sport news NCAA President Charlie Baker advocates for bill in Congress regulating NIL deals trends now
NCAA President Charlie Baker said Thursday he wants a federal law to regulate the way college athletes can be compensated for endorsement deals that creates a registry of deals, agent certification and uniform contract standards.
Baker hopes a bill can move through the House and Senate this fall because it is unlikely to get done next year during an election cycle.
If Congress doesn't come though, Baker said, the NCAA has to be prepared to at least try to clean up name, image and likeness compensation on its own.
'I think it was a big mistake by the NCAA not to do a framework around NIL when they had the opportunity to,' Baker said during the Future of College Athletics Summit, not far from Capitol Hill.
NCAA President Charlie Baker called the institution of NIL without a framework a 'big mistake'
NIL was instituted via a Supreme Court decision under the-NCAA president Mark Emmert
'And I think there were too many people in college sports who thought no rules would work really well for them.
'And what everybody's discovered is no rules, no transparency, no accountability, no framework, doesn't work well for anybody.'
The NCAA lifted its ban on college athletes being able to earn money for sponsorship deals and endorsements in 2020.
With only some broad rules in place that prohibit recruiting inducements and pay-for-play, state laws have set varying standards for NIL.
Booster- and donor-funded collectives have stepped in to be the primary providers of payments.
NIL has become a new arms race in big-time college sports with state lawmakers crafting legislation that gives their schools an edge, and in some cases protection from NCAA enforcement.
'We're all competitors. We're all looking for advantages,' Missouri athletic director Desiree Reed-Francois said during a session at the summit. 'Name, image and likeness can be a competitive advantage.'
Baker and other college sports leaders from presidents and chancellors to athletic directors and even coaches such as Alabama's Nick Saban have been spending time in Washington to
