The law
New Jersey's college NIL law is N.J.S.A. 18A:3B-89.2 to 18A:3B-89.8 (P.L.2025, c.110) (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 | Student-athletes who participate in intercollegiate athletics at a four-year institution of higher education. The act applies only to four-year schools "that offer athletic scholarships", so two-year colleges and four-year schools without athletic scholarships are outside it. A "related entity" includes an auxiliary services corporation, an alumni association, a foundation, or any subsidiary or affiliate of the school | 18A:3B-89.2; 89.3(a); 89.8 |
| Disclosure to the school | Not addressed. The 2020 Fair Play Act required athletes to disclose NIL contracts to a school official (former 18A:3B-89(a)); P.L.2025, c.110 repealed it and set no replacement | Not addressed |
| Banned categories | An intercollegiate athlete under 21 may not earn NIL pay in connection with any person, company or organization tied to the development, production, distribution, wholesaling or retailing of alcohol products, tobacco and electronic smoking products and devices, or cannabis products. Athletes 21 and older are not covered by the list. The 2020 list (adult entertainment, gambling and sports betting, prescription drugs, weapons and more, with scholarship loss) was repealed | 18A:3B-89.3(c) |
| Conflicts with team contracts | Not addressed. The 2020 rules on team-contract conflicts and use outside team activities (former 18A:3B-89(b) to (e)) were repealed | Not addressed |
| School and coach involvement | A school or any related entity may contract with an athlete to pay for NIL. No association or conference may stop a school or related entity from identifying, creating, negotiating, facilitating, supporting or otherwise enabling an NIL opportunity. Coaches are not named | 18A:3B-89.3(b); 89.6(a)(5) |
| Direct pay from the school | A four-year school "or any related entity of an institution may enter into a contract with a student-athlete to directly compensate" the athlete for NIL, and no association or conference may prevent a school from paying athletes for NIL. This replaced the 2020 bar on school and booster NIL pay (former 18A:3B-88) | 18A:3B-89.3(b); 89.6(a)(4) |
| Agents and attorneys | A four-year school may not stop an athlete from obtaining professional representation, including athlete agents and attorneys. Attorneys must be licensed; athlete agents comply with the federal Sports Agent Responsibility and Trust Act; both "shall act in a fiduciary capacity". No New Jersey athlete agent registration statute was found, and no fee cap is set | 18A:3B-89.4 |
| High school and minors | Not addressed; the act covers intercollegiate athletes. The age line in the act is 21, for the alcohol, tobacco and cannabis categories | 18A:3B-89.3(c) |
| Financial literacy | Each academic year, each covered school makes NIL programming or educational materials available to all its athletes, including financial literacy, brand management and life skills | 18A:3B-89.7 |
| Scholarship protection | Not addressed. The 2020 rule that NIL pay "shall not affect" scholarship eligibility and that a scholarship could not be revoked for NIL pay or representation (former 18A:3B-87(a)(1)) was repealed and not carried into the 2025 act | Not addressed |
| Confidentiality of contracts | "Notwithstanding any other law", an NIL contract under 18A:3B-89.3 "shall not be subject to public disclosure" under the Open Public Records Act (N.J.S.A. 47:1A-1 et seq.) | 18A:3B-89.5 |
| NCAA and conference penalties | The NCAA, a conference with scholarship-offering members, or any other body over intercollegiate athletics may not bar a school from membership or competition over athletes' NIL pay or representation; take any other adverse action against a school or related entity for activity the act permits; penalize a school or athlete because a supporting individual or entity broke its NIL rules; prevent a school from paying athletes for NIL; or prevent a school or related entity from enabling NIL deals | 18A:3B-89.6(a)(1) to (5) |
| Remedies and enforcement | A school or related entity that faces an actual or threatened complaint, investigation, penalty or other adverse action from the NCAA, a conference or similar body for permitted activity may sue for actual damages and reasonable attorney fees, and may seek an injunction and other remedies. The act gives athletes no separate cause of action | 18A:3B-89.6(b) |
| Employee status | Not addressed | Not addressed |
What the 2025 act replaced
The New Jersey Fair Play Act (P.L.2020, c.83, approved 2020-09-14) was written to start in the fifth academic year after enactment. It barred schools, boosters and their officers and employees from paying current or prospective athletes for NIL (former 18A:3B-88), banned a long list of categories (adult entertainment, alcohol, casinos and sports betting, the lottery, tobacco and vaping, prescription drugs, controlled substances, and weapons) on pain of losing the athlete's institutional scholarship, required disclosure of NIL contracts to a school official, and set team-contract conflict rules.
S4439 repealed all of that and enacted a shorter act, approved and effective on 2025-07-22, about six weeks after the House settlement was approved. The new act reverses the pay rule (schools and related entities may pay directly), narrows the category list to three, applies it only to athletes under 21, and adds OPRA confidentiality, NCAA and conference penalty bars, and a damages action for schools. It does not carry forward the disclosure duty, the scholarship protection, the team-contract rules or the bar on NIL pay to prospective athletes.
Agents in New Jersey
The 2025 act says agents representing college athletes comply with the federal Sports Agent Responsibility and Trust Act and that agents and licensed attorneys "shall act in a fiduciary capacity" (18A:3B-89.4(b)). No New Jersey statute requiring athlete agents to register with a state office was found, so the act does not set a registrar, fee, term, cancellation window or notice to the athletic director.
