit or sign for you; give legal, tax or financial advice; find deals that are not public; replace a lawyer on a contract that needs one. The athlete does the talking. |
Each option, in full
An agent
The agent's job, task by task, is on the full guide: the playing contract, endorsements, financial referrals, deadlines, draft preparation, disputes. The value is real for an athlete whose market is large enough that relationships and time are worth a percentage, and the record of athletes who went without one shows the deals faulted were faulted on guarantees and structure, the part that takes the most reading. The cost is the percentage, and on marketing work there is no cap: an ESPN-commissioned poll of 1,000 college athletes found that of those who had help with high school deals, about two thirds paid a percentage, with a median near 20%. The law adds duties: registration in 42 states, a written contract with a warning box and a 14-day cancellation right, and notice to the athletic director within 72 hours. A federal bill that passed the Senate in September 2026 would cap a college athlete's endorsement agent fee at 5%; it is held at the House desk as of October 13, 2026.
A marketplace
Platforms such as Opendorse and INFLCR are sold mainly to schools and reach the athlete through the athletic department; others sell to brands or athletes directly. They list offers, match by sport, school and follower count, process the deal and the payment, and often carry the school's disclosure. What they do not do is read the contract to you or explain the rule in your state. Fee models differ, and the only reliable statement of a platform's fee is its own terms: some charge the brand a transaction fee, some take a share from the athlete, some are paid by the school and free to the athlete. Opendorse's co-founder told Fortune in September 2026 that 67% of the school-paid compensation it tracks goes to athletes without an agent.
A lawyer at a flat fee
This is what most of the athletes who negotiated their own contracts used: a lawyer for the paper, the athlete for the talking. Review and advice are legal work and sit outside the athlete-agent acts in most states; negotiating for the athlete can bring a lawyer inside them, and the NCAA treats a lawyer at the table as an agent for an enrolled athlete's pro contract. No firm was found publishing a flat-fee dollar figure; the University of Wisconsin's law clinic reviews NIL contracts for that state's athletes at no cost. The lawyer page has each rule.
The school
At Division I most compliance offices want to see a deal before it is signed, and every third-party deal of $600 or more goes through NIL Go within five business days. The office answers rules questions and runs or licenses a marketplace. It advises the institution, which is why it cannot give the athlete legal advice, and Texas's NIL law bars school staff from acting as an athlete's agent or steering their choice of representative. It is free, and it is where the disclosures go.
Yourself, with Leave
Leave is built for the athlete who does the agent's job. The law allows it at every level, and the full guide is the case for it with the limits stated. What Leave adds is the information the job needs in one place: the contract explained part by part with the clauses that cause trouble flagged, what similar work pays at your reach, the rules for your state, level and age as a summary with the deadlines on a countdown, public opportunities as threads, and a record of every deal and its exclusivity so the next offer is checked against the last. It takes 0% from the athlete. It does not negotiate, represent, solicit or sign for anyone, and it is not legal, tax or financial advice; where a contract needs a lawyer, Leave's reading is what you bring to one. Athletes 13 to 17 use it through a parent's or guardian's account.
What each costs, on three sizes of year
| Deals in a year | Agent at 20% | Leave at $49 a month |
|---|---|---|
| $1,000 | $200 | $588 |
| $2,940 | $588 | $588 |
| $10,000 | $2,000 | $588 |
| $50,000 | $10,000 | $588 |
Most NIL deals are small: the average third-party deal is about $6,200 and most are under $1,000, per the figures in the NIL guide. For an athlete with one or two small deals a year, a percentage is the smaller number and the agent's fee buys representation the subscription does not. The numbers cross at $2,940 a year. Above that, the percentage grows with every deal and the subscription does not. Pro playing contracts are a different case: the union caps hold the fee to 3 or 4%, and the player who represents himself keeps that against the time and risk the NFL page lays out.
The break-even, in plain words
$49 a month is $588 a year. Twenty percent of $2,940 is $588. An athlete who expects less than that in deals and wants someone else to do the work pays less for the agent. An athlete who expects more, or who wants to do the work, pays less for the software, and the gap widens with every deal. An athlete who hires a lawyer for review pays that fee under either option. The choice is the athlete's; the arithmetic is here so it is made with the numbers in view.
Using more than one
The options are not exclusive, and the common arrangements are: a marketplace for the offers and Leave for the reading and the rules; Leave for the first read and a lawyer for the contract that needs one; the school's compliance office for the disclosure under every arrangement; and, for athletes with a pro contract, an agent on the playing contract and self-representation on marketing, or the reverse, as Shai Gilgeous-Alexander arranged in 2025. The NBA also lets a player hand the playing-contract negotiation to the union itself.
Questions athletes ask
Is Leave cheaper than an agent?
It depends on how much you earn from deals. Leave is $49 a month after a free trial, $588 a year, and takes 0%. An agent on a 20% marketing fee costs $588 at $2,940 of deals a year: below that, the agent's fee is the smaller number; above it, Leave's is. The two buy different things: the fee buys someone to negotiate and find deals for you; the subscription buys the information to do it yourself.
Can I use a marketplace and Leave at the same time?
Yes. A marketplace lists offers and processes the deal; Leave explains the contract, shows what similar work pays and the rules and deadlines that apply, and keeps the record. Many athletes use a school-provided marketplace because the school requires disclosures through it.
Does an agent find deals a marketplace does not?
Often, for athletes with a large following; that is what the fee pays for. Opendorse's co-founder told Fortune in September 2026 that 67% of the school-paid compensation it tracks goes to athletes without an agent, and that what agents mostly supply is pay information athletes lack. Opendorse's 2024 report found represented athletes earned 5.3 times more a year, a correlation: the highest earners are the ones agents sign.
What can none of these options do?
Make a deal pay-for-play, skip a disclosure, or override your school's or state's rules. An NIL deal cannot depend on performance or enrollment at any level; Division I deals of $600 or more go to NIL Go within five business days; high school windows are set by each state association. Every option works inside those limits.
Is Leave an agent or a marketplace?
Neither. Leave is software for the athlete who handles their own deals: it explains contracts, shows public opportunities, rates, rules and deadlines, and keeps the record. It does not negotiate, represent or solicit for anyone and is not legal, tax or financial advice. A separate product, Leave for Brands, lets a business post a deal that opted-in athletes see; it is not open yet.
Be your own agent. Leave.