The law
Alabama repealed its college NIL statute: Former Code of Ala. §§ 8-26B-50 to 8-26B-61 and 8-26B-32 (Act 2021-227, repealed by Act 2022-2). The table records what applies now. Rows drawn from a statute come from the enacted text on the legislature's own site; rows drawn from a school or board policy name that policy. Every source is linked under Sources, read on October 21, 2026.
What it says
| Question | What applies | Section or source |
|---|---|---|
| Who is covered | No NIL statute now. The repealed Act 2021-227 covered student athletes at public universities and colleges in Alabama and at institutions for higher education as defined in § 16-18A-2, and left out Alabama Community College System schools. The athlete agent act, which is in force, covers any "student athlete": anyone eligible to attend an educational institution who engages in, or may become eligible for, an interscholastic or intercollegiate sport | former § 8-26B-50(4); § 8-26B-2(17) |
| Disclosure to the school | No Alabama statute requires an athlete to disclose an NIL deal now. The repealed § 8-26B-51(g) required disclosure to the school before any NIL contract was signed or any advance payment received. What remains is the agent act's notice for agency contracts, which include endorsement contracts; within 72 hours after signing or before the athlete's next scheduled athletic event, whichever is first, both the agent and the athlete notify the athletic director. Other deal reporting comes from school policy and, in Division I, NCAA reporting through NIL Go, which are not state law | former § 8-26B-51(g); § 8-26B-11(b), (c) |
| Banned categories | No statute now. The repealed § 8-26B-51(b)(1) let a school bar deals with tobacco and nicotine brands, alcoholic beverage brands, sellers of controlled substances including marijuana, adult entertainment businesses, casinos and gambling sponsors, and any entity the school judged in good faith to reflect adversely on it. Category limits now come from school and conference policy | former § 8-26B-51(b)(1) |
| Conflicts with team contracts | No statute now. The repealed § 8-26B-51(f) barred, without the school's written consent, an NIL contract with a term the school found to conflict with a school contract, and § 8-26B-51(b)(2) let a school bar other entities' insignia while the athlete wore licensed gear or competed | former § 8-26B-51(b)(2), (f) |
| School and coach involvement | No statute now. Until 2022-02-03 NIL pay could come only from a third party not owned by or operating under the school (former § 8-26B-51(d)); a school, "an entity with the purpose of supporting or benefitting the institution or its intercollegiate sports", and their officers, directors and employees could not pay or direct pay to an athlete (former § 8-26B-51(e)); and pay could not be tied to performance or used as an inducement to enroll (former §§ 8-26B-51(c), 8-26B-57). In the agent act, a school employee acting only for the school is not an athlete agent | former §§ 8-26B-51(c) to (e), 8-26B-57; § 8-26B-2(2)(A)(ii)(I) |
| Direct pay from the school | Not addressed. No Alabama statute allows or bars it. The repealed § 8-26B-51(e) barred schools and supporting entities from paying athletes until 2022-02-03. School pay is now governed by the House settlement and NCAA, conference and College Sports Commission rules, not by state law | former § 8-26B-51(e) |
| Agents and attorneys | The Revised Uniform Athlete Agents Act applies. An "agency contract" covers a professional-sports-services contract or an "endorsement contract", meaning consideration for using the value an athlete has because of publicity, reputation, following or fame obtained through athletic ability. Acting as an athlete agent requires a certificate of registration from the Secretary of State; the fee is $200 to apply and $100 to renew or register on another state's certificate, and a registration lasts two years. The contract must be in a signed record stating fees, services and duration, with a boldface warning and a separate signed acknowledgement; the athlete may cancel within 14 days, a right that cannot be waived. A licensed attorney or other licensed professional giving customary services is not an athlete agent unless the person also recruits or solicits the agency contract, seeks professional employment for the athlete, or is paid by a different method than for clients who are not student athletes. The act sets no fee cap. The repealed § 8-26B-52 had required NIL representatives to be registered agents or Alabama State Bar members and the athlete to give the school 7 days' written notice before signing a representation agreement | §§ 8-26B-2(1), (2), (5); 8-26B-4; 8-26B-6(f); 8-26B-9; 8-26B-10; 8-26B-12; former § 8-26B-52 |
