Opening Moment
A portal candidate got three calls last week.
All from people claiming to represent him.
Only one was real.
He was not confused about the rules.
He was confused about the people.
One unaffiliated agent trying to test the market.
One advisor “helping.”
One actual representative caught in the noise.
By the time the truth sorted itself out, the moment had already passed.
Another school called someone else.
The ecosystem did not fail because someone lied.
It failed because the truth was not shared.
Inside the Data (Truth in Motion)
The first three chapters of The Truth Series laid the groundwork:
Week 1: Stability beats panic.
Week 2: Verification beats chaos.
Week 3: Relevance beats volume.
Week 4 adds the ethical layer: fairness beats everything.
Read the full Week 4 chapter here → The Truth Series: Fairness in Motion
And fairness has a data problem:
Over 50% of the time programs spent on agent calls last cycle was viewed as wasted or not legitimate.
Nearly 1 in 4 transfer athletes arrived at new programs with unverified injury info.
Bloomberg Law reports that athletes face “questionable business deals, disreputable agents, and outright scams” in the NIL era.
Fennemore Law notes that “not all NIL agents are equal,” and many lack the experience required to represent athletes adequately.
The ABA Journal describes the NIL landscape as full of “complexities and potential conflicts.”
No single stakeholder is at fault.
But every stakeholder is affected.
Signal in the Noise
Across conversations with athletes, agencies, and programs this fall, three truths keep surfacing.
1. Athletes do not know who to trust.
Not because everyone is bad.
Because everyone has a voice, and those voices are not coordinated.
2. Programs burn critical time verifying the basics.
Every misrouted call costs the athlete more than anyone else.
3. Good agencies are drowned out by noise.
Ethical operators struggle in a market where clarity is not guaranteed.
This is the quiet inequity of the portal.
Freedom of movement without freedom of information creates unfair outcomes.
The Human Element
A veteran agent put it simply:
“If an athlete cannot tell who is actually helping them, the market has failed before it starts.”
And a director of player personnel added:
“We cannot do right by a kid if we do not know who we are talking to.”
No one is asking for less movement.
Everyone is asking for the same thing.
A fair map.
The Problem
This is the athlete’s reality.
Unaffiliated agents testing the market
Advisors calling without authority
Hidden relationships shaping early opportunities
Confusing contracts and low literacy
Conflicting signals from multiple sides
The system is not hostile.
It is unstructured.
And unstructured systems always disadvantage the least informed.
Behind the Numbers (The Solution Turn)
Over the past year, we built the first representation infrastructure designed for fairness, not just speed.
A system where:
Representation is verified
Contracts are vetted
Agencies have real tools
Schools see truth instead of noise
Athletes finally have visibility and control
Here is the UpNext engine in motion:
This is not a feature.
It is infrastructure built for transparency.
Toolbox: What is Live Now
Verified Representation (Powered by Sutton Sports)
Agent identity checks
Background checks
Contract Integrity Review (Powered by our Legal Partners)
NIL contract analysis
Predatory clause detection
Athlete protection standards
Agency Platform Tools
Verified client lists
Representation management
Matching tools for athlete to program to agency
Athlete Mobile App
See who represents you
Understand market options
Own your visibility
The Trusted Takeaway
The portal is a marketplace built on movement.
But movement alone is not fairness.
Speed moves the market.
Transparency protects the athlete.
Read the full Week 4 chapter → The Truth Series: Fairness in Motion