Community Guidelines

Version 1.0.0 · Effective Date: 2026-05-15 · Last Updated: May 12, 2026

NextName Community Guidelines

NextName, Inc. Version 1.0.0 Effective Date: March 1, 2026

Welcome to NextName. These Community Guidelines apply to everyone on the platform – fans, athletes, schools, and teams. By using NextName, you agree to follow these guidelines. They exist to keep our community safe, respectful, and focused on what we all love: college sports.

These guidelines supplement the NextName Terms of Service (“ToS”). Violations may result in enforcement action up to and including permanent account termination. Where these guidelines reference specific Platform rules, the following ToS sections provide additional detail:

Content Standards: ToS Section 7 (Content Standards and Prohibited Content)
NIL Rules: ToS Section 9 (NIL Compliance)
Intellectual Property: ToS Section 8 (Intellectual Property)
Dispute Resolution: ToS Section 16 (Dispute Resolution)

Capitalized terms used in these guidelines and not defined herein shall have the meanings ascribed to them in the ToS, Section 1 (Definitions).

1. Our Mission

NextName exists to create a safe, supportive, and authentic environment for the college sports community. We connect fans with the athletes and schools they care about through exclusive content, direct interaction, and meaningful engagement.

We believe every member of this community – whether you are a fan supporting your favorite athlete, an athlete sharing your story, or a school building its program’s brand – deserves a platform where they feel welcome, respected, and valued.

These guidelines are how we protect that environment.

2. Respect and Inclusivity

NextName is for everyone who loves college sports. We do not tolerate discrimination, harassment, or bullying of any kind.

You must not:

Harass, threaten, intimidate, or bully other users, whether publicly in channels or through direct messages.
Discriminate against or demean others based on race, ethnicity, national origin, religion, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, disability, veteran status, or any other protected characteristic.
Engage in targeted attacks against individuals or groups, including coordinated harassment campaigns.
Use slurs, derogatory language, or dehumanizing rhetoric directed at any person or group.
Engage in sexual harassment, including unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual content, or sexually degrading comments.
Impersonate another person, athlete, school representative, or NextName staff member.

We expect you to:

Treat every member of the community with respect, even when you disagree.
Engage in constructive conversation. Passionate sports debates are welcome; personal attacks are not.
Report behavior that violates these guidelines rather than retaliating.

3. Content Standards

All content on NextName – including posts, comments, messages, profile information, and channel descriptions – must meet the following standards.

Prohibited content includes:

3.1. Hate Speech. Content that promotes hatred, violence, or discrimination against individuals or groups based on protected characteristics. This includes symbols, imagery, and coded language associated with hate groups.

3.2. Violence and Threats. Content that threatens, glorifies, incites, or promotes violence against any person or group. This includes threats of physical harm, terroristic threats, and content that celebrates real-world violence.

3.3. Illegal Content. Content that promotes, facilitates, or depicts illegal activity, including but not limited to drug trafficking, fraud, theft, and illegal gambling.

3.4. Explicit Sexual Content. Sexually explicit or pornographic content. NextName is not an adult content platform. This includes nudity posted for sexual purposes, sexually explicit text or audio, and sexual solicitation.

3.5. Dangerous Activities. Content that promotes or instructs viewers to engage in activities that pose a serious risk of physical harm, including dangerous challenges, self-harm, eating disorders, or suicide. If you or someone you know is in crisis, please contact the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline by calling or texting 988.

3.6. Misinformation. Deliberately false or misleading content that could cause real-world harm, including false health claims, manipulated media presented as authentic, and disinformation campaigns.

3.7. Spam and Manipulation. Repetitive, unsolicited, or misleading content posted for the purpose of platform manipulation, including fake engagement, artificial follower inflation, and deceptive promotional schemes.

3.8. Malware and Phishing. Content that contains or links to malicious software, phishing sites, or other content designed to compromise user security.

4. NIL-Specific Rules

NextName operates within the college sports NIL (Name, Image, Likeness) ecosystem. All users must comply with the following rules, which reflect federal and state law, NCAA and College Sports Commission (“CSC”) regulations, and platform policy.

4.1. No Pay-for-Play. Content and transactions on NextName must not constitute or facilitate pay-for-play arrangements. Subscriptions, tips, and premium content purchases are compensation for content creation and fan engagement – not for athletic performance, recruitment commitments, or competitive outcomes. You must not:

Promise specific athletic outcomes (wins, stats, playing time) in exchange for subscriptions, tips, or purchases.
Offer or solicit payments contingent on an athlete’s decision to attend, transfer to, or remain at a particular institution.
Frame content or transactions in a way that ties compensation to on-field performance rather than content value.

