The law
Florida's college NIL law is Fla. Stat. s. 1006.74 (and s. 468.453(8) for agents) (status: in force). Everything on this page is taken from the enacted text on the legislature's own site, linked under Sources, read on October 21, 2026.
What it says
| Question | What the statute says | Section or source |
|---|---|---|
| Who is covered | A "postsecondary educational institution" is a state university, a Florida College System institution, or a private college or university receiving aid under chapter 1009. Since 2023 the section no longer defines "intercollegiate athlete" or "athletic program" | (1) |
| Disclosure to the school | Not addressed since ch. 2023-4 deleted the 2020 rule (former (2)(i)) that athletes disclose NIL contracts to the school. Separately, s. 468.454(7) requires a student athlete to tell the athletic director within 72 hours of signing an agent contract (or before the next athletic event, if sooner), which s. 468.452(1) defines as a contract for marketing athletic ability or reputation | former (2)(i); s. 468.454(7) |
| Banned categories | Not addressed. Neither the 2020 text nor the current text lists banned product categories | Not addressed |
| Conflicts with team contracts | Not addressed since ch. 2023-4 deleted former (2)(h), which barred NIL contracts that conflicted with the team contract | former (2)(h) |
| School and coach involvement | A school or its employee, including a coach, is not liable for damages to an athlete's ability to earn NIL compensation resulting from decisions and actions routinely taken in the course of intercollegiate athletics. The 2020 bar on schools, booster entities and their staff compensating athletes or directing compensation to them was deleted in 2023 | (3); former (2)(c) |
| Direct pay from the school | Not addressed. The statute neither authorizes nor bars school pay since ch. 2023-4 deleted former (2)(a) (pay only from third parties unaffiliated with the school) and (2)(c) (no pay from the school or its support entities) | former (2)(a), (2)(c) |
| Agents and attorneys | A person must hold a valid Florida athlete agent license to act as an athlete agent representing an intercollegiate athlete on contracts for the commercial use of the athlete's name, image or likeness, notwithstanding the exception for athlete-initiated contact in s. 468.453(3). Licensing requires age 18, good moral character, fees (application up to $500, active license up to $2,000) and fingerprints. The 2020 rule that attorneys be members of The Florida Bar was deleted in 2023 | s. 468.453(2), (8) |
| High school and minors | Not addressed since ch. 2023-4 deleted former (2)(f), which required court approval under ss. 743.08 and 743.09 for NIL contracts of athletes under 18 | former (2)(f) |
| Financial literacy | Each school must hold at least two financial literacy, life skills and entrepreneurship workshops of at least 5 hours each before the athlete graduates. They may not be identical or held in the same semester; the second must be more rigorous; each must cover entrepreneurship, financial aid, debt management, a budget based on cost of attendance, time management and academic resources; none may include marketing, advertising, referral or solicitation by financial providers | (2) |
| Scholarship protection | Not addressed since ch. 2023-4 deleted former (2)(b) and (2)(e), which kept NIL earnings from affecting grant-in-aid or eligibility and barred revoking or reducing aid | former (2)(b), (2)(e) |
| Confidentiality of contracts | Not addressed | Not addressed |
| NCAA and conference penalties | Not addressed in s. 1006.74. Former s. 468.453(9), which let agents represent athletes on NIL notwithstanding association rules, was deleted in 2023. Separately, s. 1011.90(7) bars using state funds to join or stay in an association whose decisions in response to the Legislature would have a negative fiscal impact on the state | s. 468.453 (former (9)); s. 1011.90(7) |
| Remedies and enforcement | No private remedy in s. 1006.74; the Board of Governors and State Board of Education adopt regulations and rules. For agents, the Department of Business and Professional Regulation may impose fines up to $25,000 per offense, an agent contract with an unlicensed person is void, and a college may sue an agent for damages | (4); s. 468.456(3); s. 468.454(12); s. 468.4562 |
| Employee status | Not addressed | Not addressed |
What the 2023 rewrite removed
The 2020 act (ch. 2020-28) was one of the first state NIL laws. Ch. 2023-4, passed in a special session and approved on February 16, 2023, rewrote s. 1006.74. The current text no longer has these 2020 rules:
- Pay had to match market value, could not be for athletic performance or attendance at a school, and could come only from a third party unaffiliated with the school (former (2)(a)).
- Schools, booster entities and their officers and employees could not pay athletes or direct pay to them (former (2)(c)).
- Athletes had to disclose NIL contracts to the school (former (2)(i)), could not sign deals that conflicted with the team contract (former (2)(h)), and contracts could not run past the athlete's college career (former (2)(j)).
- Attorneys had to be members of The Florida Bar (former (2)(d)); minors' contracts needed court approval (former (2)(f)); NIL earnings could not affect a scholarship (former (2)(b), (2)(e)).
What ch. 2023-4 kept or added: the legislative findings, the workshop duty (the 2020 workshop at the start of the first and third academic years became at least two different workshops before graduation), a new liability shield for schools and coaches (s. 1006.74(3)), and the agent license rule in s. 468.453(8).
The effective date fight of 2021
Ch. 2020-28 was set to take effect July 1, 2021. In June 2021, s. 20 of ch. 2021-35 moved that date to July 1, 2022; weeks later ch. 2021-217 (approved June 29, 2021) reenacted July 1, 2021, notwithstanding ch. 2021-35, so the law took effect on the original date.
