Every time this topic comes up, people say, “Well just put it in the contract.” So here’s the actual legal reality, without the emotions or the fantasy‑land assumptions. Even if you wrote a 30% postseason holdback into an NIL deal, it still wouldn’t be enforceable. Not by the school. Not by a collective. Not by anyone. Here’s why: 1 - You can’t contract around labor law. If you condition compensation on: playing in games playing in the postseason minutes stats performance …you’ve created pay‑for‑play, which is the legal definition of an employment relationship. Once that happens, the school owes: minimum wage overtime payroll taxes workers comp unemployment insurance union rights collective bargaining You don’t get to avoid that by saying “but the contract says so.” Courts look at the substance, not the wording. 2 - Penalty clauses like this are unenforceable anyway A “we’ll dock 30% if you don’t play in the NIT” clause is: coercive punitive contrary to public policy Courts routinely throw out clauses that punish someone for exercising a lawful choice (like resting an injury or preparing for the draft). 3 - The House settlement (REVENUE SHARING NIL) explicitly forbids tying revenue‑sharing to performance School‑provided NIL (the new revenue‑sharing bucket) cannot be tied to: games stats postseason participation Doing so would violate the settlement and invite antitrust and NCAA trouble. 4 - Third‑party NIL can’t do it either. Collectives can’t tie NIL to athletic performance without becoming employers under federal law. No collective wants to deal with payroll taxes and workers comp. 5 - “Come to Virginia Tech, where we’ll holdback 30% of your money if you’re hurt or don’t want to play in a consolation tournament.” Every other ACC school would weaponize that in negative recruiting instantly. You’d tank: portal additions high school recruiting agent relationships player trust It’s competitive suicide.