Pending in 2026
S3276, introduced on 2026-02-02 by Senator Corrado and referred to the Senate Higher Education Committee, says an NIL contract under 18A:3B-89.3 may not remain in effect after the athlete's eligibility ends or require post-eligibility NIL pay or rights as consideration, and makes a provision that does so void. As of 2026-10-21 the Legislature's bill history shows no action after referral. It is not law.
A4851, introduced on 2026-05-04 and referred to the Assembly Higher Education Committee, would exclude college athletes' NIL compensation from New Jersey gross income tax. It does not amend 18A:3B-89.2 to 89.8 and is not law.
How it changed
| Act | What it did | Effective |
|---|---|---|
| P.L.2020, c.83 (S971), the New Jersey Fair Play Act | enacted N.J.S.A. 18A:3B-86 to 18A:3B-89 - no school rule against NIL pay, scholarship protection, a bar on school and booster NIL pay to current and prospective athletes, a list of banned categories with scholarship loss, disclosure of contracts to the school, team-contract conflicts; written to first apply in the fifth academic year after enactment | 2020-09-14 (approved) |
| P.L.2025, c.110 (S4439) | repealed the Fair Play Act and enacted N.J.S.A. 18A:3B-89.2 to 89.8 - schools and related entities may pay athletes directly, banned categories cut to alcohol, tobacco and vaping, and cannabis for athletes under 21, NIL contracts exempt from OPRA, bars on NCAA and conference action against schools, a damages action for schools, yearly NIL programming; applies only to four-year schools that offer athletic scholarships | 2025-07-22 |
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); it is not law. If enacted as passed, § 121(a)(2) covers state laws that govern, regulate or invalidate association, conference or school rules on NIL pay, transfers or eligibility. On its text that describes New Jersey's bars on the NCAA and conferences (N.J.S.A. 18A:3B-89.6(a)) and the damages action that enforces them (89.6(b)), and arguably the bar on a school prohibiting NIL pay (89.3(a)). School and related-entity pay (89.3(b)) lines up with § 101(c), subject to the revenue share cap in § 114(a)(1)(A) and, for deals from entities other than the school itself, the valid-business-purpose and market-rate test in § 114(a)(1)(B). § 121(b) keeps contract, privacy and consumer protection law unless it conflicts with § 121(a); whether New Jersey's OPRA exemption (89.5) falls under "laws that relate to privacy" is not settled by the text. New Jersey has no athlete agent registration statute for § 121(b)(1)(A) to preserve, so S. 4668 § 102 (a 5% cap on agent fees for endorsement contracts, a bar on agency contracts past eligibility, and a private right of action, amending the federal Sports Agent Responsibility and Trust Act that 89.4(b) already points to) would be the main agent rule. § 102 would also require an agent representing a student athlete in an endorsement contract to "register with a State" (new SPARTA § 9(a)); SPARTA § 9(b) counts registration with a professional league or players association or under a State's uniform agent act, and New Jersey has no state registration. Where New Jersey now has no state disclosure rule, S. 4668 § 101(b) would require athletes at schools whose primary membership is in Division I (§ 101(b)(5)) to report to the school and the association or its designated entity the terms of each NIL agreement over $600 (counting payments from one source over 12 months) within 5 days of signing, and other NIL pay over $600 within 30 days of receipt (§ 101(b)(1)); a school could not release information identifying the athlete from those reports without written consent (§ 101(b)(4)).
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. New Jersey's athlete-agent rules are on the state-by-state registration table.
- High school. High school NIL in New Jersey 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 New Jersey
What is New Jersey's NIL law in 2026?
P.L.2025, c.110 (S4439), N.J.S.A. 18A:3B-89.2 to 18A:3B-89.8, approved and in effect on 2025-07-22. It repealed the 2020 New Jersey Fair Play Act (P.L.2020, c.83), lets four-year colleges and their related entities pay athletes directly for NIL, bars the NCAA and conferences from acting against schools for activity the act permits, exempts NIL contracts from the Open Public Records Act, and limits only alcohol, tobacco and vaping, and cannabis deals for athletes under 21. A 2026 bill, S3276, would make void any provision of an NIL contract that runs past eligibility or claims post-eligibility NIL pay or rights; it was introduced and referred to the Senate Higher Education Committee on 2026-02-02 and, as of 2026-10-21, has no further action.
Can New Jersey colleges pay athletes directly?
Yes, under state law. N.J.S.A. 18A:3B-89.3(b) says a four-year institution of higher education "or any related entity of an institution may enter into a contract with a student-athlete to directly compensate the student-athlete" for NIL, and 18A:3B-89.6(a)(4) says the NCAA or a conference may not prevent it. The 2020 act had said the opposite (former 18A:3B-88); it was repealed on 2025-07-22.
Do I have to tell my school about an NIL deal in New Jersey?
New Jersey law no longer requires it. The 2020 Fair Play Act required disclosure of NIL contracts to a school official, but P.L.2025, c.110 repealed it and the 2025 act has no disclosure rule. School policies and NCAA rules, including Division I deal reporting through NIL Go, are separate from state law.
Does New Jersey require an NIL agent to be licensed?
No New Jersey statute requiring athlete agent registration was found. N.J.S.A. 18A:3B-89.4(b) says athlete agents representing college athletes comply with the federal Sports Agent Responsibility and Trust Act, attorneys must be licensed, and both "shall act in a fiduciary capacity". A school may not stop an athlete from hiring an agent or attorney (89.4(a)).
Are NIL contracts public records at Rutgers or other New Jersey public colleges?
No. N.J.S.A. 18A:3B-89.5 says any NIL contract under the act "shall not be subject to public disclosure" under the Open Public Records Act, notwithstanding any other law.
Be your own agent. Leave.
