As California passes landmark legislation, athletes celebrate and NCAA cautions
With the flick of a pen, California and the NCAA are now on a collision course.
Gov. Gavin Newsom revealed Monday that he signed Senate Bill 206 into law last week, permitting college athletes to profit from their names, images and likenesses, putting the state on a track to potentially upend amateurism in college sports. It’s one of the core principles of an NCAA system that has thrived on a system of giving student-athletes scholarships instead of paying them salary.
That system has been under increased scrutiny, particularly as influential athletes like the Lakers’ LeBron James have spearheaded criticism of the NCAA and its institutions for profiting off of multi-billion-dollar TV deals and other enterprises. It was fitting then, that Newsom’s signature was televised and announced by The Shop, James’ HBO show, alongside former UCLA basketball star Ed O’Bannon — who has fought the NCAA in legal battles for years — and UCLA gymnast Katelyn Ohashi.
It’s likely a starting bell in a larger fight between California and the NCAA over the economic direction of college athletics. The NCAA’s position is that the bill, which will enable student-athletes to sign endorsements, is a step toward professionalizing sports. Newsom, the bill’s sponsors (Senators Nancy Skinner and Steven Brandford) and other proponents claim that the NCAA has exploited the labor of student-athletes by limiting their market value and reaping enormous profits. Even athletes who have long left their institutions, such as O’Bannon, can find themselves as the vehicles for marketing campaigns for their former schools.
Newsom acknowledged on The Shop that Mark Emmert, the president of the NCAA, had contacted him to discourage him from signing the bill into law.
“They’re a little panicked because they recognize they are vulnerable,” he said. “People are hitting this not just in California, but all across the country because the gig’s up. Billions and billions of dollars — 14-plus billion dollars — goes to these universities, goes to these colleges. … And the actual product, the folks who put their lives on the line, putting everything on the line are getting nothing.”
In the California Legislature, there was little controversy: The bill passed unanimously earlier this month. The law will not go into effect until Jan. 1, 2023, leaving more than three years for the state and the NCAA to discuss how the guidelines will work. Other states are considering similar legislation.
Both the NCAA and the Pac-12 Conference, which includes four of the state’s most prestigious universities, were dismayed by Newsom’s decision.
“This legislation will lead to the professionalization of college sports and many unintended consequences related to this professionalism, imposes a state law that conflicts with national rules, will blur the lines for how California universities recruit student-athletes and compete nationally, and will likely reduce resources and opportunities for student-athletes in Olympic sports and have a negative disparate impact on female student-athletes,” a statement from the Pac-12 read.
At the ground level, the view seems to be different. UCLA football coach Chip Kelly said “it doesn’t matter what we think” since SB 206 is now a law, he generally agreed with the principle.
“I think it’s progress. The Olympics just used to be for amateurs,” he said. “The Olympic model changed over time. I would imagine the NCAA model has to change over time.”
Ohashi also spoke on The Shop about how a viral gymnastics routine that vaulted her to sudden fame was impossible to monetize until she graduated. While other students could theoretically profit from their labor or image, NCAA guidelines prevent their athletes from doing similar deals.
“There’s no compensation in it,” she said. “People are like, ‘Oh, you must be so rich.’ And it’s like, ‘Oh, you must not know the NCAA, right?’”
Current USC defensive end Connor Murphy said student-athletes pursue sports as a passion, but the time they put into it could reasonably merit some form of compensation.
“I think it could be a huge thing,” he said. “That could be a little extra bonus for us. We’re out here working super long schedules. There’s no reason why this shouldn’t be looked at as our real profession.”
The issue has been a pet project of James, who notably funded a documentary “Student Athlete” last fall that depicted the NCAA as a hypocritical enterprise. While James did not attend college, he has since argued that athletes like him who can create huge surges in interest and bottom lines should be able to cut into a piece of the pie.
After Lakers practice on Monday, James told reporters that a big reason he went pro after high school was to be able to start earning a salary to uplift his family from poverty in Northern Ohio.
“For sure I would have been one of those kids if I would have went off to Ohio State or if I would have went off to any one of these big-time colleges where pretty much that [No.] 23 jersey would have got sold all over the place without my name on the back but everybody would have known the likeness,” he said. “My body would have been on the NCAA basketball game 2004 and the Schottenstein Center would have been sold out every single night if I was there. And coming from just me and my mom, we didn’t have anything and we wouldn’t have been able to benefit at all from it and the university would have been able to capitalize on everything that I would have been there for.”
Lakers coach Frank Vogel said he also agreed with the principle of SB 206, saying it was “about time.” As a former student manager for the University of Kentucky, he saw players go on statewide “barnstorming” tours after their eligibility ended to try to earn a little money off their image.
“But you shouldn’t have to do stuff like that,” he said. “I think they should have the right to earn money off their likeness, and hopefully we’ve now got it right.”
from https://ift.tt/eA8V8J Orange County Register https://ift.tt/2o4jFEw
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