Effective July 1, the University of Dayton now holds the primary contractual relationship with its student-athletes. The settlement allows institutions to directly pay student-athletes up to a capped amount, currently around $21 million per school per year across all sports. Previous to July 1, no school could make any direct payments, which is why Dayton 6th was formed. 

• This cap will be re-evaluated every few years

• It includes a 4 percent automatic annual escalator

• The cap is tied to a formula based on average Power 5 school revenue, meaning that football revenues at major programs significantly influence the cap

The goal of the settlement is to reduce fraudulent or off book payments from boosters and fans that circumvent the system. However, there is ongoing skepticism about how effectively those restrictions will be interpreted and enforced.

In most cases, yes — you should contribute directly to UD Men’s or Women’s Basketball.

Since UD now holds the primary contractual relationship with student-athletes, the University requires the necessary resources to fulfill those obligations.

Dayton 6th will continue to engage in NIL agreements with student-athletes, but only for a valid business purpose — specifically, to promote goods and services to the general public at fair market value.

Dayton 6th can also act as a marketing agency for individuals or businesses that are unable to work directly with the University but still want to partner with players for endorsements, appearances, and promotions.

Certainly. If you’ve contributed to Dayton 6th as an individual, it is very likely in your best interest to donate that money directly to the University. Such contributions are tax deductible and benefit the athletic program in the same way any other philanthropic gift to UD would.

However, if you engage with Dayton 6th as a business or organization, the answer depends on your relationship with UD:

• Official corporate partners of the University should generally work directly with UD

• If you are not an official partner but want access to player endorsements or promotional work, Dayton 6th can serve as your marketing agency

For example
An accounting firm whose corporate headquarters wanted to hire players for endorsements couldn’t become an official UD corporate partner. Instead, they worked with Dayton 6th to secure players for promotions and appearances through compliant and fair market agreements.

Dayton 6th will serve as a sports marketing agency for the Flyer Faithful — helping individuals and businesses legally and efficiently engage with student-athletes under Name Image and Likeness (NIL) guidelines.

We’ll focus on promoting goods and services provided to the general public, with compensation to student-athletes that is compliant with fair market value standards.