Leave is independent and is not affiliated with or endorsed by Wake Forest University, its athletics department or its conference. Everything here comes from what Wake Forest University, its conference, the state of North Carolina and the NCAA have published, linked under Sources and read on October 21, 2026. "Not published" means the school has not published it.
The rules at Wake Forest
| Question | What is published | Source |
|---|---|---|
| School NIL policy | "Policy on Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL)", "Updated September 3, 2025", posted 2025-10-29 and linked as "Wake Forest NIL Policy" from the NIL page. It applies to all third-party NIL activity, paid or unpaid, "regardless of the state in which they occur," from the time an athlete first enrolls full time, receives athletics aid or starts official practice. It says there is no limit on NIL income "provided any compensation is for work actually performed"; Wake Forest employees may not directly pay athletes for NIL; booster deals are allowed if pay is tied only to NIL and, at $600 or more, the deal is cleared by the CSC. Each athlete has a signed ACC Promotional Activities Consent Form and Student-Athlete NIL Attestation and Agreement Form on file in Teamworks. The NIL page's message from Director of Athletics John Currie still links an August 2022 policy | Wake Forest Athletics, NIL Policy (2025-09-03) and NIL page |
| How deals are disclosed | The policy says athletes "are responsible to disclose all NIL activities (compensated or uncompensated)" to NIL Go "in accordance with WFU Athletics procedures," and must report third-party payments or contracts with a total value of $600 or more within five business days of execution or agreement to terms, with documentation of terms, payor details, services and compensation (NCAA Bylaws 22.2.2, 22.2.2.2). Deals must be "Cleared" by the CSC through NIL Go; a deal that is not cleared may be revised and resubmitted, cancelled with pay returned, or appealed to the CSC and then a neutral arbitrator. Activity under $600 "does not require a written contract" and is not subject to NIL Go reporting, but is disclosed to Compliance on request. The policy says its disclosure rules supersede confidentiality clauses in an NIL agreement. Wake Forest's "From The Quad" update of 2026-08-20 says the CSC now approves individual deals of $15,000 or less without a market value review when an athlete's third-party NIL deals at Wake Forest total under $50,000 for the academic year, though they are still reviewed in NIL Go for a valid business purpose. Contact Reigan Lines (linesr@wfu.edu) | Wake Forest Athletics, NIL Policy (2025-09-03) and From The Quad (2026-08-20); NCAA Division I Manual 2026-27 |
| Banned categories | North Carolina law lists none; Executive Order 223 was rescinded on 2024-03-08. Wake Forest prohibits NIL activity that endorses, promotes or advertises tobacco; e-cigarettes or nicotine devices; marijuana products; medical marijuana cultivators, processors, labs or dispensaries; illegal substances or activities, including drug paraphernalia; NCAA banned substances; gambling, casinos or sports wagering; weapons or firearms; pornography, adult entertainment, escorts or other sexually oriented businesses; prescription pharmaceuticals; athletic recruiting services; hate groups; and discrimination, hazing or harassment. Alcohol (age 21 and over), political candidates or parties, and religious organizations "may be considered" without university marks. Industries that conflict with Wake Forest contracts include athletic apparel, athletic equipment and health care | Wake Forest Athletics, NIL Policy (2025-09-03); /nil/college/north-carolina |
| School marks and group licensing | Athletes may not use Wake Forest trademarks, uniforms, logos, mascot, facilities or Wake Forest-produced content in commercial NIL activity without written consent; uniform "silhouettes" with all Wake Forest, ACC and Nike logos removed are permitted. Wake Forest photos and videos given to athletes may be used only to build a personal brand on the INFLCR platform or a personal website, not in commercial deals. The policy says Wake Forest "does not typically grant use of its trademarks for another entity's commercial purposes" and any merchandise must be made by a Wake Forest licensee. The NIL page describes a group licensing program with The Brandr Group covering "all 400-plus Demon Deacon student-athletes," with co-branded "shirseys" sold at the Deacon Shop | Wake Forest Athletics, NIL Policy (2025-09-03) and NIL page |
| Revenue sharing | Wake Forest is on the College Sports Commission's list of schools participating in revenue sharing for 2026-27, where the CSC puts the cap at "approximately $21.58 million per school." Wake Forest's "From The Quad" update of 2026-04-11 says the university "is fully committed to maximum revenue sharing" and describes the cap as growing 4% a year, to "$21,320,000 in 2026-27." A 2025-12-11 release says that "to responsibly prepare for the new revenue-sharing model," the university made "a significant up-front investment" to start the McCreary Triple Double Challenge, a $100 million fundraising initiative that includes $50 million for current-use scholarships. The same 2026-04-11 update says Wake Forest will add $2.5 million to 2026-27 revenue sharing under a CSC determination for schools that count new scholarships toward the cap; the CSC's Revenue Sharing page says that in 2026-27 "a fine of $0.20 for every $1 by which an institution exceeds the cap due to spending on new scholarships created as a result of the removal of scholarship limits (up to $2.5M) will be levied" | College Sports Commission, Participating Schools and Revenue Sharing (2026-27); Wake Forest Athletics, From The Quad (2026-04-11) and McCreary release (2025-12-11) |
| Collective or NIL group | Wake Forest's 2026-04-11 update calls Roll The Quad (RTQ) "Wake Forest's" collective and says that after July 1, 2025 the College Sports Commission "began to regularly reject collective submitted deals (including from RTQ) that it determined had no valid business purpose" or "whose funding source was a booster," and that Student-Athlete NIL (SANIL), "the company that powered the contracting and payment functions of RTQ," shut down in the fall of 2025. The same update points businesses to Wake Forest Sports Properties (a Learfield company) for fair-market NIL sponsorships and fans to the Deacon Club. On 2026-10-01 Wake Forest announced that Playfly Sports becomes its exclusive multimedia rightsholder and corporate sales arm from 2027-07-01, with a role that includes "NIL activations." The NIL page links the DEACTOWN Marketplace powered by Opendorse. Roll The Quad's current status was not published on the pages read on 2026-10-21 | Wake Forest Athletics, From The Quad (2026-04-11), Playfly release (2026-10-01) and NIL page |
