The NCAA’s Board of Governors announced on Wednesday that it is in favor of proposed rule changes that will allow student-athletes to profit from their names, likenesses and images as long as the schools they play for are not involved in the compensation.
Beginning at the start of the 2021-22 academic year, the NCAA board is in favor of student-athletes getting compensation for third-party endorsements both related to and separate from athletics as well as other opportunities, including social media postings and making personal appearances.
While doing any of the above, athletes would be allowed to identify themselves by sport and school, but couldn’t use any associated NCAA logos or trademarks.
“Throughout our efforts to enhance support for college athletes, the NCAA has relied upon considerable feedback from and the engagement of our members, including numerous student-athletes, from all three divisions,” said Michael Drake, chair of the board. “Allowing promotions and third-party endorsements is uncharted territory.”
The NCAA will also ask Congress to pass federal restrictions that will keep individual states from passing their owns laws about compensation for college athletes.
“The evolving legal and legislative landscape around these issues not only could undermine college sports as a part of higher education but also significantly limit the NCAA’s ability to meet the needs of college athletes moving forward,” Drake said. “We must continue to engage with Congress in order to secure the appropriate legal and legislative framework to modernize our rules around name, image and likeness. We will do so in a way that underscores the Association’s mission to oversee and protect college athletics and college athletes on a national scale.”
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