NCAA Moving Toward Allowing Athlete Sponsorships

NCAA athletes may be allowed to sign sponsorship deals as soon as next year.

According to The Associated Press, college sports administrators are currently reviewing recommended Division I rule changes that would allow athletes to earn money from their name, image and likeness. The recommendations will then be reviewed by the NCAA Board of Governors, while the potentially game-changing rules could be put in place in 2021.

Among the recommendations that could be adopted at the NCAA’s annual convention in January are allowing athletes to sign endorsement deals, sell autographs and memorabilia, be paid for personal appearances, and hold a camp or work as an instructor.

The Associated Press reported that the current version of the recommendations would require athletes to disclose financial terms of endorsement deals to their athletic departments. They also wouldn’t be allowed to include school-branded material in the endorsements.

College athletes have traditionally been prevented from earning money due to the NCAA’s amateurism rules.

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The NCAA was pressured to change those rules and adopt a national standard for NIL legislation when California signed the state’s “Fair Pay to Play Act” into law in September. The California law won’t go into effect until 2023, although a number of other states have pursued similar legislation that could go into effect sooner.

“This is the beginning of a national movement,” California Governor Gavin Newsom said in September. “Colleges reap billions from these student athletes’ sacrifices and success but, in the same breath, block them from earning a single dollar.”

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