Statehouses latest front in college athlete recruiting wars

With millions of dollars pouring into endorsements for college athletes, the latest battleground in the recruiting wars is the statehouse: A handful of states are already considering changing barely-dried rules to help their flagship schools land — or keep — top prospects.

Over the past three years, at least 25 states put laws or executive orders in place addressing name, image and likeness compensation for college athletes. All the measures make it clear that the NCAA can no longer limit this kind of revenue but some did set some ground rules.

It's those restrictions, which vary from state to state, that are now getting a second look as competition to land the nation's top high school athletes heats up.

Alabama and Florida lawmakers are already considering repealing or making major changes to laws governing college athlete compensation less than a year after enacting them. Ohio State officials last week made it easier for their school to link athletes to big-dollar contracts.

The moves could be the start of a neverending effort to redefine the landscape for college recruiting where states try to constantly outdo each other, said Gabe Feldman, director of Tulane's sports law program.

"If the latest state law is more permissive, then other states are going to have to follow suit, and will follow suit. That's exactly what we're seeing now," Feldman said. "Schools will do as much as they can do within the rules to compete. The only way to stay on a level playing field is to remove those state laws."

In Alabama, a bill to repeal a 7-month-old college athlete compensation law sailed through the state House 97-1 and awaits action in the Senate.

"It may be the shortest-lived (bill) to stay in law ever," said Alabama state Rep. Kyle South, the sponsor of both the law and the bill to dump it. "Pass it one year, repeal it the next."

South said the two biggest schools in his state, Alabama and Auburn, support the repeal effort. Alabama has a 2022 recruiting class ranked among the best in the country and Auburn was top 20.

"They want to be able to go out on the recruiting trail and say, 'We're playing by the same set of rules .... We're on the same level playing field as Texas and Michigan,'" South said.

The rules mashup was created when court decisions and public opinion prompted a number of states, California first among them, to pass laws securing the right for athletes to earn endorsement money. With little choice, the NCAA on July 1 cleared the way for its athletes to start cashing in, laying down the barest of guidelines that bar pay-for-play and using endorsements as recruiting inducements.

Schools were told to create their own polices and follow any applicable state laws. And while many state laws share similar characteristics, they remain uneven. For example, states may have different rules regarding use of team logos in endorsements, or limit school involvement in connecting athletes to businesses. A few simply give wide latitude to their schools to write their own rules within the minimal guidelines of the NCAA.

"The simple fact is some states have a competitive advantage (for recruits) over others," said South, the Alabama lawmaker.