With a campaign that has been years in the making, collegiate athletes are finally beginning to see traction on the stance of being allowed to profit off of their name, image and likenesses (NIL).
Back on April 29, the NCAA Board of Governors supported rule changes that would help athletes receive compensation for third-party endorsements related to and separate from athletics.
Although it was a step in the right direction, the members of the Autonomy Five (A5) conferences which include the Atlantic Coast Conference, the Big 12, The Big Ten, the Pac-12 Conference and the South Eastern Conference, all conjoined to pen a letter to the United States Congress in hopes to create a national policy on NIL.
Within the letter were statements and wishes that the student athletes would be able to see profit on their NIL, while preserving the collegiate model.
It also provided a set of standards that the conferences hope to be incorporated that would “regulate NIL economic opportunity for student-athletes while also promoting academics and protecting student-athletes from unscrupulous actors.”
The conferences also stressed to not wait for the NCAA’s process to conclude, and for states to pass their own laws with regards to NIL.
“A the leaders of the A5 conferences, we believe strongly that Congress should enact the framework for a clear national policy on NIL as soon as possible and not wait for the NCAA process to conclude before movie forward with a national legislative plan,” read the letter.
“We intend to work with the NCAA to help shape those rules, but the Congressional process should move forward in the meantime. In the absence of federal NIL legislation, we expect most if not all states to pass their own disparate NIL laws in early 2021, to take effect in summer of 2021 if not sooner. So, time is of the essence.”
Attached to the document were a list of consensus principles on NIL per Brett McMurphy.
The letter can be found here.
In 3-page letter, obtained by @Stadium, Power 5 league commissioners ask Congress to “enact clear national policy on NIL & not wait for NCAA process to conclude” & “so there will be uniform national standard that will preempt state NIL laws. … time is of the essence.” pic.twitter.com/VbaRCHTGXL
— Brett McMurphy (@Brett_McMurphy) May 29, 2020
*Get the BEST Alabama football insider information, message board access, and recruiting coverage today! SIGN UP HERE to unlock our subscriber only content!*
Patrick Dowd is a Reporter for Touchdown Alabama Magazine. You can follow him on Twitter, via Pat_Dowd77
