Viraaj Sood’s E-Book The NIL Blueprint Gives High School Student-Athletes Free Access to NIL Guidance

Viraaj Sood

The NIL Blueprint: Building a Strong Future for Student-Athletes

NEW YORK, NY, UNITED STATES, September 4, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ — In July 2021, the NCAA’s NIL policy went into effect, allowing college student-athletes to pursue opportunities and receive compensation from third parties tied to their name, image, and likeness for the first time. Almost overnight, NIL became one of the biggest conversations in student athletics, reshaping how athletes, schools, brands, and families thought about the business side of sports. While the conversation quickly grew around college athletes and major endorsement opportunities, many high school student-athletes were left trying to understand what NIL could mean for them before ever stepping onto a college campus.

For many student-athletes, understanding what these new opportunities mean, how eligibility may be affected, and what questions to ask can feel overwhelming, especially for those who are still years away from continuing their academic and athletic careers after high school. NIL opportunities can include social media posts, brand appearances, and promoting products or services, but for high school athletes, the harder part is often knowing where to begin and how to prepare before those opportunities arise.

Viraaj Sood understood that challenge through his own perspective as a student-athlete and through the experiences of other student-athletes he saw navigating the conversation at practice and online. As NIL became a larger part of the sports world, Sood noticed that many high school athletes knew these opportunities existed, but didn’t always understand what those opportunities meant, how to prepare for them, or where to begin. Much of the conversation around NIL seemed focused on college athletes, major brand deals, and students who already had access to advisors or athletic programs with built-in support. For Sood, that lack of clear guidance pointed to a larger issue being that five years after NIL rules began reshaping student athletics, high school student-athletes were now being expected to prepare for an evolving college athletics environment without always having an accessible starting point.

That gap inspired Sood to create The NIL Blueprint: Building a Strong Future for Student-Athletes, a free e-book designed to simplify NIL rights for high school athletes and help them better understand how to approach the topic before entering college athletics. Within the guide, Sood works to make NIL information more accessible by breaking down complicated topics into a resource that student-athletes, schools, libraries, athletic directors, coaches, and families can share with those who may need early guidance.

To build the guide, Sood researched NIL with the help of e-books, online articles, and sports media coverage, including resources focused on high school NIL, parent guidance, and the evolving role of NIL in college athletics. He also studied broader conversations around college and professional sports, including the NFL, NBA, NCAA basketball, and NCAA football, to better understand the larger athletics ecosystem his readers may one day enter.

As he shaped the e-book, Sood focused on making the guide practical rather than overwhelming. He organized the project around chapters and topics that could help high school student-athletes understand NIL from the ground up, including what NIL means, how student-athletes can think about their personal brand, mistakes to avoid, and how athletes are able to earn income. With his research supported by Yale professor Ravi Dhar, Sood also explored the relationships between college athletics and professional sports, using his findings to better understand the larger systems student-athletes may one day enter.

For Sood, what makes The NIL Blueprint stand out is that it was created by someone close to the experience of the students he hopes to help. As a high school student-athlete himself, he understands how difficult it can be to sort through new information while balancing school, athletics, and personal goals. Because of that, he wanted the e-book to feel digestible and accessible, not like a legal document or million-pound manual. To make the guide even more practical, Sood included an action plan checklist at the end of the e-book, giving student-athletes a clear place to start as they prepare for future NIL opportunities. “Helping high school student-athletes navigate the NIL process as someone who is also in high school is somewhat strange, but extremely fulfilling,” Sood shared. “Every high school student-athlete deserves the chance to get the most out of their college athletics journey.”

Shortly after completing the e-book, Sood began distributing The NIL Blueprint to high schools, libraries, athletic directors, and organizations that support student-athletes. One of his biggest challenges was figuring out how to get the guide in front of the right audiences, so he researched and contacted outlets connected to high school sports and student-athlete development, including MaxPreps, NCSA College Recruiting, EDGE Magazine, SportsEngine, and a handful of others.

By making The NIL Blueprint free and shareable, Sood hopes to make NIL guidance more accessible to student-athletes not only in New York, but in other communities as well. Through The NIL Blueprint, Sood hopes to help student-athletes feel less overwhelmed by NIL and more confident asking the right questions as they prepare for their futures.

To support Viraaj Sood and learn more about The NIL Blueprint: Building a Strong Future for Student-Athletes, please share the e-book with high school student-athletes, athletic directors, coaches, school counselors, libraries, and families interested in NIL education. For questions about the guide, please contact viraajnilbook@gmail.com.

About Viraaj Sood
Viraaj Sood is a student at Collegiate School in New York City, New York. He is an AP Scholar with Distinction and the Founder and President of his school’s Mock Trial and Law Club. Sood has completed political internships with 6th District New York City Councilwoman, Gale Brewer, and 69th District New York State Assemblymember, Micah Lasher. In his free time, Sood also enjoys playing basketball.

Contact
Viraaj Sood
viraajnilbook@gmail.com

Paige Torres
SBU PR
publicrelations@studentbrandingu.com