A very long and archaic college model of amateurism appears to be being left in the dust.
According to a report from USA TODAY, for the first time in history, the NCAA has introduced legislation that could allow athletes in major college sports to sell their own signatures, endorse certain products, and take advantage of their name, image, and likeness much more freely. The matter will come to a final vote at the NCAA Convention in January, subject to membership feedback in the meantime.
“The timing was right to contemplate these things,” the chair of the Council, M. Grace Calhoun, told USA TODAY Sports on Wednesday. “We have been moving toward more freedoms and flexibilities and heightened focus on student-athlete rights for many years now. We’re a huge association. Change comes very slowly with big associations, and I think the deliberations around name, image likeness and transfers really highlighted how difficult it is, because they are not easy issues to legislate.”
If adopted, the legislation would allow athletes to:
- Receive payment for endorsements, autographs, private lessons, camps and clinics, with certain restrictions such as not using school marks.
- Hire agents under certain conditions.
- Raise money from crowdfunding platforms such as GoFundMe under certain conditions, including family hardship.
Such activities previously were forbidden under NCAA rules and could result in severe penalties for member institutions and individual athletes.
The NCAA is moving forward with historic reforms for athletes on name, image and likeness rights, as well as transfers. https://t.co/UM8LS7oSll
— USA TODAY Sports (@usatodaysports) October 15, 2020
For the NCAA, proposing these changes comes amid pressures from inside and outside of athletics. Several states have now passed laws that move the NIL issue forward for athletes competing at schools in their own jurisdiction, and other congressmen — like former Ohio State receiver Anthony Gonzalez — have threatened to bring forth federal legislation to provide college athletes more freedoms.
It goes without saying that this could alter the collegiate amateur landscape forever and as things step through the process, we’ll follow it and have more.
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