| High school and minors | Not addressed by any NIL statute. The agent act's "student athlete" includes interscholastic athletes; if the athlete is a minor, a parent or guardian signs the agency contract, receives the copy and may cancel it. High school NIL bills HB 25 (2024), HB 489 (2025) and HB 340 (2026) each died in House committee | §§ 8-26B-2(17); 8-26B-10(d), (f), (g); 8-26B-12 |
| Financial literacy | No statute now. The repealed § 8-26B-54 required each covered school to run financial literacy and life skills programming (financial aid, debt management, model budgets, time management) with no marketing by financial product providers | former § 8-26B-54 |
| Scholarship protection | No statute now. The repealed § 8-26B-53 said a scholarship could not be revoked or reduced because an athlete earned NIL pay or obtained representation | former § 8-26B-53 |
| Confidentiality of contracts | Not addressed. No Alabama statute exempts NIL or revenue-sharing contracts from the Open Records Act, which gives every resident the right to inspect and copy any public record "except as otherwise expressly provided by applicable law". No bill to create such an exemption was found from 2021 to 2026 | § 36-12-40(a) |
| NCAA and conference penalties | Not addressed. Neither current law nor the repealed act bars the NCAA, a conference or the College Sports Commission from penalizing an athlete or school over NIL. The repealed § 8-26B-51(b) limited only the school's own rules (a school "may not adopt or maintain a contract, rule, regulation, standard, or other requirement that unreasonably restricts" NIL pay) | former § 8-26B-51(b) |
| Remedies and enforcement | Under the agent act, a school or athlete harmed by an agent's violation may sue for actual damages, costs and attorney's fees; the Secretary of State may impose a civil penalty up to $50,000; conduct barred by § 8-26B-14(a) (false promises, giving anything of value to induce an agency contract) is a Class B felony for an agent who intentionally did not register, conduct barred by § 8-26B-14 is a Class C felony for a registered agent, and a registered agent who initiated contact before registering (§ 8-26B-14(b)(1)) commits a Class A misdemeanor; a contract from unregistered conduct is void, and a non-conforming contract can be voided by the athlete. The repealed act made prohibited payments a Class C felony for anyone other than the athlete, with violations reported to the school and then to the Alabama Athlete Agents Commission | §§ 8-26B-4(c), 8-26B-10(e), 8-26B-15 to 8-26B-17; former §§ 8-26B-32, 8-26B-61 |
| Employee status | Not addressed now. The repealed § 8-26B-59 said an athlete was not a school employee based on participation in an intercollegiate sport | former § 8-26B-59 |
What the 2021 law said
Act 2021-227 (HB 404), approved 2021-04-19 and in force 2021-07-01, was Alabama's college NIL statute. Codified as Article 3 of Chapter 26B of Title 8 (§§ 8-26B-50 to 8-26B-61), it said:
- an athlete at a covered school could earn NIL pay "commensurate with the market value" of the athlete's name, image or likeness, but not pay tied to athletic performance or attendance at a particular school, or offered as an inducement to enroll (former §§ 8-26B-51(a), (c), 8-26B-57);
- pay could come only from a third party not owned by or operating under the school, and no school, supporting entity, officer, director or employee could pay or direct pay to an athlete or the athlete's family (former § 8-26B-51(d), (e));
- an athlete disclosed each NIL contract to the school before signing it, and gave the school written notice at least seven days before signing a representation agreement (former §§ 8-26B-51(g), 8-26B-52(c));
- an NIL contract formed while the athlete played at a school could not extend beyond the athlete's participation in the sport there (former § 8-26B-51(h));
- a seven-member Alabama Collegiate Athletics Commission, chaired by the Governor, could make rules "to maintain the fairness and integrity of amateur intercollegiate athletics", with a civil penalty up to $1,000 for breaking them (former § 8-26B-55);
- anyone other than the athlete who made a prohibited payment committed a Class C felony; a proposed misdemeanor for athletes was struck before passage (former § 8-26B-61(a)).
The 2022 repeal
HB 76, sponsored by Representative Kyle South (also HB 404's lead sponsor), passed the House on 2022-01-18 and the Senate on 2022-02-02. Its one operative section repealed Act 2021-227, "now appearing as Article 3 of Chapter 26B of Title 8, commencing with Section 8-26B-50, and Section 8-26B-32", and took effect on the Governor's approval, 2022-02-03 (Act 2022-2). A companion, SB 55, never left Senate committee. The Code of Alabama on the Legislature's site now shows each of those sections as "repealed in the 2022 Regular Session by Act 2022-2 effective February 3, 2022."
