NCAA eliminating National Letter of Intent in latest change to college sports

The NCAA is eliminating the National Letter of Intent in the latest change to college sports.

The elimination of the NLI, the binding agreement between a high school recruit and a school, was approved by the NCAA Division I Council on Wednesday. The news comes as the NCAA is set to undergo significant changes.

The House v. NCAA settlement, which would permit schools to pay athletes more than $20 million annually, is still months away from being approved. But it has spurred the NCAA to rethink its approach to amateurism in college sports.

The NLI program started in 1964. But with the transfer portal, the NLI has become borderline obsolete; when a player moves schools, most simply just an athletics aid agreement.

The NLI program is expected to be replaced by financial aid and scholarship agreements.

With revenue sharing coming sooner rather than later, whatever agreements athletes and schools reach are going to look more like contracts.

The House v. NCAA settlement will likely require other rule changes, including but not limited to permitting athletes to receive payment before enrollment, as well as applying the football redshirt rule (playing up to 30% of a fifth season) to all sports.