NIL, is the buzzword/phrase for college athletes making money from endorsements. The NCAA asked Congress for federal legislation to cover this rather than try to deal with 50 different laws from the 50 states. It appears that is about to come to pass. We've talked about this before and I think most of us while supporting players also worry about how it's going to affect the game, recruiting, etc going forward. It doesn't seem though that kids are going to benefit from this till maybe the class of 2022 is on campus. But it's coming, just a matter of when. Federal NIL bill introduced for college sports ______________________________________________________________________ A bipartisan pair of congressmen introduced federal legislation Thursday that, if passed, would open the door for college athletes to make money from a wide variety of endorsement deals and create some flexibility to adjust their proposed regulations over the course of the next three years. The bill, co-authored by Rep. Anthony Gonzalez (R-Ohio) and Rep. Emanuel Cleaver (D-Mo.), provides some restrictions on the types of products or companies college athletes would be allowed to endorse. It stops short of implementing all of the restrictions that the NCAA and other college sports administrators have asked Congress to help them impose. The proposed law would also create a 13-member commission whose role would be to recommend ways for legislators to change the law as the nascent marketplace for college athletes becomes more clear and any unintended consequences emerge. "The reality is we're going down a path we've never gone down before," Gonzalez told ESPN. The congressmen both said they hope to bring the bill to a vote sometime in early 2021. ______________________________________________________________________
If you want a preview of what college football is going to look like in the future all you need to do is watch what passes for football on Sundays.
Anthony Gonzalez is a former Ohio State WR and first round draft pick. Played a couple of years with the Colts and won the starting position then injured his knee and never really came back. I like the guy...maybe a little TOO moderate for me but he seems to be one of the rare politicians who are looking to solve problems and not self-promote or pontificate. As to the wisdom of this NIL stuff I have mucho reservations.