by Jon Styf
The Tennessee Senate approved a bill that would put state law on college athletics name, image and likeness rules in line with a lawsuit brought against the National Collegiate Athletic Association by the Tennessee Attorney General.
The bill would change Tennessee law to allow prospective students to hire an agent and would eliminate fair market value limitations on athlete pay.
“As the collegiate athletics landscape changes, our institutions need to remain nimble and competitive,” said Sen. John Stevens, R-Huntingdon. “This also would support our attorney general’s assertion that certain NCAA actions harm our student-athletes.”
Senate Bill 709 passed 32-0 and the amended bill will head to the House Education Administration Committee on Wednesday.
The bill comes after Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti’s office received a preliminary injunction against the NCAA and its NIL rules in February on claims that the NCAA rules limitations violate federal antitrust law by limiting athlete compensation.
U.S. District Judge Clifton L. Corker also restricted the NCAA from enforcing its rules of restitution related to NIL activities until a final ruling.
“We will litigate this case to the fullest extent necessary to ensure the NCAA’s monopoly cannot continue to harm Tennessee student-athletes,” Skmetti said after the federal court ruling. “The NCAA is not above the law, and the law is on our side.”
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Jon Styf is an award-winning editor and reporter of The Center Square who has worked in Illinois, Texas, Wisconsin, Florida and Michigan in local newsrooms over the past 20 years, working for Shaw Media, Hearst and several other companies.
College football is at a dangerous point today. NIL has changed the game and not to the better. With conferences realigning we now see fake rivalries, real only in the minds of the Athletic Directors and their desire for more money. So soon, the University of California (Berkeley) will be in the same conference as North Carolina. The University of Southern California will play Rutgers. There is no way the student body will be able to afford traveling to away games. To the players, and the transfer protocol, rules need to be in place as today the athletes move from school to school and have no allegiance to the new school. Nick Saban quitting, more so the reason for his stepping down, is a warning shot to the sport. For those who don’t know Saban planned to return in 2024. Following the last playoffs a huge majority of his scholar shipped players inquired of their NIL reimbursement and how much playing time they would be guaranteed next season. They aren’t there to get a degree, to go to school, they are posturing for income today and for publicity to play on Sundays. I love college football, or I should say I loved college football. The landscape is changing and not for the better.
NIL is a disaster for both the athletes and schools. I want to see it changed to at least require the compensated athletes to refund whatever they earn from a school should they decided to transfer to another school.