The law
Iowa has no college NIL statute. In short: None (athlete agents, Iowa Code chapter 9A). 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 | Not addressed (no NIL statute). Chapter 9A covers any "student athlete" who engages in, is eligible to engage in, or may be eligible in the future to engage in any interscholastic or intercollegiate sport, so it reaches high school and college athletes. The failed H.F. 628 (2025) would have covered regents universities, community colleges and private colleges in Iowa | Iowa Code 9A.102(17) |
| Disclosure to the school | Not addressed for NIL deals. Chapter 9A requires the agent and the athlete to notify the athletic director within 72 hours after an agency contract is signed or before the next scheduled athletic event, whichever is first (9A.111(2), (3)), and an agent who furnishes something of value that could affect eligibility must notify the athletic director within 72 hours and before the next event (9A.114(2)). Deal reporting otherwise comes from campus policy and, at Iowa's Division I schools, NCAA Bylaws 22.2.2 and 22.2.2.2 (third-party deals of $600 or more reported to the NCAA's designated NIL clearinghouse within five business days) | Iowa Code 9A.111; 9A.114(2) |
| Banned categories | Not addressed. No Iowa statute found lists NIL categories | None |
| Conflicts with team contracts | Not addressed by statute. The failed H.F. 628 (2025) would have barred apparel, equipment and beverage deals that conflict with the school's contracts. Board of Regents Policy 4.11 has the universities review and approve outside athletics income for coaches and athletics administrators, not athletes | Board of Regents Policy 4.11 |
| School and coach involvement | Not addressed. A school employee acting exclusively for the school's benefit is not an "athlete agent" merely by advising an athlete on finances, business pursuits or career decisions. The failed H.F. 628 would have let schools and staff identify, facilitate and negotiate third-party NIL deals | Iowa Code 9A.102(2) |
| Direct pay from the school | Not addressed by statute. Board of Regents Policy 4.11 requires all funds raised and spent in connection with intercollegiate athletics at the regent universities to be channeled through the institution's general treasury and to comply with the NCAA-mandated agreed-upon procedures performed by external auditors. The failed H.F. 628 would have barred school NIL pay unless institutional policy and the athletics association allowed it | Board of Regents Policy 4.11 |
| Agents and attorneys | An individual may not act as an athlete agent in Iowa without a certificate of registration from the Secretary of State; a contract from unregistered conduct is void. Registration lasts two years, and the fee is set by the Secretary of State to offset administration costs. An agency contract, which includes one for an endorsement contract, must follow the form in 9A.110, including a boldface eligibility warning. A licensed attorney is outside "athlete agent" unless the attorney also recruits or solicits the athlete, procures pro employment, or charges athletes differently | Iowa Code 9A.102(1), (2), (5), (9); 9A.104; 9A.106(6); 9A.109; 9A.110 |
| High school and minors | Not addressed for NIL. Chapter 9A covers interscholastic athletes; for a minor the parent or guardian signs the agency contract, may cancel it, and gives the acknowledgment required for things of value | Iowa Code 9A.102(17); 9A.110(7); 9A.112(1); 9A.114(2)(b) |
| Financial literacy | Not addressed. H.F. 2125 (2024) would have required an NIL financial literacy course for college athletes; it never left subcommittee | None |
| Scholarship protection | Not addressed. S.F. 245 and S.F. 386 (2021) and H.F. 628 (2025) would have protected financial aid from NIL earnings; none passed | None |
| Confidentiality of contracts | Not addressed for NIL contracts. Iowa's open records law gives every person the right to examine public records (22.2), but 22.7(1) keeps confidential "personal information in records regarding a student" held by an educational institution; no statute settles whether that reaches an NIL contract or disclosure held by a regent university. The failed H.F. 628 would have made NIL contract terms at public schools confidential records under 22.7 | Iowa Code 22.2(1); 22.7(1) |
| NCAA and conference penalties | Not addressed. S.F. 245, S.F. 386 and H.F. 628 would have barred schools from enforcing rules that keep athletes from earning NIL pay; none passed | None |
| Remedies and enforcement | For agent violations only, a school or athlete adversely affected by an agent (suspended or disqualified, or suffering financial damage) may recover actual damages, costs and attorney fees; a violation is an unlawful practice under the consumer fraud section, 714.16, with its investigation, injunction and penalty provisions; the Secretary of State may assess up to $50,000 per violation; prohibited conduct is a serious misdemeanor | Iowa Code 9A.115 to 9A.117 |
| Employee status | Not addressed. H.F. 2055 (2022) would have made athletes at the regent universities university employees, with pay fixed by the Board of Regents; it was referred to the House Education Committee with no further action | None |
Bills filed, 2021 to 2026
Iowa lawmakers filed college NIL bills in three General Assemblies, plus one bill to make athletes employees. None reached a floor vote. A title search of the 91st General Assembly's bill list found no NIL bill in the 2026 session.
