Photo courtesy of Unsplash.
Scrolling through social media or watching any sort of national television nowadays is only half-filled with the content you had initially wanted to see, with the rest taken up by advertisements for various products. With the Olympics taking place this summer, advertisements have been partnering with athletes to make their products more desirable. Simone Biles pops up on TV with an Oreo balanced on her nose, while P&G has branded itself the “Proud Sponsor of Moms,” with an emotional commercial highlighting many athletes who were competing in the Paralympics.
While professional athletes have been easily able to sign deals with companies or organizations and receive compensation, it is only as of July 1 that National Collegiate Athletic Association, or NCAA, athletes can benefit from name, image, and likeness opportunities. This means that student-athletes will now be able to capitalize on having their image represented and compensated for by third-party individuals: those other than their college. The College Athlete Economic Freedom Act, proposed by Senator Chris Murphy of Connecticut and Representative Lori Trahan of Massachusetts, put an end to restrictions on athlete name, image, and likeness income.
The NCAA is the general legislative body that governs men’s and women’s intercollegiate athletics in all three divisions, including at Connecticut College. There are approximately 460,000 NCAA student-athletes nationwide, and while Division I and II schools are able to provide athletic scholarships, Division III schools are restricted solely to academic scholarships, if applicable. With this new legislation in place, NCAA athletes across all three divisions will have the opportunity to be represented and recognized with their name, image, and likeness. Murphy has been quoted by CBS Sports as saying that “I love college sports, but it’s time to admit that something is very rotten when the industry makes $15 billion a year and many athletes can’t afford to put food on the table or pay for a plane ticket for their parents to see them perform. Big-time college athletics look no different than professional leagues, and it’s time for us to stop denying the right of college athletes to make money off their talents.” With the bill passed and in place ahead of the Fall 2021 semester, NCAA student-athletes all over the country can now partner with companies and organizations in the same fashion as professional athletes and use the income for their benefit.
Conn athletes received an email from Athletic Director Mo White regarding the bill, advising student-athletes to “speak to us before committing to anything so we can provide you with guidance to ensure you don’t jeopardize your NCAA eligibility and the college’s trademarks guidelines.” White also mentioned that Conn has been speaking to legal representatives in order to learn more about how to further help their athletes with opportunities that may arise.
With the lack of athletic scholarships that Division III schools can offer, the College Athlete Economic Freedom Act could help ease some financial burden on student-athletes who are not able to obtain a scholarship based on academic merit. The name, image, likeness bill will hopefully start, as Murphy says, “recognizing [athletes] for who they really are: employees.”
