ESPN Publishes Investigative Report on ‘Predatory’ NIL Company Backed by Kendrick Perkins — One of Its Own Analysts

ESPN NBA analyst Kendrick Perkins was caught in the crossfire of the company’s own investigative report into a NIL company that’s raising alarm bells.

In the Tuesday report, ESPN staff writer Dan Murphy looked into Nilly, a new company aimed at helping student-athletes navigating the world of name, image, and likeness — or NIL — compensation. According to Murphy, Nilly offers upfront payments to athletes in exchange for a percentage of NIL earnings. Nilly is also given exclusive NIL rights, meaning only the company will be able to use or sell an athlete’s likeness for a period of time.

Those payments can range from $25,000 to “hundreds of thousands.”

“You have so many athletes and their parents who are struggling day-to-day,” Perkins said in the report. “Because we’re actually taking a bit of a gamble on what the student-athlete is going to make in the NIL space, the benefit is the kid — the student-athlete — is able to get financial security so they don’t have to rush.”

Financial experts, however, claimed the arrangement resembles a high-interest loan. In a copy of a contract obtained by ESPN, it was revealed that a high school senior was given an upfront payment of $50,000. In return, Nilly was given exclusive NIL right seven years; and Nilly and its investors will receive 25% of the athlete’s NIL earnings for the duration of the contract. The contract can also end early if Nilly earns a total of $125,000.

“To me it feels like you are preying on people who need the capital now and using that to cloud their focus on the future,” said Michael Haddix Jr., the CEO and founder of Scout, a company that teaches athletes about financial literacy. “It feels predatory, and it’s capitalizing on young people who need money and haven’t thought through the long-term implications.”

Despite the criticism, Perkins remains “confident that the company was helping athletes rather than harming them.” At the time of the report’s publishing, Nilly had signed 20 athletes across high school and college.

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