April 21, 2021 | less than a minute read

Rep. Gonzalez to re-introduce college athlete NIL bill - Will this one level the playing field....

Taylor English

Over the past week, we have seen other states join Florida with legislation on name, image and likeness with a start date of July 1, including Alabama, Mississippi and New Mexico, with more certainly to come. NCAA's Mark Emmert holds out hope that Congress will act before then, but the clock is ticking.

Might the Rep. Gonzalez bipartisan bill provide a way forward. As ever, we will be monitoring this very closely.

Meanwhile, the NCAA’s Board of Governors and the Division I Board of Directors are scheduled to meet April 27 and 28, respectively. The Division I board is comprised mainly of presidents from schools at that level. It also includes one athlete representative. Those governing panels seem likely to at least touch on the NIL issue when they meet.

He first introduced the bill last September, but it was not considered while legislation to address the coronavirus pandemic was prioritized. He hopes it will be considered now that Congress is returning to normal and addressing a broader range of issues. He says his bill is the only proposal to address the matter that has bipartisan support “and the one that I think most stakeholders have weighed in on.”