State schools support NIL bill
Hunter Woodhall, a former track and field All-American at the University of Arkansas, had more than 3 million followers across various social-media platforms by his senior year.
His apparel company, Giant Hoodies, had achieved seven-figure sales and a place in Oprah Winfrey’s favorite things in 2021. And Woodhall — the first athlete with prosthetic legs to run for an NCAA Division I program — held contract offers for several social-media and marketing opportunities.
When commercial endeavors clashed with NCAA regulations, Woodhall decided to cut his career at UA short to pursue financial opportunities related to his name, image and likeness. House Bill 1671, recommended to the Arkansas House last week by its education committee, is designed to keep college athletes in the state of Arkansas from having to make the same choice in the future.
“He had to make a decision to be compensated and to give up eligibility, or to forgo those opportunities,” Arkansas House Speaker Matthew Shepherd said. “So this would hopefully allow us to provide parameters by which student-athletes wouldn’t have to make those tough decisions.”
Shepherd, R-El Dorado, presented the bill aimed at securing the right for college athletes to benefit from their name, image and likeness Tuesday. Under HB1671, student-athletes would gain the ability to profit from opportunities such as local advertising and social-media promotion. Among its restrictions are rules barring the promotion of products including tobacco and pharmaceuticals, and limits on the use of names and logos of a given program or school.
The law has support from UA, Arkansas State University and the University of Central Arkansas, and Shepherd was supported by testimony from UA Athletic Director Hunter Yurachek, Razorbacks football Coach Sam Pittman and
ASU Athletic Director Tom Bowen.
Shepherd expects the bill to reach the House floor for a vote Monday. If approved and signed by Gov. Asa Hutchinson, the law would go into effect Jan. 1.
“It’s really unprecedented that this is coming through a governmental body that’s not the NCAA,” Bowen, who was hired at ASU on March 10, said. “But at the same time, it’s being done in the best interest of all the student-athletes and all the institutions of higher education in the state, which is governed by that legislature.”
The push to pass NIL legislation at the state level comes as both the federal government and NCAA drag their feet on the matter.
The U.S. Congress is weighing several NIL proposals in 2021, while the U.S. Supreme Court is set to hear a case regarding the NCAA and education-based benefits later this year, but action from either body is not imminent. The NCAA Division I Council chose in January to delay indefinitely a scheduled vote to update NIL rules.
Slow national movement caused state legislatures to respond, and since California passed its NIL law in September 2019, five other states — Florida, Michigan, Nebraska, Colorado and New Jersey — have followed with similar legislation. Arkansas is one of 37 states currently considering some form of NIL legislation as states and their institutions seek to keep up until a national solution arrives.
“When you see states like Florida and others who have already passed legislation, the ship has sailed on this issue and we don’t want to be left behind,” Shepherd said. “That’s really been my point. We’re having to respond to the realities that exist.”
Lawmakers anticipate only a small percentage of student-athletes would benefit from NIL legislation, but the ability for schools in Arkansas to offer such benefits is seen as crucial in remaining competitive on the recruiting trail.
“If Coach [Dan] Mullen from the [University of] Florida is in our state, and we’re trying to keep our guy in our state and we don’t have the same opportunities for that young man to come to the University of Arkansas as they do at the University of Florida, we’re at a recruiting disadvantage,” Pittman said in his testimony Tuesday.
Florida will be the first state to see NIL in practice when its legislation goes into effect July 1. Despite the national clamor, the implementation of the laws and how they’ll be used by athletes are unknown.
At ASU, Bowen is already working to educate coaches, administrators and athletes on what lies ahead, but the arrival of NIL will offer institutions limited control. Whether through state laws or a national mandate, NIL is set to deliver athletes more power than they’ve ever held before.
“It’s really up to the student-athletes and how they see themselves and how they believe they have a brand or marketing platform to engage in,” Bowen said. “It’s not a set in stone dynamic by any means.”