4.2. No Sports Betting Promotion. Content that promotes, advertises, or facilitates sports betting or gambling is prohibited. This includes:

Promoting sportsbooks, betting apps, or gambling services.
Sharing betting tips, odds, or picks.
Encouraging fans to place bets on any athletic events.
Partnering with or accepting sponsorship from gambling operators through NextName content.

4.3. No Recruitment Violations. Content and interactions on NextName must not violate NCAA, CSC, or conference recruitment rules. You must not:

Use the platform to recruit athletes to transfer to or commit to a specific institution.
Offer inducements (financial or otherwise) to influence an athlete’s enrollment decisions.
Contact prospective student-athletes in violation of contact period rules.

4.4. No Unauthorized Use of School Intellectual Property. Athletes may not use school-owned intellectual property (logos, mascots, trademarks, uniforms, facility imagery, game footage, school-produced media) in their athlete-owned channels without the written permission of the school. School intellectual property may only appear in school-managed channels. See the School-Athlete Affiliation Agreement for detailed content restrictions.

4.5. NIL Disclosure. Athletes are responsible for complying with all applicable NIL disclosure and reporting requirements, including reporting NIL activity through NIL Go or other required channels within the timelines mandated by federal law, state law, and CSC regulations.

5. Copyright and Intellectual Property

Respect the intellectual property rights of others. NextName complies with the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (“DMCA”) and enforces intellectual property protections across the platform.

You must not:

Post content you do not own or do not have permission to use, including copyrighted music, video, images, text, and other media.
Repost, redistribute, or repurpose another creator’s NextName content without their explicit permission.
Use another person’s trademarks, logos, or branding in a misleading or unauthorized manner.
Circumvent or remove copyright management information, watermarks, or attribution from content.
Record, screenshot, or redistribute content from Subscription or Premium channels. Paid content is for the subscriber’s personal viewing only.

If your content is used without permission:

You may file a DMCA takedown request by emailing legal@nextname.io with the following information:

A description of the copyrighted work you believe has been infringed.
The URL or location of the infringing content on NextName.
Your contact information (name, email, phone number).
A statement that you have a good faith belief that the use is not authorized by the copyright owner.
A statement, under penalty of perjury, that the information in your notice is accurate and that you are the copyright owner or authorized to act on the owner’s behalf.
Your physical or electronic signature.

We will review and respond to valid DMCA notices promptly.

Counter-notifications:

If your content was removed and you believe the takedown was in error, you may submit a counter-notification to legal@nextname.io. Counter-notifications must include the information required under the DMCA. Content will be restored within 10-14 business days unless the copyright holder files a court action.

6. Privacy and Safety

Protecting the privacy and safety of our community members is a core priority. The following conduct is strictly prohibited.

6.1. No Doxxing. Do not share, threaten to share, or solicit another person’s private or personally identifiable information without their consent. This includes:

Home addresses, phone numbers, and email addresses.
Financial information (bank accounts, payment details, earnings).
Government-issued identification (Social Security numbers, driver’s license numbers, passport numbers).
Student records, class schedules, or academic information.
Private medical or health information.

6.2. No Stalking or Unwanted Contact. Do not engage in behavior that constitutes stalking, including persistent unwanted contact, monitoring another user’s activity in a threatening manner, or showing up at a person’s physical location based on information obtained through the platform.

6.3. No Sharing of Private Content. Do not share private messages, private content, or confidential communications from other users without their consent. This includes screenshots of direct messages and content from private or gated channels.

6.4. Protecting Minors. NextName requires all users to be at least 13 years of age. Content that exploits, endangers, or sexualizes minors is strictly prohibited and will result in immediate account termination and reporting to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) and appropriate law enforcement authorities.

6.5. Account Security. You are responsible for the security of your own account. Do not share your login credentials with others. If you believe your account has been compromised, contact support@nextname.io immediately.

7. Reporting and Enforcement

We rely on our community to help keep NextName safe. If you see content or behavior that violates these guidelines, please report it.

How to report a violation:

In-app reporting: Use the report button available on all posts, comments, profiles, and messages. Select the reason for your report and provide any additional context.
Email: Send a detailed report to safety@nextname.io. Include the username of the person involved, a description of the violation, and any supporting evidence (screenshots, URLs, timestamps).

