This past recruiting season, there have been tons of rumors of colleges using NIL to secure recruits. Coaches have also thrown shade at other coaches over these rumors.
To ensure that NIL doesn’t influence recruiting, Senator Roger Wicker of Mississippi has reintroduced a bill to “preserve the unique amateur nature of college sports,” he says. The bill would enact rules to ensure that schools, and boosters, can not use NIL while recruiting players.
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“This renewed proposal will help protect college athletes’ rights to enter into name, image and likeness agreements, while also ensuring that these agreements are not pay-for-play schemes or incentives for college commitments or transfers,” Wicker said in a press release.
The proposed bill protects universities and the NCAA from being sued by former athletes for retroactive NIL. The bill also states that college athletes should not be considered employees.
The bill would create an “office of sport” to protect athletes from deceptive businesses that are attempting to exploit these athletes. The Federal Trade Commission would enforce these rules and make companies send a form to Congress regarding the safety, education, and safety of athletes.
Wicker’s bill is one of many legislations looking to protect student-athletes. New Jersey Senator Corey Booker and Senator of Connecticut Richard Blumenthal also submitted a NIL bill.
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However, since Booker and Blumenthal are Democrats and Wicker is a Republican, the two bills had different focus points. The Democrat bill focuses more on scholarships and health care for players during and after their careers.
With so many companies and collectives getting into the NIL space, it could be beneficial to have some rules to protect players. The NIL seems like the wild west right now, and it would not hurt to have a sheriff in town.