Every NIL bill since 2021, and its fate
From the Alabama Legislature's own bill records:
- 2021: HB 404 (enacted, Act 2021-227). SB 230 (Senate companion, died in Senate Judiciary). HB 150 and SB 328 (an HBCU working group plus bars on school and association limits on NIL pay and representation; died in committee). SB 400 (would have let only registered athlete agents, not attorneys, represent athletes for NIL; passed the Senate, died in House State Government).
- 2022: HB 76 (enacted, Act 2022-2, the repeal). SB 55 (identical repeal, died in Senate committee).
- 2024: HB 25 (high school NIL; died in House State Government).
- 2025: HB 240 (state income tax exemption for college athletes' NIL pay for tax years 2025 to 2027; died in House Ways and Means Education). HB 489 (high school NIL; died in committee). HB 490 (a sports wagering bill that would also have created an NIL Oversight Committee within the Alabama Gaming Commission, set NIL rules for high school and college athletes, and exempted NIL pay from state income tax; died in committee).
- 2026: HB 340 (high school NIL; died in House Education Policy).
The only athlete-related acts since the repeal touch the agent law: Act 2023-51 kept the Alabama Athlete Agents Commission alive until 2027-10-01, and Act 2025-288 let the Secretary of State name a designee to it.
Agents in Alabama
Alabama's agent law is the Revised Uniform Athlete Agents Act (2016), not an NIL-specific rule, but its definitions reach NIL work: an "agency contract" covers an endorsement contract (§ 8-26B-2(1)), and someone who, for pay, advises an athlete on business pursuits or manages contracts is an athlete agent too (§ 8-26B-2(2)(A)(ii)). Under the statute the Secretary of State issues certificates of registration (§ 8-26B-6(a)) and publishes an annual register of registered agents (§ 8-26B-30(h)); the Secretary of State's athlete agents page says new and renewal applications are considered at quarterly Alabama Athlete Agents Commission meetings and must arrive two weeks before one (checked 2026-10-21). The commission is the Secretary of State or a designee (since Act 2025-288) plus 18 appointed members, including the athletic directors (or their appointees) of 14 Alabama colleges and universities (§ 8-26B-30(a)), and it is continued under the Sunset Law until 2027-10-01 (Act 2023-51). The 72-hour notice to the athletic director (§ 8-26B-11) has no NIL exception in its text.
What fills the gap
With no statute, the rules an Alabama college athlete deals with come from outside state law: the school's own NIL policy; for Division I, NCAA reporting through NIL Go; the House settlement's revenue-sharing terms, approved on 2025-06-06; and, for schools that signed it, the College Sports Commission's participant agreement. No Alabama statute bars the NCAA, a conference or the College Sports Commission from enforcing those rules.
How it changed
| Act | What it did | Effective |
|---|---|---|
| Act 2016-415 (SB 317, 2016) | enacted the Revised Uniform Athlete Agents Act (2016), Code of Ala. Chapter 26B of Title 8, which still governs anyone who solicits an athlete into an agency contract for an endorsement contract; replaced Chapter 26A | 2016-10-01 |
| Act 2021-227 (HB 404, 2021, approved 2021-04-19) | enacted Article 3 of Chapter 26B (§§ 8-26B-50 to 8-26B-61) and § 8-26B-32: market-value NIL pay from third parties only, no pay from schools or supporting entities, disclosure before signing, permitted category bans, 7-day notice before hiring a representative, financial literacy programming, scholarship protection, the Alabama Collegiate Athletics Commission, and a Class C felony for prohibited payments | 2021-07-01 |
| Act 2022-2 (HB 76, 2022) | repealed Act 2021-227 in full, "now appearing as Article 3 of Chapter 26B of Title 8, commencing with Section 8-26B-50, and Section 8-26B-32" | 2022-02-03 (on the Governor's approval) |
| Act 2023-51 (HB 206, 2023, approved 2023-04-25) | continued the Alabama Athlete Agents Commission under the Sunset Law until 2027-10-01 and expressly preserved §§ 8-26B-1 to 8-26B-31 | 2023-04-25 |
| Act 2025-288 (SB 45, 2025, approved 2025-05-06) | amended § 8-26B-30 so the Secretary of State may name a designee to sit on the Alabama Athlete Agents Commission | 2025-06-01 |
Federal law
As of 2026-10-21, S. 4668 (Protect College Sports Act) passed the Senate 77-22 on 2026-09-28 and has been held at the House desk since 2026-10-05; it is not law. Alabama has no NIL statute and no state rule governing NCAA, conference or school NIL rules, so § 121(a)(2) has nothing in Alabama to reach. § 121(b)(1)(A) preserves "Uniform Athlete Agent Acts" except where they conflict with § 121(a), and Alabama's Chapter 26B is by its own short title the Revised Uniform Athlete Agents Act (2016) (§ 8-26B-1). In a state with no NIL law of its own, the bill would add federal rules: Division I athletes would report NIL agreements over $600 to the school and the association's designated entity within 5 days (§ 101(b)); schools, conferences, collectives and third parties could pay athletes for NIL (§ 101(c)); schools and associations could not restrict NIL deals or cut aid over them, with exceptions for the student conduct code and unauthorized use of school marks (§ 101(a)); and agents on endorsement contracts would register with a State, charge no more than 5 percent and sign no agency contract running past eligibility, with a private right of action (§ 102, amending the Sports Agent Responsibility and Trust Act). An agent "registered and certified under the All State Uniform Agent Acts in the State in which the agent operates" is deemed registered for § 102.
