A proposal has been made by the NCAA Division 1 Council to reduce the portal window from 60 days to 30 days. The final vote on this proposal will be taken in October. The NCAA noted that most of those entering the portal do so early on in the current window.
A description of the three main goals the NCAA is hoping to achieve in whatever federal legislation gets passed regarding NIL.
The association’s federal bill wish list includes three main items: A uniform national NIL standard; at least limited antitrust protection and a formal federal designation that student-athletes are not employees of their schools, conferences or the NCAA. On the NIL front specifically, Baker has said that a registry of NIL deals, a certification process for agents and a uniform NIL standard are among the priorities. The NCAA wants a federal NIL bill that preempts state NIL laws, which have become increasingly bold and progressive in giving in-state schools competitive advantages.
In fact, state NIL laws recently passed in Arkansas, Colorado, Missouri, Montana, New York, Oklahoma and Texas are ushering in a new phase in the two-year-old NIL Era. The Texas state law, for instance, allows schools’ fundraising foundations to provide priority points to donors who contribute to the school-affiliated collective. That collides with NCAA rules. And the Lone Star State law provides protection for in-state schools from the NCAA policing NIL activity. Texas A&M and Texas Tech have introduced models that more closely tie their school fundraising arms with collectives.
An article in the Athletic detailing the draft of a Senate bill, which would be the starting point on discussions of what legislation might be enacted to supersede the variety of state laws presently in effect, some of which allow colleges in that state to ignore NCAA guidelines in their NIL implementation. The legislation is proposed by Senators Blumenthal, Booker, and Moran. The article might be behind a paywall so I’ve copied part of it below.
U.S. Senators Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Jerry Moran (R-Kan.) and Cory Booker (D-N.J.) on Thursday circulated a discussion draft of federal legislation they say would protect college athletes’ economic, health and educational rights. The bill is called the College Athletes Protection & Compensation Act, and it would preempt state NIL laws. The discussion draft includes, but is not limited to, the following: Athletes would be allowed to have representatives, such as agents, and those representatives would need to be certified by the CAC. Schools would not be able to represent athletes in endorsement contract negotiations. Schools would be prohibited from punishing athletes for receiving food, rent, medical expenses, insurance, tuition, fees, books and transportation from a third party. Schools would also be required to cover athletes’ aid until they graduate, even if they suffer a career-ending injury. Athletes making more than $1,000 per year would need to disclose their endorsement contracts to a designated employee of their university, and recruits would need to provide copies of their current and expired name, image and likeness deals to that same person before signing a national letter of intent. These disclosures would not be made public and would not be subject to Freedom of Information Act requests. An athlete who no longer participates in their sport while operating under an NIL contract of more than a year can rescind it without being held liable for breach of contract. Any athlete can declare for a draft and come back to school after going undrafted with notice within seven days of the draft taking place, as long as he or she does not accept compensation from a league, team or agent. Athletes would be able to transfer one time and play right away at their second school, which is an NCAA rule but not law. Transfers would not be able to transfer during the season or in the 60 days leading up to the season. A medical trust fund would be established that would cover the out-of-pocket expenses for injuries and other long-term conditions resulting from athletes’ participation in college sports. State attorneys general could bring civil action if they believe a citizen has been harmed by a violation of the Act. The law would pre-empt state NIL laws and prohibit them from establishing laws related to NIL rights and anything that would prohibit an athlete’s ability to transfer.
Senators Tuberville and Manchin have introduced the Pass Act in the Senate, which is scheduled to start their August recess in a few days. It differs significantly from the bill that Senators Blumenthal, Booker, and Moran have going through the draft discussion phase. Here’s the link for anyone who wishes to delve into the details and see how it differs from the CAC proposal detailed in the above post.
From an article describing the NCAA’s Plan B should no federal legislation be passed this year regarding NIL:
… Notably, the NCAA's struggles to police NIL activity were not a large focus of the meetings. But NCAA guidelines clashing with new school-friendly state NIL laws – which provide programs in states like Texas, Oklahoma, Missouri, Arkansas and New York cover from NCAA enforcement – remains a major issue. The NCAA covets a national bill that preempts state law. The association remains fearful of policing the space because it's increasingly vulnerable to litigation. Val Ackerman, the Big East commissioner, said during LEAD1 Association meetings this spring: "We're sort of paralyzed now in our inability to pass rules. That was [caused by] Alston, which called into question the NCAA rule-making authority. That, I think, has been debilitating."
Alston is the case which went to the Supreme Court, where the 9 judges unanimously decided against the NCAA and in favor of compensation for student-athletes.
The case dealt with the NCAA's restrictions on providing college athletes with non-cash compensation for academic-related purposes, such as computers and internships, which the NCAA maintained was to prevent the appearance that the student athletes were being paid to play or treated as professional athletes. Lower courts had ruled that these restrictions were in violation of antitrust law, which the Supreme Court affirmed in a unanimous ruling in June 2021.
In other words, the NCAA believes that without federal legislation—- it would lose every court case which originates from challenging whatever regulations it puts in place for NIL which conflict with the various state laws already in place because the Supreme Court unanimously ruled in NCAA v Alston that the NCAA’s position was a violation of antitrust law.
It seems to me the essence of college sports has been lost and collegiate sports has completely “ run off the track “. What has become lost IMO is college athletics should only be a PART of the college educational experience and not a business within itself. It has turned into a business spoiled by big money, greedy coaches and spoiled athletes and hungry for cash college administrators. Really too bad!
In an ESPN.com article, it appears the NCAA is leaning towards allowing the colleges to become more involved with NIL activity. One of the NCAA requirements for NIL was that the collectives had to be separate from the school. However, several states have passed legislation which blurred those lines. A NCAA NIL subcommittee is meeting on Thursday of this week and among the proposed changes in notes for the meeting.
The proposed changes would allow schools to:
Proactively assist in the development/creation of NIL activity. Provide services such as tax preparation and contract review. Provide access to equipment (such as cameras, podcast studios, etc.) for NIL activity. Communicate with school sponsors about NIL opportunities for their athletes, "including securing specific opportunities."
The proposed changes have not been finalized, and it's not clear if or when any new guidance would be adopted, but the changes would potentially eliminate some of the uncertainty about how much athletic departments can help athletes seen in the first two-plus years of college sports' NIL era.
An example of a NIL opportunity that Siena’s Michael Eley has. Probably not one of the more lucrative $$$ NIL deals in the country but an indication of the type of NIL opportunity available to a star player on a MAAC team.
Post by alsostagparty on Nov 1, 2023 3:46:21 GMT -5
That is comical. It’s ridiculous how everyone has their hand out for every little thing these days. Can we get back to simple college sports please? Lawyers mucking it up, driven by greedy conniving high majors and an accommodating NCAA, inflating kids egos. NIL is just a scam. Unfortunately here to stay for awhile.
An example of a NIL opportunity that Siena’s Michael Eley has. Probably not one of the more lucrative $$$ NIL deals in the country but an indication of the type of NIL opportunity available to a star player on a MAAC team.
Yummy, right up my alley. Do they deliver?😛
I'd prefer a Caleb Fields from the Country Cow: Bacon, Sausage,Double Egg and Cheese on a Portuguese Roll.
I hope either the NCAA or Congress finds some way to bring some transparency to NIL deals. Otherwise, every time a coach has a losing season he’s going to blame the fans of the team for not contributing more to the NIL collective as UConn football coach Mora is.