It’s never been a better time to be a college athlete in the United States—unless you’re from another country.
Since the NCAA relaxed its rules on Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL), student-athletes across the country have been cashing in. From seven-figure endorsement deals to sponsored Instagram posts and personal merch lines, it’s an open market.
But there’s a catch. Not every athlete is eligible to participate in this new world. In fact, a significant group of them legally can’t make a single dollar.
We’re talking about international student-athletes—a population that makes up a sizable percentage of NCAA rosters, especially in sports like tennis, track and field, and basketball.
The F visa dilemma and Kentucky basketball
Most international college athletes are in the U.S. on an F-1 student visa. This visa allows them to study at an American college or university and even receive an athletic scholarship to do so.
But here’s the rub: F-1 visa holders are prohibited from earning income in the United States.
That includes:
- NIL deals
- Endorsement contracts
- Social media monetization
- Even part-time jobs or side hustles
It doesn’t matter how many followers they have, how many companies want to work with them, or how many jersey sales they generate. As long as they’re in the U.S. on an F-1 visa, they’re not allowed to make money in the country.
Scholarships are fine—they’re considered financial aid, not income. But actual money? Not a chance.
Mark Pope loves skilled international big men, but if they can't earn money like their counterparts they may decide to stay overseas and go to the G-League or straight to the NBA. It limits a useful recruiting pipeline for a lot of teams.
A complicated loophole
Technically, there is a workaround. If an international athlete leaves the U.S. and signs their NIL deal from their home country, it’s not considered U.S.-based income.
Yes, that means if a company wants to partner with a Canadian swimmer or a Serbian basketball player, the athlete would need to fly home just to sign a contract—and possibly film the commercial or post the content from abroad.
It’s complicated. It’s expensive. And it’s unrealistic for most.
So what happens after graduation?
Once a college athlete goes pro, things change. To play in the NBA or WNBA, for example, international athletes apply for a P-1 visa—a visa designed for professional athletes competing in U.S. leagues.
Once they have that P-1 visa, they can start making money in the United States. That includes endorsement deals, NIL-style partnerships, and any other commercial opportunity. They’re finally on equal footing with their American-born peers.
But even then, there’s a catch: the visa is tied to their athletic contract. If the contract ends and they don’t re-sign, they may have to leave the country or find a new visa path.
Real talent, real limitations
Think about all the international stars who have come through college hoops and now the ones still playing: Egor Demin (BYU), Kasparas Jakucionis (Illinois), and Khaman Maluach (Duke). Under visa restrictions, they couldn’t earn what many of their teammates did in the NIL era. There needs to be something changed there as well.
The NIL landscape has changed college sports forever—but not for everyone and that can't remain if NIL is going to be here to stay.