The NCAA’s top governing board voted unanimously to permit students participating in athletics the opportunity to benefit from the use of their name, image, and likeness in a manner consistent with the collegiate model.
There’s a lot of gray area that needs to be sorted out as players are not permitted to earn money for their athletic performance. Michael V. Drake, chair of the board and president of The Ohio State University said there will be updates to relevant bylaws and policies for the 21st century.
“We must embrace change to provide the best possible experience for college athletes,” Drake said. “Additional flexibility in this area can and must continue to support college sports as a part of higher education. This modernization for the future is a natural extension of the numerous steps NCAA members have taken in recent years to improve support for student-athletes, including full cost of attendance and guaranteed scholarships.”
The board said modernization should occur with the following principles and guidelines:
Assure student-athletes are treated similarly to non-athlete students unless a compelling reason exists to differentiate.
Maintain the priorities of education and the collegiate experience to provide opportunities for student-athlete success.
Ensure rules are transparent, focused and enforceable and facilitate fair and balanced competition.
Make clear the distinction between collegiate and professional opportunities.
Make clear that compensation for athletics performance or participation is impermissible.
Reaffirm that student-athletes are students first and not employees of the university.
Enhance principles of diversity, inclusion and gender equity.
Protect the recruiting environment and prohibit inducements to select, remain at, or transfer to a specific institution.
While there’s a lot of technical and legal issues that need to be worked out, this new development could lead to new, official NCAA-licensed sports video games that use the likeness of student-athletes. The last NCAA football video game was released in 2013, due to legal disputes and the NCAA not renewing its license with EA Sports.
