Podcast Feature - NIL, Data Rights and Revenue Generation: The New Frontier in College Sports featuring Dr. Karen Weaver and Kristy Gale
- Kristy Gale
- Nov 5, 2025
- 4 min read
Get ready for a deep dive into one of college sports' most complex new frontiers!
In the latest episode of Trustees and Presidents, Academic Director at the University of Pennsylvania and podcast host Dr. Karen Weaver sits down with Kristy Gale, CEO of Honor Data Rights Management, for a crucial conversation on athlete data in college sports.
This episode unpacks the rapidly emerging landscape where Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) intersects with the world of athlete data. You will learn about:
Developments with biometric, performance, and personal data in college athletics.
The serious legal, ethical, privacy, and intellectual property implications that athletes and institutions must navigate right now.
The exciting opportunities for revenue generation this new data stream creates.
What university athletic programs, administrators, and athletes need to do.
Catch the full conversation here:
Spotify: https://lnkd.in/g6wTAncv
Apple: https://lnkd.in/gxTCHyXs
YouTube: https://lnkd.in/gvcchpus
Overview
Dr. Karen Weaver hosts a deep conversation with Kristy Gale, CEO of Honor Data Rights Management, about the fast-emerging landscape of data monetization, athlete data rights, and ethical challenges in college athletics. The episode examines how Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) intersects with biometric, performance, and personal data, creating both opportunities for revenue generation and serious legal, ethical, privacy and intellectual property implications.
Key Themes
1. Athlete and Analytics Create Value for Athletes, Universities, Fans & Brands
Data from athletes—performance metrics, biometrics, biomechanics, geolocation, and behavioral insights—are becoming valuable assets.
Universities and athletic programs increasingly view data as a monetizable commodity similar to tickets or broadcast rights.
However, this raises questions of ownership, consent, and control.
2. Legal and Contractual Challenges
Most current NIL and athletic contracts do not adequately address athlete data rights.
Many administrators, agents, and even athletes do not understand the scope of data being collected, who owns it, or how it is used.
Laws like FERPA (student privacy) and state privacy laws – including biometric privacy laws – are outdated for the digital era of wearables, AI analytics, and performance tracking.
This legal “gray zone” exposes universities to numerous risks including litigation, class action lawsuits and regulatory intervention.
3. Consent and “Scope Creep”
Athletes often sign broad consent forms without knowing:
What data is collected.
How long it is stored or shared.
Who has access to it (universities, staff, vendors, data distribution companies).
Example: The NCAA’s deal with Genius Sports allows performance data to be shared for sports betting, often without explicit athlete consent.
Gale highlights the concept of “scope creep”—when data collected for one purpose gets reused for others without permission for those new uses.
4. Ethical & Privacy Implications
Data collected can include sensitive personal information—sleep patterns, injury risk, even indicators of private activity.
Universities risk reputational damage and loss of athlete trust if data is mishandled.
Some scholars, such as Alicia Jessop (Pepperdine University), argue that athletes’ Fourth Amendment rights may be violated by forced data collection without meaningful consent.
Research Insights: The Notre Dame University Study
HonorDRM partnered with the University of Notre Dame’s ESTEEM Program to research and understand the state of the college athlete data space. Top 75 D1 university athletic programs and athletes participated in interviews that revealed:
Widespread athlete data collection is occurring in these programs that use athlete management systems to track actionable insights.
Data includes not only biometrics but academic, behavioral, and personal metrics, used for performance optimization.
Male athletes were more aware of the data that was collected from them and opportunities to use their data as NIL to increase their earnings.
Female athlete data collection was less extensive historically and although more data is now being collected on female athletes, these athletes are not as aware of the data that is collected from them, how it is used, and that they may monetize it, revealing gender gaps.
Programs would generate revenue from this athlete data if they had answers to the data ownership, control, and privacy questions.
Monetization Opportunities
Kristy Gale explains that properly managed athlete data can become a sustainable new revenue stream that fuels:
Next generation broadcasts incorporating athlete data and augmented reality (AR) broadcasts and overlays (already popular in European soccer).
Fantasy sports, and sports betting.
Virtual reality games, video games, and mobile fan engagement apps.
Content creation and documentaries (e.g., Netflix or ESPN-style storytelling).
Universities could license athlete data ethically—with athlete consent—for recurring revenue. She emphasizes the need for data owners, data controllers and data users to collaborate so athletes and universities benefit.
Risks and the Path Forward
Data misuse can lead to public scandals, lawsuits, and loss of trust.
Privacy breaches in performance or biometric data can be more damaging than financial data leaks.
Athletes’ data should be treated as personal property, and they must have agency and compensation in its use.
Strategic Recommendations for university presidents, administrators, and athletic departments:
Partner with a data-rights expert — to get up to speed, implement compliance practices, and monitor evolving regulations.
Educate stakeholders — administrators, athletic department staff, and athletes about data rights.
Review and update contracts — include clear terms about ownership, control, access, and consent.
Establish new or fortify existing compliance programs — integrate athlete data management into privacy, cybersecurity, AI and other policies.
Act early — avoid waiting for litigation or regulatory crises.
Conclusion
Gale concludes that college sports are entering a new paradigm where athlete data represents both risk and reward:
Ethical data management and transparent monetization can create win-win outcomes.
Institutions that educate, protect, and fairly compensate their athletes will not only stay compliant but also unlock a powerful, recurring revenue stream for the future.
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