Visa Consultant for Temp Foreign Labor Turns Focus to NCAA Athletes

MásLabor, founded in 2002 and headquartered in Virginia, bills itself as the nation’s largest provider of consulting services for businesses hiring temporary foreign workers across both agricultural and non-agricultural sectors. From small-town landscaping firms to the Trump Organization, the company has been retained by thousands of employers to navigate the complex process of securing labor certifications and visas primarily through the H-2A and H-2B programs—at scale. 

Earlier this year, however, MásLabor turned its focus to a very different labor market: international college athletes.

The initiative began with a personal connection between Tom Bortnyk, MásLabor’s senior vice president and general counsel, and his former University of Michigan Law School classmate, Casey Floyd, co-founder of the NIL technology platform Nocap Sports.

In a recent phone interview, Floyd said he was referred to Bortnyk after speaking with another law school alum about one of the most persistent challenges in the evolving NIL landscape: ensuring that international athletes can fully participate. At the center of that debate is a legal gray area. F-1 visa holders, international students who are prohibited from working most jobs while studying, face unclear guidance on whether they can legally earn NIL or House v. NCAA revenue-share payments.

The issue remains unresolved, with no definitive regulatory or judicial ruling. As Sporticoreported earlier this month, a number of schools have followed the guidance of lawyers, including North Carolina immigration attorney Benjamin Snyder, who argue that NIL and House money qualifies as passive income, and therefore can be received by F-1 holders.

Floyd and Bortnyk, however, are among those who believe the safer solution is pursuing P-1A visa classification. Typically reserved for professional athletes or those competing at an internationally recognized level of performance, the P-1A allows full earning rights while in the U.S. On the flip side, P-1A holders are expected to be in the U.S. primarily for athletic competition, not education. 

“If we are being honest, that is exactly the situation,” Bortnyk said. “To qualify for a team and compete, you have to be a full-time student. That’s just another eligibility requirement like signing a contract to be a pro. There’s nothing in the P-1 regulations that says you can’t be a student.”

Still, P-1 visas are generally more complex and expensive to obtain than F-1s, often requiring an immigration attorney. Legal fees can range from a few thousand dollars up to $20,000, which prices out most college athletes. According to Bortnyk, MásLabor’s experience and streamlined approach could offer a more affordable alternative, with comparable outcomes.

Over the past several months, MásLabor and Nocap say they’ve spoken with roughly two dozen NCAA schools, most from Division I Power Four conferences. (Sportico first learned of the initiative through an athletics official at one such institution.)

“There are a lot of parallels from an administrative standpoint that are not unlike the approach we take for other visas in our portfolio, whether it is ‘H’ or green cards,” Bortnyk said. “So, my hypothesis is this: We are experts in cutting the red tape, making this as streamlined as possible. I think we can do this at scale and can make it more accessible to broader athletes.” 

MásLabor is aiming to implement its initiative for the 2026-27 academic year and, according to Bortnyk, is willing to take a calculated risk to establish a foothold in the space. The challenge now is identifying a dependable client base willing to pay for the services at a rate that makes the venture profitable.

“Anyone could take it on—the school, the [NIL] collective, the athlete’s agent, whoever wants to support the athlete,” Floyd said. 

Still, both Floyd and Bortnyk agree that for the model to scale effectively, schools will ultimately need to take the lead.

“I haven’t yet wrapped my head around how big this could be,” Bortnyk said. “Right now, the only people seriously discussing P-1 visas are the superstars. But I think the market is much bigger. Even if we start small, it would be worth it just to get an answer.”

So far, none of the schools they’ve pitched have made even informal commitments. College athletic departments often face a first-mover dilemma, and MásLabor is encountering that same hesitation, compounded, Floyd says, by institutional incentives to maintain the status quo.

“There is almost a conflict of interest when talking to schools,” Floyd said. “Some are interested, but they’re thinking: We already have [F-1] international athletes on F-1 visas. If we tell them there is another option, they’ll want it, and we’re going to have to pay for it. And then we’re going to have to pay them revenue share [money]. So the incentive for schools to educate athletes about P-1 visas just isn’t there.”