- S.F. 245 (Boulton and Zaun, 2021), "relating to compensation of college athletes." Introduced 2021-02-03; a Judiciary subcommittee recommended passage on 2021-02-10, and the committee approved it as S.F. 386, which was placed on the Senate calendar on 2021-02-17 and referred to Judiciary on 2021-04-01. No further action. S.F. 386 would have barred schools from enforcing rules that keep athletes from earning NIL pay, protected financial aid, required disclosure of NIL contracts to a school official, and required representatives to be licensed in Iowa and certified by the treasurer of state.
- H.F. 671 (Mitchell and Smith, 2021), the House companion. Introduced and referred to Education on 2021-02-23. No further action.
- H.F. 2055 (Hunter, 2022), a separate pay bill: it would have made athletes at the regent universities employees of the university, with compensation fixed by the Board of Regents. Referred to Education on 2022-01-20. No further action.
- H.F. 2125 (Rinker and Nordman, 2024), which would have required an NIL financial literacy course for college athletes, exempted some athlete NIL income from state income tax, and allowed tax deductions for gifts to collectives. Its subcommittee meeting on 2024-02-01 was cancelled.
- H.F. 628 (Wood, 2025), "relating to compensation and name, image, and likeness rights of student athletes at postsecondary educational institutions." It would have barred schools from enforcing association rules against NIL pay, protected financial aid, required disclosure of NIL and representation contracts to the school before signing, let schools facilitate third-party deals, made NIL contract terms at public schools confidential, and barred school NIL pay unless institutional and association rules allowed it. Tabled in subcommittee on 2025-03-05, with no action in 2026.
The 2022 change to Iowa's agent law
Iowa's current agent law, chapter 9A, was enacted by 2009 Acts chapter 33 and rebuilt on the 2015 Revised Uniform Athlete Agents Act by 2018 Acts chapter 1139. In 2022 the Legislature passed H.F. 364, approved 2022-05-02 and effective 2022-07-01, which rewrote the prohibited-conduct section. Before, an agent could not furnish anything of value to an athlete before signing. Now 9A.114(2) bars intentionally furnishing anything of value to an athlete or another individual "if doing so may result in loss of the athlete's eligibility", unless the agent tells the athletic director within 72 hours and before the next athletic event, and the athlete or parent acknowledges the eligibility risk in a record. The other prohibitions (false promises, unregistered contact, predating or postdating contracts, missing the eligibility warning) remain, each a serious misdemeanor under 9A.115, with an administrative penalty of up to $50,000 under 9A.117.
What governs NIL at the regent universities
With no statute, NIL at the University of Iowa, Iowa State and Northern Iowa is set by NCAA rules, conference rules and campus policy, under the Board of Regents' general athletics policy (Policy 4.11, read 2026-10-21). That policy, built on the Board's 1991 "one plus three" concept of presidential control, requires reporting of NCAA, conference and institutional rule violations to the Board Office, sanctions clauses in coaches' and athletic administrators' contracts, and that all funds raised and spent in connection with athletics go through each university's general treasury. It does not mention NIL, revenue sharing or collectives.