| Agents and representation | The policy lets athletes hire an athlete agent, attorney, brand manager, marketing representative or financial advisor for NIL only, and says agents, attorneys and financial advisors "must be licensed in the state of North Carolina to the extent required by the North Carolina General Statutes, including but not limited to, the Uniform Athlete Agents Act." A contract for an athlete under 18 "shall be executed by the student-athlete's parent or legal guardian." Wake Forest employees may never be an athlete's representative, and boosters may be, only at their regular negotiated rate. Athletes are "encouraged" to submit a representation agreement to Compliance or Licensing before signing. Under state law (G.S. 78C, as amended by S.L. 2025-46) an NIL agency contract carries a warning, the athlete may cancel within 14 days, and an agent tied to Wake Forest in the prior two years may not sign Wake Forest athletes to an NIL agency contract | Wake Forest Athletics, NIL Policy (2025-09-03); /nil/college/north-carolina |
| Compliance contact | Wake Forest Athletic Compliance Office, PO Box 7716, Winston-Salem, NC 27109, (336) 758-4243; Daren Koudele, Executive Associate AD, Regulatory Affairs and Student-Athlete Success (koudeld@wfu.edu); for NIL disclosures and questions, Reigan Lines, Assistant AD, Licensing and NIL Strategies (linesr@wfu.edu) | Wake Forest Athletics, Compliance page, staff directory and NIL Policy (2025-09-03) |
| State law | North Carolina has no general college NIL statute; S.L. 2025-46 (in force 2025-07-01) brings NIL agency contracts under the Uniform Athlete Agents Act, with no exception for private schools, and makes records related to an athlete's NIL contract confidential under the Public Records Act, which reaches records of public agencies; Wake Forest is a private university. Narrow law | /nil/college/north-carolina |
What is specific to Wake Forest
Wake Forest is a private university in a state with no general college NIL statute, so most of its NIL rules come from its own ten-page policy. It covers NIL activity wherever it happens, bars categories such as prescription pharmaceuticals and athletic recruiting services alongside gambling and tobacco, and sets out what happens when NIL Go does not clear a deal. Facility use for NIL needs written approval, a rental fee and proof of insurance; when Learfield, Wake Forest's multimedia rights holder, arranges NIL activity for an existing sponsor, the policy says the rental rate "may not apply" and insurance "may not be necessary." The school has written openly about the post-settlement market: its 2026-04-11 update says that since July 1, 2025 "more than 100 Wake Forest student-athletes have signed third-party NIL deals that have been approved through NILGo and the CSC," that Wake Forest Sports Properties "is proactively selling student-athlete activations into their Demon Deacon sponsorships," and that collectives at most schools, RTQ among those whose deals were rejected, "became ineffective after July 1." Its 2026-08-20 update says the CSC had approved "over 140 deals for Wake student-athletes since its launch." From 2027-07-01 Playfly Sports replaces Learfield as multimedia rights partner, with a role in NIL.
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 law decide. Leave is software, not an agent, and takes 0% of any deal. You decide, you send.
Questions about NIL at Wake Forest
Does Wake Forest pay its athletes?
Yes, through revenue sharing. The College Sports Commission lists Wake Forest University among the schools sharing revenue in 2026-27, and Wake Forest's 2026-04-11 update says the university "is fully committed to maximum revenue sharing and NIL opportunities for student-athletes under the House case settlement." The CSC puts the 2026-27 cap at approximately $21.58 million per school. Wake Forest has not published how the money is divided.
What NIL collective works with Wake Forest?
Wake Forest's 2026-04-11 update names Roll The Quad (RTQ) as Wake Forest's collective, but says the CSC began rejecting collective deals after July 1, 2025, including RTQ's, and that SANIL, which ran RTQ's contracting and payments, shut down in the fall of 2025. The update points businesses to Wake Forest Sports Properties for fair-market NIL sponsorships. Wake Forest announced on 2026-10-01 that Playfly Sports becomes its multimedia rights partner from 2027-07-01, including NIL activations.
How do Wake Forest athletes report NIL deals?
Wake Forest's policy has athletes disclose NIL activities through NIL Go under Wake Forest Athletics procedures and report third-party deals worth $600 or more within five business days, with the contract or other proof of terms. A deal counts only after the CSC clears it. Deals under $600 are disclosed to Compliance on request. Questions go to Reigan Lines (linesr@wfu.edu).
What NIL deals are banned at Wake Forest?
Wake Forest bars NIL activity for tobacco, e-cigarettes, marijuana and marijuana businesses, illegal substances, NCAA banned substances, gambling and sports betting, weapons, adult entertainment, prescription pharmaceuticals, athletic recruiting services, hate groups, and discrimination, hazing or harassment. Alcohol deals for athletes 21 and over, political and religious deals may be considered without university marks. Deals that conflict with Wake Forest contracts in athletic apparel, athletic equipment or health care may be barred.
Can a Wake Forest athlete wear the uniform in an NIL ad?
Not with logos, unless Wake Forest gives written consent. The policy allows uniform "silhouettes" with all Wake Forest, ACC and Nike logos removed, and says Wake Forest does not typically grant use of its trademarks for another company's commercial purposes. Licensed merchandise runs through Wake Forest licensees and the group licensing program with The Brandr Group.
Be your own agent. Leave.
