Name, Image and Likeness (NIL)

Name, image and likeness (NIL) refers to an individual's right to control and be compensated for the commercial use of their identity — their name, their image (photographs and video), and their likeness (recognizable representations of them). The term became widely known in the United States in 2021, when rule changes allowed college athletes to earn money from their NIL for the first time, opening a new marketing and endorsement channel that had previously been off-limits to them. NIL rights let an individual sign deals to appear in advertising, promote products, license their identity for merchandise or video games, make sponsored social posts, and otherwise be paid when a brand uses who they are to sell something. While the 2021 shift in college sports brought the term into common use, the underlying idea — that people have rights in the commercial use of their own identity — is broader and long-standing.

Name, image and likeness matters, in marketing terms, because it created a large new pool of people who can be engaged as endorsers and partners — most visibly college athletes, who often have substantial local followings and authentic credibility with specific audiences. For brands, NIL deals are a way to access that reach and authenticity, frequently at a regional or community level that complements bigger national endorsements. For the individuals, NIL turns their identity and following into income. The channel sits squarely within the world of endorsements and influencer marketing, and it carries the same obligations: when a brand pays an individual to promote it, the relationship is a material connection that must be disclosed. NIL is, in effect, a specific and fast-growing case of paying people for their identity and influence.

Name, image and likeness is closely related to endorsement and to the broader idea of likeness or publicity rights, and it helps to see how they connect. An endorsement is a public statement of approval for a brand by a person; an NIL deal is often exactly that — an athlete or individual paid to endorse a product using their name, image, and likeness. So NIL deals are frequently a form of endorsement, with the NIL framing emphasizing that the individual is being compensated for the use of their identity specifically. The 2021 college-sports context is what made "NIL" a household phrase, but the term names the underlying right being licensed, not a brand-new kind of marketing.

The broader concept behind NIL is that individuals hold rights in the commercial use of their identity — sometimes called the right of publicity or likeness rights — meaning their name, image, and likeness cannot be used to sell things without permission and, usually, payment. NIL in the college-athlete sense is one prominent application of that general principle, made newly available to a group that had been barred from exercising it. For marketers, the practical point is that using a real person's identity to promote a product requires their permission, typically through a paid agreement, and that the resulting promotion is an endorsement subject to disclosure rules. NIL is thus best understood as a specific, high-profile slice of the larger reality that people own and can license the commercial use of who they are.

Using name, image and likeness well, from a brand's side, means treating NIL deals as the endorsements they are: choosing individuals whose identity, audience, and values genuinely fit the brand, agreeing terms that license the use of their name, image, and likeness clearly, and — without exception — disclosing the paid relationship as the FTC requires, since an NIL promotion is a material connection. It means valuing the authentic, often local or community-level reach that athletes and other individuals bring, rather than chasing names alone. And it means respecting that NIL rests on a real legal right — using someone's identity without permission is a violation — so agreements must actually grant the rights being used.

The failures are using a person's name, image, or likeness without permission (a violation of their rights), treating NIL promotions as if they escape disclosure rules (they do not — they are endorsements with material connections), choosing partners for fame rather than genuine fit and authenticity, and writing vague agreements that do not clearly define what identity rights are licensed and how. The discipline is to treat NIL as a legitimate, fast-growing marketing channel built on individuals' right to be paid for their identity — secure the rights properly, disclose the paid relationship plainly, and choose well-fitting partners — so the authenticity that makes NIL valuable is not undermined by sloppy rights, hidden payment, or poor matches.

Name, image and likeness (NIL) — the right of individuals, notably US college athletes since 2021, to be paid for the use of their identity — is a fast-growing marketing channel that operates as a form of endorsement requiring rights and disclosure.

Etymology: source.

Search interest for this term over the last five years:

View interest-over-time on Google Trends →

Areas of marketing where name, image and likeness (nil) is a core concern: