On Friday afternoon, Sportico’s Daniel Libit and Eben Novy-Williams had major news to report involving two high-profile college football teams. The NCAA is reportedly investigating BYU and Miami for “potential violations of the association’s interim rules regarding new marketing rights for college athletes.”
The NCAA is trying to determine if the two instances they’re investigating involved a “pay-for-play setup.” That isn’t currently allowed under NIL guidelines.
BYU’s partnership in question is with protein bar company Built. Miami’s partnership, meanwhile, is with American Top Team, an MMA gym.
Jon McBride, the associate athletic director for communications at BYU, has already issued a statement on this investigation.
“We have communicated with the NCAA concerning the Built Bar NIL arrangement,” McBride told Sportico. “They have informed us they do not have any additional questions at this time. We will continue to monitor and abide by the NCAA interim NIL policy.”
A spokesperson for Miami told Sportico the program has not been contacted by the NCAA regarding this matter.
There’s no timetable for a resolution on this situation. If the NCAA determines that BYU and Miami violated the NIL guidelines, it could lead to a formal investigation.