NCAA: Pay issue should be done in ‘21

Emmert: Pay issue should be done in ‘21

NCAA President Mark Emmert expressed frustration Tuesday with the delay in moving ahead with proposals surrounding athletes’ ability to make money and to freely transfer to another school and said he remains committed to getting those things done in 2021.

Emmert’s remarks came during his state of college athletics address at the NCAA’S annual convention, which is being held virtually this week because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

College sports leaders had expected the convention to hail a new era, one in which athletes would move closer to entering agreements to be paid for thirdparty use of their name, image and likeness, and to be able to move from one school to another without having to sit out of competition for one year.

The Division I Council, however, postponed votes on NIL and transfers scheduled to take place Monday, in part because of Justice Department concerns about potential anti-trust violations.

“Because of an enormous amount of issues surrounding all of this, issues that frankly are beyond our control, it is now a very ill-advised thing for us to do at this stage,” Emmert said. “We have to pause on this progress, and I’m very disappointed in that. More importantly, all of our college athletes are profoundly disappointed and I suspect even angry.

“But we need to make clear we’re still committed, we’re still determined to move forward with name, image and likeness modernizations and certainly with changing Division I transfer rules,” he said. “We promised this to our students. We’re going to get it done.”

Makan Delrahim, assistant attorney general of the DOJ’S antitrust division, wrote in a letter to Emmert that the NIL proposal and the restrictions it puts on athletes’ ability to access the free market could be problematic.

Delrahim said the NCAA’S transfer rules could also be in conflict with antitrust laws. The Division I Council was expected to pass a proposal that would loosen restrictions on transfers for football players in the Bowl Subdivision, men’s and women’s basketball, baseball and men’s ice hockey.

AP PHOTO BY MATT YORK In this April 4, 2019, file photo, NCAA President Mark Emmert answers questions during a news conference at the Final Four college basketball tournament in Minneapolis. The NCAA is set to delay a potential landmark vote on legislation that would permit college athletes to be compensated for their fame for the first time after the association received a warning from the Department of Justice about potential antitrust violations.