How it changed
| Act | What it did | Effective |
|---|---|---|
| 2009 Acts, chapter 33 (S.F. 199) | enacted the current chapter 9A, the Uniform Athlete Agents Act, with registration through the Secretary of State, and repealed former sections 9A.1 through 9A.12 | 2009-07-01 (approved 2009-04-02; Iowa Code 3.7(1) default date) |
| 2010 Acts, chapter 1061 (S.F. 2237), section 1 | nonsubstantive Code correction to the "athlete agent" definition in 9A.102 | 2010-07-01 (approved 2010-03-19) |
| 2018 Acts, chapter 1139 (S.F. 385) | rewrote chapter 9A as the "Revised Uniform Athlete Agents Act (2015)", including a broader "athlete agent" definition and coverage of interscholastic athletes, and made a violation an unlawful practice under the consumer fraud section, 714.16 | 2018-07-01 (approved 2018-05-16) |
| 2018 Acts, chapter 1172 (H.F. 2502), section 15 | corrective amendment to the "agency contract" definition, 9A.102(1) | 2018-07-01 (approved 2018-06-01) |
| 2019 Acts, chapter 59 (H.F. 679), sections 8 to 11 | Code corrections to 9A.105, 9A.106, 9A.110 and 9A.113 | 2019-07-01 (approved 2019-05-01) |
| H.F. 364 (89th G.A.), 2022 Acts, chapter 1041 | rewrote the prohibited-conduct section, 9A.114, so that an agent may furnish something of value that could cost an athlete eligibility only if the agent notifies the athletic director within 72 hours and before the next event and the athlete acknowledges the risk in a record; approved 2022-05-02 | 2022-07-01 |
| S.F. 245 and S.F. 386 (89th G.A., 2021), not enacted | "relating to compensation of college athletes"; S.F. 386, the Judiciary Committee version, was placed on the Senate calendar on 2021-02-17 and referred back to Judiciary on 2021-04-01 with no further action | not 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 later action (congress.gov; govinfo bill status); it is not law. Several ideas from Iowa's failed bills appear in it: like S.F. 386 and H.F. 628, § 101(a) would bar schools from restricting NIL pay or cutting grant-in-aid over it, and § 101(b) would require reporting of deals over $600 within 5 days, a duty § 101(b)(5) limits to athletes at schools whose primary membership is in Division I (in Iowa: Iowa, Iowa State, Northern Iowa and Drake). Unlike H.F. 628, § 101(c) would let schools pay. With no Iowa NIL statute, § 121(a) would have little to preempt; whether it would reach a Board of Regents policy as a State "rule, requirement, or standard" is not addressed here. § 121(b)(1)(A) preserves "Uniform Athlete Agent Acts" unless they conflict with § 121(a), which covers Iowa Code chapter 9A, construed with other states' 2015 revised act (9A.118); § 102's new SPARTA rules would add a 5 percent fee cap on endorsement contracts, a bar on agency contracts that run past eligibility, and a federal right to sue, next to Iowa's serious-misdemeanor penalties.
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. Iowa's athlete-agent rules are on the state-by-state registration table.
- High school. High school NIL in Iowa 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 Iowa
Does Iowa have an NIL law in 2026?
Not for college athletes. Iowa has passed no college NIL statute. Four bills were filed from 2021 to 2025 and none got a floor vote: S.F. 245, renumbered S.F. 386 (2021, last referred to Senate Judiciary on 2021-04-01), its House companion H.F. 671 (2021, referred to House Education), H.F. 2125 (2024, an NIL financial literacy course and tax breaks, stopped in subcommittee) and H.F. 628 (2025, tabled in subcommittee on 2025-03-05).
Can Iowa colleges pay athletes directly?
No Iowa statute found addresses it either way. For Iowa, Iowa State and Northern Iowa, Board of Regents Policy 4.11 requires all funds raised and spent in connection with intercollegiate athletics to be channeled through the university's general treasury. Whether a school pays athletes is otherwise set by NCAA rules and the House settlement.
Do I have to tell my school about an NIL deal in Iowa?
No Iowa statute requires it. School policy and NCAA rules can: at a Division I school, NCAA Bylaws 22.2.2 and 22.2.2.2 call for reporting third-party deals of $600 or more to the NCAA's designated NIL clearinghouse within five business days. Under Iowa Code 9A.111(3), an athlete who signs an agency contract with an athlete agent informs the athletic director within 72 hours or before the next scheduled athletic event, whichever is first.
Does Iowa require an NIL agent to be licensed?
Iowa requires registration with the Secretary of State. Iowa Code 9A.104 says an individual may not act as an athlete agent in Iowa without a certificate of registration, which lasts two years (9A.106(6)), and an "agency contract" includes one to negotiate an endorsement contract (9A.102(1)). The athlete may cancel within 14 days, and that right cannot be waived (9A.112).
Can an agent give an Iowa athlete money or gifts before signing?
Since 2022-07-01 (H.F. 364), Iowa Code 9A.114(2) bars an agent from intentionally furnishing anything of value that may cost an athlete eligibility unless the agent notifies the athletic director within 72 hours and before the next athletic event, and the athlete (or a parent, for a minor) acknowledges in a record that it may cost eligibility. A violation is a serious misdemeanor (9A.115).
Be your own agent. Leave.
