Following California’s move passing a law to let college athletes hire sports agents and earn money from endorsement deals, the NCAA has decided to make changes that will allow student athletes to be compensated for their image and likeness and name. The member-led organization made the announcement Tuesday after a unanimous vote from the governing board. The new policy will be implemented in 2023.
The initiative requires that the NCAA’s three divisions immediately modernize their bylaws and policies.
“We must embrace change to provide the best possible experience for college athletes,” said Drake, Global Ambassador of the Toronto Raptors NBA Club. “Additional flexibility in this area can and must continue to support college sports as a part of higher education. This modernization for the future is a natural extension of the numerous steps NCAA members have taken in recent years to improve support for student-athletes, including full cost of attendance and guaranteed scholarships.”
The modernization of policies comes with a set of guidelines that the divisions must follow. Professional and collegiate opportunities will have to be distinctive and clear. Student-athletes must be treated with fairness and not as employees of the university or college. Student-athletes are to be treated like the non-athletes, while prioritizing the education and collegiate experience of all students.
“As a national governing body, the NCAA is uniquely positioned to modify its rules to ensure fairness and a level playing field for student-athletes,” NCAA President Mark Emmert said. “The board’s action today creates a path to enhance opportunities for student-athletes while ensuring they compete against students and not professionals.”
The process of updating policies will be ongoing as each division of the NCAA are responsible for creating their own rules to be submitted to the NCAA by 2021. NCAA will continue to collect additional data to restructure the policies to align with state and federal regulations.
The NCAA news comes at a time when the NFL Players Association and National College Players Association announced that they would also be looking into aiding student-athletes in obtaining compensation.
The changes are significant, especially since there has been public outcry about student-athletes not getting compensated for their hard work. LeBron James took to Twitter to express his thoughts on the situation and take some of the credit for the changes.
“It’s a beautiful day for all college atheles going forward from this day on. Thank you guys for allowing me to bring more light to it,” James posted.
Fans reacted to his post in not the most kind way.
James has been adamant about using his platform to bring awareness to a lot of causes, student-athlete compensation being one of them.
Not everyone is supportive of the changes. Sen. Richard Burr, a Republican from North Carolina, believes that if student-athletes are going to be paid for their likeness, image and name use, then their scholarships should be taxed.
“If college athletes are going to make money off of their likeness while in school, their scholarships should be treated like income,” Burr posted on Twitter.
For years, colleges and universities have profited off of the hard work of student-athletes by selling merchandise with their likeness and names. Many of the athletes have found themselves financially strapped during and after college because of the outdated policies.
With the new changes, athletes can now develop a savings or reinvest their finances to create more wealth.