Since the House settlement
The Florida Senate's bill search by statute citation shows no bill citing s. 1006.74 or s. 468.453 passed in the 2024, 2025 or 2026 sessions, including the 2025 and 2026 special sessions, and the 2026 Florida Statutes list ch. 2023-4 as the last change to both. On May 1, 2024 the Attorney General announced that Florida had joined Tennessee, New York, Virginia and the District of Columbia in an antitrust action against the NCAA over its recruiting-related NIL restrictions. In 2026 the Board of Governors set up a Task Force on Intercollegiate Athletics; its statement of August 4, 2026 says the Task Force will "explore regulatory and legislative avenues at both the state and federal levels" and develop recommendations on the NIL and revenue-sharing landscape.
Two 2025 bills on agents' NIL fees, CS/CS/HB 981 (Athlete Representation and Compensation) and SB 1584 (Agents of Student Athletes), would have amended s. 468.454 to cap an agent's share of an athlete's NIL compensation; both died in committee (last action June 16, 2025). The Florida Senate's text search finds no 2026 bill on college athletes' NIL.
How it changed
| Act | What it did | Effective |
|---|---|---|
| CS/CS/SB 646 (2020), ch. 2020-28 | created s. 1006.74 (market-value pay from third parties only, no school or booster pay, disclosure to the school, team-contract conflicts, agent licensing, Florida Bar attorneys, scholarship protection, court approval for minors, a 5-hour financial literacy workshop at the start of the first and third academic years) and added s. 468.453(8) and (9) | 2021-07-01 (approved 2020-06-12) |
| CS/CS/SB 1028 (2021), ch. 2021-35, s. 20 | amended ch. 2020-28 to push its effective date to July 1, 2022 | 2021-06-01 (approved; s. 20 took effect on becoming law) |
| CS/HB 845 (2021), ch. 2021-217 | reenacted July 1, 2021 as the effective date, notwithstanding ch. 2021-35, with contingent retroactive operation; also added s. 1011.90(7) on state funds and association membership | 2021-06-29 (approved, effective on becoming law) |
| HB 7-B (2023 Special Session B), ch. 2023-4 | rewrote s. 1006.74, deleting the definitions of athlete and athletic program, the pay limits, the bar on school and booster pay, disclosure, team-contract, attorney, scholarship and minor provisions; replaced the first- and third-year workshop with at least two different 5-hour workshops before graduation; added a liability shield; amended s. 468.453(8) and deleted s. 468.453(9) | 2023-02-16 (approved, effective on becoming law) |
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 with no House action (congress.gov). If enacted as passed, its § 121(a)(2) would preempt state laws that govern, regulate or invalidate school, conference or association rules on NIL compensation. Florida's current s. 1006.74 has no such provision left, because ch. 2023-4 deleted the 2020 limits, so little in it falls under § 121(a)(2). The workshop duty in s. 1006.74(2) is not one of the § 121(a) categories, and S. 4668 § 105(b) sets a similar no-marketing rule for literacy programs. The liability shield in s. 1006.74(3) limits state-law damages claims; § 121(b)(1)(C) preserves tort law except where it conflicts with § 121(a), and how the shield would interact with the federal private right of action in § 119 is not settled by the text. The agent license in s. 468.453(8) sits alongside S. 4668 § 102, which would require agents to register with a State and cap endorsement fees at 5 percent; § 121(b)(1)(A) preserves "Uniform Athlete Agent Acts", and whether Florida's own licensing law counts as one is not settled by the text. S. 4668 § 101(b) would add a federal duty to report Division I deals over $600 within 5 days, which Florida's statute no longer has.
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. Florida's athlete-agent rules are on the state-by-state registration table.
- High school. High school NIL in Florida 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 Florida
What is Florida's NIL law in 2026?
Section 1006.74, Florida Statutes, as rewritten by ch. 2023-4 (effective February 16, 2023). It now requires schools to run two financial literacy, life skills and entrepreneurship workshops before an athlete graduates and shields schools and coaches from damages over routine athletics decisions. Section 468.453(8) requires anyone acting as an athlete agent on NIL contracts to hold a Florida athlete agent license. The Florida Senate's bill search shows no bill citing either section passed in the 2024, 2025 or 2026 sessions.
Can Florida colleges pay athletes directly?
The statute no longer says. The 2020 law barred schools and their booster entities from paying athletes, and allowed pay only from unaffiliated third parties; ch. 2023-4 deleted both rules in February 2023. Since then s. 1006.74 neither authorizes nor bars direct school pay, so the question turns on NCAA, conference and College Sports Commission rules and the House settlement, not Florida statute.
Do I have to tell my school about an NIL deal in Florida?
Florida law no longer requires it. The 2020 statute required athletes to disclose NIL contracts to the school in the manner the school set; ch. 2023-4 deleted that rule. School, conference and NCAA rules (including the Division I deal reporting through NIL Go) are separate from state law. Florida's athlete agent law does require an athlete who signs an agent contract to tell the athletic director within 72 hours, or before the next athletic event if sooner (s. 468.454(7)).
Does Florida require an NIL agent to be licensed?
Yes. Section 468.453(8) says a person must hold a valid athlete agent license to act as an athlete agent representing an intercollegiate athlete on NIL contracts, and the usual exception for an agent the athlete contacted first does not apply. Licenses are issued by the Department of Business and Professional Regulation, and an agent contract with an unlicensed person is void (s. 468.454(12)).
Did Florida repeal its NIL law?
No. Section 1006.74 is still in the 2026 Florida Statutes. Ch. 2023-4 deleted most of its 2020 rules (pay limits, disclosure, team-contract conflicts, scholarship protection, the bar on school pay), kept the legislative findings and a revised workshop duty, added a liability shield, and kept the agent license rule in s. 468.453(8).
Be your own agent. Leave.