What sits on top of it
- Division I reporting. Third-party deals of $600 or more go to NIL Go within five business days, whatever the state's own rule (NIL Go, reporting a deal, level by level).
- Your school. A school can set a stricter policy than the statute, and most set the disclosure process.
- Agents. Alabama's athlete-agent rules are on the state-by-state registration table.
- High school. High school NIL in Alabama is set by the state's athletic association, not this statute.
- Taxes. NIL taxes in plain words.
How Leave fits
In Leave, every deal thread carries a rules summary for the athlete's state and level, and keeps the contract, its dates and the disclosure deadline that applies. It is a summary, not a ruling; the school and the statute decide. Leave is software, not an agent, and takes 0% of any deal. You decide, you send.
Questions about college NIL law in Alabama
Does Alabama have an NIL law in 2026?
No. Alabama's college NIL law, Act 2021-227 (HB 404), took effect 2021-07-01 and was repealed in full by Act 2022-2 (HB 76), effective when Governor Ivey approved it on 2022-02-03. Every NIL bill filed since then, including an income tax exemption for NIL pay (HB 240, 2025) and three high school NIL bills, died in committee. The state law that still reaches NIL is the Revised Uniform Athlete Agents Act, Code of Ala. Chapter 26B of Title 8.
Can Alabama colleges pay athletes directly?
No Alabama statute addresses it now. The repealed § 8-26B-51(e) barred schools and their supporting entities from paying athletes for NIL, but that ended on 2022-02-03, and no later act replaced it. Whether and how much a school pays is set by the House settlement and NCAA, conference and College Sports Commission rules.
Do I have to tell my school about an NIL deal in Alabama?
No Alabama statute requires it for the deal itself; the pre-signing disclosure in the repealed § 8-26B-51(g) ended in 2022. Two other rules can apply. If an agent negotiates or solicits an endorsement deal under an agency contract, Code of Ala. § 8-26B-11 requires both the agent and the athlete to notify the athletic director within 72 hours after signing the agency contract or before the next athletic event, whichever is first. Separately, school policy and, in Division I, NCAA reporting through NIL Go are school and NCAA rules, not state law.
Does Alabama require an NIL agent to be licensed?
Registered, yes. Alabama's Revised Uniform Athlete Agents Act defines an agency contract to include an endorsement contract (§ 8-26B-2(1), (5)), and an individual may not act as an athlete agent without a certificate of registration from the Secretary of State (§ 8-26B-4). The fee is $200 for a first application and $100 to renew (§ 8-26B-9), and a registration is valid for two years (§ 8-26B-6(f)). An attorney giving ordinary legal services is not an athlete agent unless the attorney also recruits or solicits the agency contract, seeks professional employment for the athlete, or charges by a different method than for clients who are not student athletes (§ 8-26B-2(2)(B)(ii)). The Secretary of State's athlete agents page says applications are considered at quarterly Alabama Athlete Agents Commission meetings (checked 2026-10-21).
Are NIL contracts public records in Alabama?
No Alabama statute answers that directly. The Open Records Act, § 36-12-40, gives every resident a right to inspect and copy any public record "except as otherwise expressly provided by applicable law", and no law expressly exempts NIL or revenue-sharing agreements. Contracts between an athlete and a private company are not school records unless the school holds them. No Alabama Attorney General opinion on NIL records was found.
Be your own agent. Leave.