What happens when we receive a report:

Acknowledgment. We will acknowledge receipt of your report within twenty-four (24) hours.
Review. Our team will review the reported content or behavior against these Community Guidelines and the Terms of Service. We may contact you for additional information.
Action. If we determine a violation has occurred, we will take appropriate enforcement action as described in Section 8. The severity of the action will be proportional to the severity and frequency of the violation.
Notification. We will notify the reporting user that the report has been reviewed and action has been taken, though we may not disclose the specific enforcement action for privacy reasons. The user whose content or account is subject to enforcement will be notified of the action taken and the reason.

Good faith reporting: We expect all reports to be submitted in good faith. Submitting false, malicious, or frivolous reports is itself a violation of these guidelines and may result in enforcement action against the reporting user.

Confidentiality: The identity of reporting users is kept confidential to the extent possible. We do not disclose who filed a report to the person being reported.

8. Consequences

Violations of these Community Guidelines will result in enforcement action. We use a graduated enforcement model, with the severity of the action proportional to the severity, frequency, and intent of the violation.

8.1. Warning. For first-time or minor violations, we may issue a written warning explaining the violation and the expected behavior. Warnings are recorded on the user’s account.

8.2. Content Removal. Content that violates these guidelines will be removed from the platform. The content creator will be notified of the removal and the specific guideline that was violated. Repeated content removals will result in escalated enforcement.

8.3. Temporary Suspension. For serious or repeated violations, we may temporarily suspend the user’s account. Suspension durations follow a progressive model:

First serious violation: 24-hour suspension with written warning
Second violation within 90 days: 7-day suspension
Third violation within 90 days: 30-day suspension
Fourth violation within 12 months: Permanent termination review

During a suspension:

The user cannot post content, send messages, or interact with the platform.
The user’s existing content remains visible but is marked as belonging to a suspended account.
Subscriptions are paused; subscribers are not charged during the suspension period.

8.4. Permanent Termination. For the most serious violations, or for users who demonstrate a pattern of violations despite prior enforcement actions, we may permanently terminate the user’s account. Permanent termination results in:

Immediate and permanent loss of access to the platform.
Removal of all content posted by the user.
Cancellation of all active subscriptions (both as a subscriber and as a creator).
Forfeiture of any pending payouts below the minimum payout threshold. Earned revenue above the minimum threshold will be paid out in accordance with the Terms of Service.
The user may not create a new account. Attempts to circumvent a permanent termination by creating new accounts will result in immediate termination of the new account.

Conduct that results in immediate permanent termination (without prior warning) includes:

Content that exploits or sexualizes minors.
Credible threats of violence against any person.
Doxxing or sharing private information with the intent to cause harm.
Confirmed pay-for-play arrangements.
Any activity that violates criminal law.

9. Appeals Process

We recognize that enforcement decisions involve judgment, and we are committed to fairness. If you believe an enforcement action was made in error, you have the right to appeal.

How to appeal:

Submit an appeal by emailing legal@nextname.io within thirty (30) calendar days of the enforcement action. Your appeal must include:
- Your username and the email associated with your account.
- A description of the enforcement action you are appealing.
- Your explanation of why you believe the action was in error, including any relevant context or evidence.
Review. A member of our team who was not involved in the original enforcement decision will review your appeal. We may contact you for additional information during the review process.
Decision. We will communicate the outcome of your appeal within fifteen (15) business days of receiving your complete appeal submission. The appeal decision will include:
- Whether the original enforcement action is upheld, modified, or reversed.
- The reasoning behind the appeal decision.
- Any modifications to the enforcement action (e.g., reduced suspension duration, content restoration).
Finality. The appeal decision is final. We do not offer multiple rounds of appeal for the same enforcement action.

During the appeals process:

Content removals remain in effect pending the outcome of the appeal.
Account suspensions remain in effect pending the outcome of the appeal, unless the appeal reviewer determines that the suspension should be lifted during the review period.
Permanent terminations remain in effect pending the outcome of the appeal.

10. Changes to These Guidelines

We may update these Community Guidelines from time to time to reflect changes in our platform, community needs, or applicable law. When we make material changes:

We will notify all users through the platform and via email.
The updated guidelines will include a new effective date and version number.
Continued use of the platform after the effective date of updated guidelines constitutes acceptance of the changes.

We encourage you to review these guidelines periodically.

Contact Us

If you have questions about these Community Guidelines, need to report a violation, or want to discuss any aspect of community safety on NextName, please reach out:

Safety and reporting: safety@nextname.io
Legal questions and DMCA: legal@nextname.io
Appeals: legal@nextname.io
General support: support@nextname.io
NIL compliance questions: compliance@nextname.io

NextName, Inc. nextname.io

Version 1.0.0 — Pending legal review.