Tennessee baseball player involved in NIL-related legal dispute, per report
By David Wasson
Published:
The world of Name, Image and Likeness lawsuits has reached college baseball, as Tennessee two-way standout Blaine Brown is reportedly in a legal dispute with the NIL collective that supports Rice.
D1Baseball.com reported that Brown, who currently ranks as the No. 5 college prospect for the 2027 MLB Draft, signed an agreement with South Main Collective during his freshman year in 2025. That agreement, which was through August 2027, called for Brown to receive $20,000 his freshman year with the ability to make upwards of $256,000 during his remaining two seasons with the Owls.
Brown entered the transfer portal after his freshman season in June 2025 and enrolled at Tennessee to play the 2026 season with the Vols. The contention, however, is that Brown’s NIL deal with Rice was not contingent on on-field performance or enrollment at Rice – that Brown was no longer the sole owner of his publicity rights but instead that South Main Collective owned those rights until the end of the agreement.
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Brown would theoretically owe the SM Collective $29,250. He received $20,000 during the 2025 season and requested an additional $9,250 in advance payments in June of 2025 to help pay for tuition. Brown committed to Tennessee two weeks later, and the collective responded by sending him a Notice of Breach of Agreement and Liquidated Damages.
Brown, a 6-foot-5 sophomore outfielder/pitcher, is hitting .313 with four home runs and a team-high 13 RBIs and has a 4.50 ERA in two innings on the mound with five strikeouts for the 9-3 Volunteers.
An APSE national award-winning writer and editor, David Wasson has almost four decades of experience in the print journalism business in Florida and Alabama. His work has also appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times and several national magazines and websites. His Twitter handle: @JustDWasson.
