We’re entering a new era in college sports in several ways, but arguably the most noticeable has to do with players being able to profit from their names, images and likenesses.
Since 2021, state governments have challenged the NCAA’s amateurism policies, passing laws that allow players to take advantage of NIL to earn some cash. The result, however, has been disparate legislation across state lines, leading to what some coaches perceive to be an uneven playing field.
Many of these coaches have called for oversight and regulation at the federal level, with LSU coach [autotag]Brian Kelly[/autotag] becoming the latest.
“I think what’s happened here is unintended consequences,” he told SEC Network radio host Paul Finebaum. “Everybody saw NIL and felt like, if I don’t act in my own state, I could be left behind. And so we had legislation in different states that really put everybody in a position, within this footprint of the SEC, at a different advantage point. And that’s not what the SEC needs nor wants. And so how do you bring everybody back together? Well, you need Congress for that.
“And I think you gotta go individually to your own congressional legislative team and really talk about, if we want national competition and we want to be the preeminent conference, we’ve gotta put the genie back into the bottle.”
There are several bills that have been proposed in Congress to reign in NIL. One such bill, drafted by South Carolina Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham, would create an “NIL clearinghouse,” which would be separate from the NCAA and have the power of enforcement on NIL issues, up to fining, suing or banning anyone from college athletics.
Missing from Graham’s drafted bill is a provision that would prevent athletes from being classified as employees, a stipulation the NCAA has pushed for.
It’s unclear if this bill would draw bipartisan support, and according to On3’s Pete Nakos, plenty of disagreements still exist between the parties, with the employment classification proving to be one of the major wedge issues.
For Kelly’s part, he seems to be a bit more optimistic. He emphasized the importance of coaches lobbying their specific state delegations in Congress, with Finebaum joking that Kelly’s presence at such a meeting would likely draw every elected official in the state of Louisiana for a photo opportunity.
“As long as there is crawfish and we could talk some LSU football, I know we’d be able to get some work done,” Kelly said. “But you know Paul, it’s a great point. Because they need to see or hear the perspective that we’re dealing with on a day-to-day basis. And I think if we can give them that perspective and maybe what we offer our players, as well. And what we do for them on a day-to-day basis. I think it would give them the right perspective.”
Whichever side of the NIL debate you fall on, the fact remains that the coaches have largely been left in the dark while trying to figure out how to navigate this new ecosystem. Pushback was practically a given.
Only time will tell how (if at all) Congress chooses to address NIL issues in college sports. But it seems there is a real push from both college sports stakeholders and legislators to standardize and regulate the process.
Kelly is joining the choir of coaches calling for such policies, and he likely won’t be the last.
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