The board of governors has given the green light for student-athletes in NCAA basketball to eventually benefit from their name, image and likeness.
The NCAA is finally getting with the program, and at some point in the near future student-athletes who play NCAA basketball and other sports will have the ability to profit off of their own name, image and likeness. Few details are available at this juncture, but at least it’s a step in the right course, as student-athletes absolutely should have the option to generate endorsement income.
On Tuesday, the NCAA announced that its board of governors has voted “unanimously to permit students participating in athletics the opportunity to benefit from the use of their name, image and likeness in a manner consistent with the collegiate model.”
What exactly this means is not yet lucid. Michael Drake, the board’s chair and president of The Ohio State University, said in a press release that the board’s decision directs the three NCAA divisions “to immediately consider updates to relevant bylaws and policies for the 21st century.”
This move by the NCAA comes about a month after California became the inaugural state to pass a bill that would enable student-athletes to produce funds from their name, image and likeness. Numerous other states, meanwhile, have explored measures similar to California’s, and it’s certainly feasible that this pressure exerted by lawmakers across the country has contributed to the NCAA board’s determination.
Drake added, “We must embrace change to provide the best possible experience for college athletes. Additional flexibility in this area can and must continue to support college sports as a part of higher education.”
The board noted that modernization of relevant bylaws and policies should transpire using various guidelines and principles, such as ensuring that “rules are transparent, focused and enforceable and facilitate fair and balanced competition,” making “clear that compensation for athletics performance or participation is impermissible,” enhancing “principles of diversity, inclusion and gender equity,” and protecting “the recruiting environment …”
The board’s plan is based on recommendations from an NCAA working group formed in mid-May to examine the name, image and likeness issue, and this panel expects to continue gathering feedback through April. As far as a schedule for implementation, the board says that it is requesting each division “create any new rules beginning immediately, but no later than January 2021.”