NCAA looking for âtransparency measuresâ in NIL
As Congress tries to get involved in regulating Name, Image and Likeness for college athletes, the NCAA appears set to enact policies of its own.
The NCAA Division I Board of Directors has directed the Division I Council “to develop proposals to improve the environment for student-athletes engaging in” NIL, it was announced Wednesday. As multi-million-dollar deals for top recruits have become the norm, coaches and administrators have begun calling for uniform policies regarding NIL.
Among the NCAA proposals that could become rules if enacted by the Division I Council:
• NIL “service providers” (i.e., agents) must register and NIL entities (i.e., collectives) must register with the NCAA
• A standardized NIL contract would be required, which would include “fee structures” and “specific activities for which athletes would be compensated”
• Athletes and collectives would have to disclose who is getting paid and how much, in order to “provide transparency about NIL activities.”
“The working group and the NCAA fully support student-athletes profiting from their NIL, and the message was clear from the stakeholders that the Association should develop reasonable protections that increase transparency without limiting student-athletes’ NIL opportunities,” said Lynda Tealer, chair of the Division I Council and the working group, and executive associate athletics director at Florida.
“I believe the working group has laid out clear direction, thanks to input from many with firsthand experience with NIL activity, including student-athletes, to do exactly that: increase transparency, put in place protections and support college athletes as they pursue these opportunities.”
A bill introduced into the U.S. Senate by Tommy Tuberville (R.-Alabama) and Joe Manchin (D.-West Virginia) last week includes many of the same measures as Wednesday’s NCAA proposal, but also includes a provision that would require athletes to stay at their original school for three years before transferring. Wednesday’s NCAA proposal continues no such provision.