At Old Dominion, a growing number of student-athletes were suddenly getting one, sometimes for $3,000, sometimes for $300,000, and the tax return that comes with it can run 10 to 15 pages: self-employment tax, business expense deductions, quarterly estimated payments, and more.
That is a lot to hand a college student with no warning.
ODU took a proactive, athlete-first approach: partner with Scout to centralize NIL financial processes, reduce compliance risk for the institution, and build real financial literacy into the athlete experience rather than leaving it to chance.
The result was the Scout Athlete Solution, a platform plus one-on-one guidance that supported ODU’s athletes through their 2025 tax filings.
“NIL has created real income for our student-athletes, and with that comes real responsibility,” said Dr. Ronald Moses, Deputy Athletic Director at Old Dominion University. “Covering their tax filings is about education, protection, and long-term development. It removes fear, reduces mistakes, and shows we’re invested in them as whole people, not just performers.”
The outcome: accurate filings, reduced compliance exposure for the athletic department, stronger trust with athletes, and a model other programs can replicate as NIL income keeps growing.
This is the infrastructure question every athletic department will eventually have to answer. Glad ODU is ahead of it.
