May 20, 2021 | less than a minute read

NCAA schedules vote on NIL rules

Taylor English

While the NCAA is expected to schedule a vote on its name, image and likeness proposals, that will not take place at NCAA meetings this week, but, rather, possibly at its scheduled June 22-23 meetings. Cutting it close? Perhaps so, with five states having set July 1 as the effective date their NIL laws will start.

In April 2020, the NCAA Board of Governors formally expressed support for rule changes that would allow for athlete compensation. Even some details were provided. Athletes should be allowed to receive compensation for third-party endorsements “both related and separate from athletics,” the Board of Governors said. Additionally, athletes could be paid for other opportunities “such as social media, businesses they have started and personal appearances.” More than a year after that announcement, nothing has come to fruition. But now that states like Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi and New Mexico are ready to put their own NIL laws into effect, NCAA president Mark Emmert told the New York Times that the NCAA is ready to stop dragging its feet — if Congress does not swoop in and save the day before July 1. Emmert said he would recommend approving new rules “before, or as close to, July 1.”