College Athletes Now Allowed To Monetize Their Image & Brand In Some States

College Athletes Now Allowed To Monetize Their Image & Brand In Some States

College athletes are slowly but surely gaining the right to profit from the use of their name, image and likeness due to the NIL laws that are quickly making their way through on a state by state basis.

So far Florida, Alabama, New Mexico, Mississippi, and most recently, Georgia have introduced legislation or passed NIL laws.

NIL laws could have the power to override certain NCAA restrictions placed on college athletes.

NCAA, which governs college sports in the U.S. requires their athletes to follow their 'principle of amateurism' which leaves getting paid to play off the table.

While the argument against getting compensated for playing still stands, NIL laws challenge the restriction of athletes making a profit from the use of their name, image, and likeness through brand deals, endorsements & sponsorships.

At its core, NIL laws would allow for players to hire agents or sign with agencies to commercialize and monetize their name, image and likeness. However, the provisions vary from state to state.

For example, Alabama's law states that student athletes should earn fair-market value compensation for the use of their name, image, or likeness, while Georgia pushes colleges in the state to elect a requirement that all student-athletes share up to 75% of the name, image and likeness compensation generated and received by each athlete (pooling and redistribution system).