In huge news that that has been a long time coming, the NCAA announced on Thursday, June 30 that they would be enacting a new policy that will allow college athletes to benefit from their name, image, and likeness (NIL) moving forward. The issue has been a constant source of controversy over the years, spawning many lawsuits and outcry as players have attempted to plea their cases for compensation against what they viewed as exploitative practices by the universities and the NCAA.
The news has already come with immediate action by athletes across the nation as they attempt to cash in on what was once the grounds for severe penalties. Penalties which have tainted the legacies of some of college sport’s greatest athletes in the past. Just ask Reggie Bush, a former running back for the University of Southern California, who set many records and dazzled with his outstanding play on his way to winning the Heisman trophy in 2005, a trophy reserved for the most outstanding athlete in college football. However, after an investigation that revealed that Bush and his family had received financial benefits in the form of cash, paid travel expenses, and a home in San Diego along with money to furnish it, the NCAA came down hard on Bush and USC. The sanctions from the violations included Bush having to disassociate from the university, return his Heisman trophy, 14 vacated wins including USC’s national championship in 2004, a two-year postseason ban for the school, and the loss of 30 scholarships.
While under the new NCAA rules, these types of benefits would still be considered violations, the idea is that the new policy will help avoid pay-for-play and improper inducements that are often tied to choosing to attend a particular school. The type of inducements that were at the heart of the Reggie Bush controversy and which would not have been necessary had he been able to benefit from his name, image, and likeness from the very beginning. Sandra Jordan , who serves as Division II Presidents Council chair further reinforced this sentiment when she stated that, “[t]he new policy preserves the fact college sports are not pay-for-play . . . [i]t also reinforces key principles of fairness and integrity across the NCAA and maintains rules prohibiting improper recruiting inducements. It’s important any new rules maintain these principles.”
While it is uncertain at the moment what the long-lasting effects of the new NIL policy will be in the future, one thing is certain. That is that college sports will likely never be the same.
This blog post is part of the CIMA Law Group Blog. If you are in need of legal help, the CIMA Law Group is a law firm in Phoenix, Arizona which possesses expertise in Immigration Law, Criminal Defense, Personal Injury, and Government Relations.
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