On Sept. 30, California governor Gavin Newsome passed State Bill 206.The bill forbids colleges within the state to punish student-athletes who decide to hire agents and sell their name, image and likeness for endorsements, starting in 2023.
For as long as college sports have had a governing body, this has been forbidden by the NCAA. It’s something they’ve been wrong about since the beginning.
One of the main arguments against paying student-athletes has been that it wouldn’t be fair for all of the other sports. The football team would make more money in endorsements or likeness use than the women’s golf team. That’s not wrong. That doesn’t outweigh the possible benefits of State Bill 206.
Football has always been a money maker for higher education programs with athletics. If they don’t have a football team, then men’s basketball makes the money. That’s not going to change with SB 206.
What will change is the landscape of college sports; and it’s going to change for the better. One study by Sporting News found that most student-athletes live below the poverty line. Sadly, these student-athletes have a hard time finding jobs. Between 5 a.m. practice, going to class and getting their school work done, they don’t have time during the year to make money.
SB 206 allows these student-athletes to sell the use of their own name, image and likeness; something all adults can legally do. Sure it’s going to be unfair for the sports that don’t bring in as much revenue at the schools. But we can’t make it fair until we find what the problem really is.
The bill has already South Carolina to do the same thing. It’s only a matter of time before more states jump on the bandwagon. Congress may need to get involved more later on.
The NCAA has been behind the times for a while. They have not changed their policies despite forming a committee to explore this rule. If they don’t change now, they will cease to exist.
Story by: Kurt Meachum
kurtley.meachum@gmail.com
Photo courtesy of
