Playing Outside the Lines: Analyzing Unregulated Third-Party Policy Actors Through the Lens of NIL Collectives and Administration of Sport Policy at Universities

We consider how unregulated external actors who play a significant role in policy implementation challenge what we know about third party governance. We do this through the lens of collectives that support student athletes in monetizing their name, image, and likeness (NIL). State NIL policies lack clear lines of oversight for collectives, but institutions of higher education are not permitted to coordinate with them. We present evidence from interviews regarding the challenges this lack of regulation causes for compliance office administrators. We conclude with an argument that third-party governance researchers need to consider the role of actors that are not part of a hierarchical implementation structure.