College Sports Needs One Rule, Not 50
Written by Luke Lentz
College sports is the wild wild west right now, and the NCAA has completely lost its handle. There are 50 different laws depending on where an athlete lives that limits their ability to make money and grow sponsors. Each state needs to have the same law about athletes NIL. In 2021, Name, Image, and Likeness exploded across the United States as student athletes were able to use their (NIL) to make money. This was due to a court case ruling, NCAA v. Alston (2021), which stated rules that restricted education, and other benefits for student athletes violated antitrust laws.The decision was unanimous amongst the Supreme Court. At the time, this decision was just and accurate as athletes for too long were forced to abide by rules and generate revenue for the NCAA, but not receive any of that revenue to put in their pockets.
Since then each state has put their own rules in place for how NIL works. For example, California was the first state to pass an act that allowed NIL. The act was called the “Fair to Play Act” which states that student athletes are allowed to receive money through sponsors and the school in order to play sports as amateurs and still have a way to generate money. Since the following act, each state has followed in line with their own little tweaks to NIL. The NCAA lost their court case in 2021 mainly due to the fact that all the other states would follow in line and adopt the NIL rule. If the other states or the NCAA did not follow in line all of the best athletes and talent would have played collegiate sports in California.
Now, four days after the ruling by the Supreme Court a college quarterback in the state of Texas can negotiate his own deal through a school-supported program while an athlete in a different state may violate state laws if they do so. This has impacted high school students athletes as well because those who are not under the NCAA ruling may not be allowed to collect NIL money as there are eighteen states who do not allow NIL for athletes that are not in the NCAA. To bring a personal experience to this issue as a student athlete in high school that competed in many sports I had acquaintances committed to collegiate programs that could not receive sponsorships or money from companies as they lived in Michigan. If they were to have lived in a different state with their level of athletic ability, they most likely would have obtained sponsorships and money for their athletic ability. Athletes are able to make 30 to 60 dollars an hour for certain NIL deals which would greatly help them as making money before and during college can be tough for people.
Due to this, each state needs to follow the same rules as it will help regulate competitive balance amongst all levels of sports. Sports are extremely popular in the youth and these upcoming prospects should be able to use their name to make money for themselves and their family at such a young age. It is not fair that a 16 year old in one state should be able to negotiate deals to make money in one state where another athlete cannot. This can cause harm to the competitive landscape in youth sports as many of the top prospects will move or grow up in certain states in order to utilize their NIL.
States need to follow the lead of the Supreme Court in NCAA v. Alston (2021) and regulate the use of NIL across the country. For the longest time, the NCAA kept money out of athletes pockets, but finally the Supreme Court realized they violated antitrust laws. States now need to do the same and not violate younger athletes' ability to use their NIL. It is unfortunate that certain athletes who may not be as privileged, and who cannot move to a different state, will not be able to use their name, image, and likeness to make money for themselves and their household.
