College athletes put their bodies on the line and don’t see a cent, and that needs to change.
The California State Assembly passed bill SB 206 Sept. 9 by a 72-0 vote that would allow NCAA athletes to make money from their names, image and likeness.
Among 25 NCAA sports, more than 1 million male and female athlete injuries were reported between 2010-14, according to a study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
More than 20% of those injuries required at least a week of recovery time before the athlete returned to full participation.
Football had the highest rate of injury of about 40 per 1,000 athletes.
UCLA Athletics raked in over $130 million in revenue during the 2017-18 academic year, according to a USA Today study.
That includes ticket sales, radio and television rights and various individual or corporate donations.
Student athletes are responsible for bringing in a large portion of that total, yet they fail to see any dividends of it.
College football head coaches, particularly at larger California universities such as UCLA and Stanford, make an egregious amount of money, often more than NFL head coaches.
UCLA head coach Chip Kelly is in the middle of a five-year, $23.3 million deal, earning an average of $4.66 million annually.
Only 14 NFL head coaches make more than Kelly.
The NCAA sent a letter to Governor Gavin Newsom urging him to nix the bill.
“If the bill becomes law and California’s 58 NCAA schools are compelled to allow an unrestricted name, image and likeness scheme, it would erase the critical distinction between college and professional athletics and, because it gives those schools an unfair recruiting advantage, would result in them eventually being unable to compete in NCAA competitions,” the letter said.
Ideally, the bill would eventually encompass all NCAA schools, not those just in California, which would negate the unfair recruiting advantage that
California schools may have.
The NCAA is also arguing that there would be a loss of amateurism and purity within its sports if its athletes were paid to play.
I’m not suggesting that student athletes should be paid on a similar level with professionals, but they have earned the right to make enough to pay for basic expenses. The schedules of student athletes most likely preclude them from working average jobs.
The passing of the bill wouldn’t mean that universities have to fork all of that money up themselves.
Instead, it would allow college athletes to be paid for appearing on promotional materials like billboards or online banners as well as being able to sign
endorsement deals.
Being able to use a college athlete’s likeness would also potentially bring back the popular NCAA Football video game franchise by EA Sports, which saw its last installment in 2014.
Nothing would make me happier than playing as Spartans senior quarterback Josh Love while slinging passes to senior wide receiver Bailey Gaither, with each of them getting a financial cut from the use of their likenesses.
Newsom has 30 days from the time he received the bill to sign or veto it. If signed, it will go into effect Jan. 1, 2023.
