NCAA board supports pay for name, image and likeness
Trevor Lawrence of the Clemson Tigers celebrates a 29-23 win over Ohio State in the College Football Playoff on December 28, 2019. Credit: Getty Images/Christian Petersen
The NCAA announced on Wednesday that it has taken a big step toward allowing college athletes to earn money — to profit off their names, images and likenesses — for the first time. How it will do that and deal with the unintended consequences remains to be seen.
The NCAA’s Board of Governors voted to support a recommendation from the association’s legislative solutions working group that would allow student-athletes to earn money in a myriad of ways, including endorsements, modeling, peddling social media influence, selling their names and images to video game makers or appearing at autograph shows. The recommendation would allow the student-athletes to use agents or business managers to negotiate for those things.
The recommendation would not create a situation in which colleges pay their student-athletes, nor one in which a financial deal can be used as a recruiting enticement. The use of school logos or the endorsement of things contrary to school or NCAA values (such as alcohol, gambling or tobacco) would be prohibited. Schools would have to be notified about the terms of any deal entered into by its athletes.
“It’s a space we’ve never been in, but we wanted to make an attempt to modernize,” said Stony Brook athletic director Shawn Heilbron, who serves in the working group. “We felt it was a step forward to allow student-athletes to generate revenue to help themselves and their families.”
“It helps figure out what student-athletes should be able to get that other students at their schools get already,” Hofstra AD Rick Cole Jr. said. “Still the devil will be in the details. This is not supposed to impact recruiting.”
Those details are supposed to be worked out for Divisions I, II and III and included in a final recommendation in October. Legislation would be voted on in January for implementation in the 2021-22 school year.
“You can look at this as principles and practicalities,” St. John’s AD Mike Cragg said. “We’ve now got a statement on principles — it’s the American way for people to be compensated for what they are worth — and now the work ahead is the practicalities. [Schools] have to figure out how it can be done.”
The NCAA never showed an appetite for a move like this until last fall, when California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed the Fair Play to Pay Act, which, against NCAA rules, permitted college athletes to do endorsement deals beginning in 2023. Similar legislation is moving forward in other states including Florida, where it could be enacted for 2021-22.
NCAA members have to not only invent a way to regulate their new mission but be prepared to enforce new rules.
“The next step for us is we have to figure out what is going to be permissible,” Heilbron said, “and we have to go in with our eyes wide open.”
Keeping business managers, agents and boosters from skirting rules to influence recruiting is one of many concerns. Another is that a rising star athlete in a small market could transfer to a school in a larger one for the opportunity at greater ad dollars.
“Our Justin Wright-Foreman went from averaging 1.8 points as a freshman to becoming one of the best players in the country to getting drafted by the NBA,” Cole said. “We were worried that he’d be lured to play somewhere else with a bigger profile. This creates another reason to worry. We were lucky he cared about the relationships at Hofstra.”
“I am sure there are a lot of things that this could bring that the NCAA doesn’t want, but who are we kidding?” Cragg said. “Compliance and monitoring will be essential.”
Heilbron said everyone in the working group understood the problems but that it was the right step for the NCAA to take.
“Sure there are opportunities for nefarious dealings, but there will still be violations and eligibility ramifications when rules aren’t followed,” he said. “We have to come up with guardrails so we can allow our students to get what they should.”
Roger Rubin returned to Newsday in 2018 to write about high schools, colleges and baseball following 20 years at the Daily News. A Baseball Hall of Fame voter since 2011, he has covered 13 MLB postseasons and 14 NCAA Final Fours.
