Last Tuesday afternoon, the National Collegiate Athletic Association made an unexpected change to its rules. According to ESPN, the NCAA, “Voted unanimously to start the process of modifying its rule to allow college athletes to profit from their names, images, and likenesses ‘in a manner consistent with the collegiate model.’”
This move comes after California passed a bill involving this issue that was signed by California Governor Gavin Newsom last September. The bill would allow “college athletes within the state to earn compensation for the use of their likeness, sign endorsement deals, and hire agents to represent them,” according to NPR. It appeared as if California and the NCAA were about to have a war in court over this issue. While that may not happen now, there is a difference in what the two sides want. According to ESPN, Ohio State’s athletic director stated that “The NCAA’s new rules would not follow the ‘California model’ of a virtually unrestricted market.”
For years on the college level, the NCAA restricted access for players to profit off their name, which became controversial due to how much money the schools were making off their bodies. Students are instead given scholarships, which made lots of athletes unhappy. In 2014, a basketball athlete for UCLA named Ed O’Bannon filed a class-action lawsuit against the NCAA, arguing that upon graduation, a former student-athlete should be financially compensated for the NCAA’s uses of their image. This case led to the stoppage of both Electronic Arts’ college football and basketball video game series. After the NCAA’s announcement was made Tuesday, fans of the games immediately called on “EA” for a revival of both series online.
While this isn’t an open and shut deal, considering the NCAA hasn’t formally legislated a system in which the players can actually be compensated for their services yet, this is a much-needed step in the right direction. It is duly noted that mounting legislation on state and federal levels enticed the NCAA into this announcement, which brings up my concern of just how truly invested the association is with this idea. The same association which claims that college athletes cannot profit off their likeness would ruin the “amateurism” of the sports, also makes millions of dollars for themselves and the colleges the students attend. We’ll see if the NCAA keeps their word with this announcement cause I’m hesitant to believe they can legislate a system that appeases them, and athletes alike.