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NPR Ed
States are leading the push to pay college athletes
The life of a California college athlete will be different in the year
2023, when the Fair Pay to Play Act goes into effect. In a little over
three years, the longstanding rule that student athletes not be paid
will come to an end in this state.
That's what we learned this week when Governor Gavin Newsom signed a
bill -- the first of its kind -- to allow students to test the free
market through endorsement deals. The NCAA has opposed the move many
times, but that hasn't stopped similar bills from popping up all over
the country.
Here's what you need to know.
California’s Fair Pay to Play Act isn’t a mandate for colleges and
universities to start cutting checks. That’s the most important part of
this state law. The responsibility is on the student, who will have to
work out his or her own endorsement deals, either themselves or through
an agent. State Senator Nancy Skinner, who sponsored the bill, said the
legislation was designed to address the NCAA’s restriction on getting
paid off of “name, image and likeness,” which she says goes
further than just lucrative deals with sneaker companies. It “stops a
swimmer from being able to teach swimming lessons or coach swimming. It
stops a gymnast from being able to monetize her own YouTube videos,”
she told NPR. The NCAA has called the law “unconstitutional.” Skinner
told NPR that the bill was designed to give the NCAA time to address
the change.
New York’s state bill goes a step further than California. In New York,
Senator Kevin Parker is proposing a bill that would do what
California's bill does -- but also require a college’s athletic
departments to give a 15% share of annual revenue directly to
student-athletes. Another big piece of this legislation: It requires
universities to start a fund to compensate athletes after career-ending
or long-term injuries.
Florida has proposed a bill that would go into effect next year. That
bill was introduced this week. Early drafts of this bill look very
similar to California’s bill by offering protection from scholarships
getting revoked.
Across the country, other bills are popping up. CBS Sports reports that
Illinois, Kentucky, Washington, Minnesota, Nevada, Pennsylvania, South
Carolina and Maryland are either introducing student athlete
compensation laws or looking into it.
That’s a lot to unpack. It also got us thinking: Will any of this affect how high school students choose where to go to college?
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