USA TODAY International Edition
New proposals on athletes’ likeness
NCAA committees that have been studying how Division I schools should change rules regarding athletes’ ability to make money from their name, image and likeness will be proposing conceptual changes that include allowing athletes to promote commercial products and services, sell memorabilia and autographs, and publicize appearances, camps, clinics or lessons for which they could be paid, according to a person with knowledge of the proposal.
The person requested anonymity because details of the plan are not public. The contents of the proposal are scheduled to be discussed Friday at a meeting of the NCAA Division I Council, the division’s primary rules- making group.
Athletes would not be allowed to reference the names of their schools in connection with these activities, nor would they be allowed to use the schools’ marks and logos. Schools would not be allowed to be directly involved in arranging the proposed activities for athletes.
Athletes would be allowed the use of professional services to assist them.
No votes are to be taken Friday. A final report by the committees is not set to be made until Tuesday when the NCAA board of governors, the association’s top policy- making group, is scheduled to meet.
The board of governors has said it wants rules changes ready to be voted on no later than January 2021.
The person emphasized that the proposed concepts remain a long way from actual rules changes and that many questions remain, including how to deal with potential involvement of school athletic boosters, determining fair- market value of the activities that would be allowed and the prospect of group licensing.
In October, the board of governors voted to adopt a general NCAA policy that schools may “permit students participating in athletics the opportunity to benefit from the use of their name, image and/ or likeness in a manner consistent with the values and beliefs of intercollegiate athletics.”
The board of governors also directed the school membership of each of the NCAA’s three competitive divisions to “begin considering modification and modernization of relevant NCAA bylaws and rules in harmony with” a set of principles that include:
❚ Assuring athletes are treated similarly to non- athlete students unless a compelling reason exists to differentiate.
❚ Maintaining the priorities of education and the collegiate experience to provide opportunities for athlete success.
❚ Ensuring rules are transparent, focused and enforceable and facilitate fair and balanced competition.
❚ Making clear the distinction between collegiate and professional opportunities.
❚ Making clear that compensation for athletic performance or participation is impermissible.
❚ Reaffirming that athletes are students first and not employees of the university.
On a broad basis, work on the issue was being led by a panel co- chaired by Big East Commissioner Val Ackerman and Ohio State AD Gene Smith.