College sports fans believe NIL has a positive impact on college athletics

Washington, D.C., October 6, 2026 – A new Ipsos poll finds that nearly three in five Americans believe allowing college athletes to earn money off their name, image and likeness (NIL) has a positive impact on college athletics by ensuring players are fairly compensated, compared to just 35% who believe NIL is bad for college athletics because it gives schools a competitive advantage. Sixty-two percent of self-identified college sports fans share this sentiment. In the same vein, more than twice as many college sports fans believe allowing college athletes to be paid for ventures using their NIL is a good idea than a bad idea (52% vs. 23%).

Few Americans (17%) and college sports fans (33%) are familiar with “Protect College Sports Act” that the Senate passed at the end of September. However, some of the provisions are viewed as good ideas by a majority Americans and college fans, including placing a cap on how much money universities are allowed to directly pay athletes (60% and 71%, respectively), limiting athletes to five years of eligibility (55% and 73%), and requiring universities to cover medical costs for sports-related injuries up to five years after an athlete’s career ends (52% and 61%).

Lastly, Americans are split the NCAA’s primary goal in governing college athletics. Thirty-six percent say it is making as much money as possible, while 28% say it is preserving college sports and protecting athletes, and 34% are not sure. Among college sports fans, 45% say it is making as much money as possible, compared to 37% who say protecting athletes.

About the Study

This poll was conducted by Ipsos between October 2-4, 2026, using the probability-based KnowledgePanel®. This poll is based on a nationally representative probability sample of 1,023 general population adults aged 18 or older.

The study was conducted in English. The data were weighted to adjust for gender by age, race and ethnicity, census region, metropolitan status, education, household income, 2024 vote choice, and political party identification. Political party identification benchmarks are from the 2026 NPORS annual survey. The demographic benchmarks came from the 2025 March supplement of the U.S. Census Bureau’s Current Population Survey (CPS).

• Gender (Male, Female) by Age (18–29, 30–44, 45-59 and 60+)
• Race/Hispanic Ethnicity (White Non-Hispanic, Black Non-Hispanic, Other, Non-Hispanic, Hispanic, 2+ Races, Non-Hispanic)
• Education (Less than High School, High School, Some College, Bachelor’s degree, Master’s degree or higher)
• Census Region (Northeast, Midwest, South, West)
• Metropolitan status (Metro, non-Metro)
• Household Income (Under $25,000, $25,000-$49,999, $50,000-$74,999, $75,000-$99,999, $100,000-$149,999, $150,000+)
• 2024 Vote Choice (Trump, Harris, Another candidate, Did not vote)
• Political Party ID (Democrat, Lean Democrat, Republican, Lean Republican, Independent/Something else)

The margin of sampling error is plus or minus 3.4 percentage points at the 95% confidence level, for results based on the entire sample of adults. The margin of sampling error takes into account the design effect, which was 1.23. The margin of sampling error is higher and varies for results based on sub-samples. In our reporting of the findings, percentage points are rounded off to the nearest whole number. As a result, percentages in a given table column may total slightly higher or lower than 100%. In questions that permit multiple responses, columns may total substantially more than 100%, depending on the number of different responses offered by each respondent.

For more information on this news release, please contact:

Mallory Newall
Senior Vice President, US
Public Affairs
[email protected]

Johnny Sawyer
Senior Research Manager, US
Public Affairs
[email protected]

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