Bretton Cole
Editor-in-chief
The NCAA has conceded to allow college athletes to receive compensation for their image and likeness after considerable pressure from athlete-interest groups and lawmakers. The issue has been longstanding in the college sports world for several years, causing a clash between people who feel athletes deserve to be paid for their likeness and the NCAA who denied them the opportunity.
California recently passed a bill which details state colleges would no longer be allowed to punish students for signing commercial agreements, taking effect in 2023. This bill was part of what spurred the NCAA to change their policies.
The NCAA had resisted the policy change dating back to 2014, when NCAA president Mark Emmert indicated that paying college athletes would destroy college sports. The traditional reasoning includes the idea that college students who aren’t being paid would be unwilling to compete with players who are getting paid.
Yet, the NCAA published a press release on Oct. 29 indicating the change would be pursued. To what extent students will profit off their likeness while a part of the NCAA is still unclear. The framework has yet to be solidified or fully constructed.
In the press release, the NCAA included a preliminary framework of what the policy will look like. Andy Staples, college football writer for the Athletic, explained the framework is more likely a wish list as there is a long way to go for the new system to be perfected.
Aside from popular collegiate players getting a pay day, fans are excited for other reasons. Many speculate that this proposal also means the return of EA’s successful NCAA football game. In fact, Staples suggests that might be the only certainty coming out of NCAA’s press release.
But, what exactly is the goal of the NCAA’s announcement? Instead of the monetary gain from televising college athletes exclusively belonging to the networks, players are now able to capitalize on their likeness. For example, during March Madness last year, CBS broadcasted with a special “Zion Cam” that recorded then Duke star Zion Williamson during the Blue Devil’s tournament run.
Based on the rules that existed last year, Zion Williamson could get nothing from the profit CBS made. Under the new tentative rules, he could have arranged a deal with CBS to get a share of the money they made from televising his play during March Madness.
Several former collegiate stars have chimed in on the issue. Former electric LSU defensive back Tyrann Mathieu tweeted in response to the news, “Aww man. I would have cashed out. Haha.” NBA star LeBron James, who skipped playing college ball, commented on Twitter that it was a “beautiful day” for collegiate athletes.
After years of the NCAA blocking college athletes from making a profit off their image and likeness, athletes are finally able to cash in and fans will likely get their beloved video game back.
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