Baylor Study Tracks NIL's Effect on Athletes' Faith

Student-athletes and families will see how NIL deals shape character and well-being in a two-year study of about 250 participants.

Updated on Nov. 9, 2026 in Financial Aid

Baylor Study Tracks NIL's Effect on Athletes' Faith

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Do you think big money in college sports is hurting student-athletes' well-being?

Baylor University researchers have launched a study examining how name, image, and likeness deals affect the faith and character of student-athletes. The two-year project will follow about 250 student-athletes and is conducted in partnership with Baylor Athletics.

Why it matters

As NIL deals reshape compensation for college athletes, researchers want to understand how market pressures affect the moral and psychological development of the athletes themselves. The work comes as federal lawmakers continue debating NIL rules, with the Protect College Sports Act passing the Senate in September 2026 but still awaiting House approval.

The study will track around 250 student-athletes over two years, and the Protect College Sports Act passed the Senate in September 2026 with bipartisan support but still needs House approval. Per-player compensation in the EA Sports College Football video game grew from $600 to $1,500 across three years, a figure the researchers cite as context for NIL's growth.

The players

Baylor University

A private Christian research university in Waco, Texas, conducting the study through its athletics partnership and theological seminary.

Laura Upenieks

Associate professor of sociology at Baylor University and principal investigator of the NIL study.

Paul Putz

Director of the Faith & Sports Institute at Baylor's George W. Truett Theological Seminary, collaborating on the project.

The details

Researchers will analyze how market pressures, team dynamics, and athletic demands shape character virtues, and will investigate how student-athletes' demands affect mental well-being, meaning in life, and overall flourishing. The study is titled 'Virtue on the Market: Navigating Character and Competition in the Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) Era of College Athletics.' Laura Upenieks, an associate professor of sociology at Baylor, serves as principal investigator, and Paul Putz of the Faith & Sports Institute at Baylor's George W. Truett Theological Seminary will collaborate on the project.

May 2026: The SCORE Act was pulled from the House.
September 2026: The Protect College Sports Act passed the Senate with bipartisan support.
November 9, 2026: Baylor announced the NIL faith study.
The study will run for two years, following about 250 student-athletes.

Education Landscape

The Protect College Sports Act, which passed the Senate in September 2026 with bipartisan support, is the latest federal attempt to set national rules for NIL compensation after the SCORE Act was pulled from the House in May 2026. Baylor's study adds a research lens on athlete well-being to a policy debate that has so far centered mostly on compensation and eligibility.

If you are a student-athlete or a parent of one, NIL compensation can interact with how athletic and academic scholarships are counted, so it is worth asking your school's financial-aid office how NIL income is treated in your aid package. Federal NIL rules are still pending, so the questions you ask now may change as the Protect College Sports Act moves through the House.

The takeaway

The main insight is that NIL policy is still being written, and research on athletes' well-being may shape how universities support them alongside compensation. Students and families should ask their school's financial-aid office how NIL income affects scholarship and aid calculations before signing any deal.