Florida lawmakers debate whether college athletes can be paid

Florida lawmakers began considering Monday whether they would allow college athletes to profit from their fame, a move that comes as the NCAA looks into possibly removing its longstanding prohibition against it. Florida would follow the lead of California, which last year ignored pleas by the NCAA to keep the prohibitions in place.

The NCAA had argued that allowing the practice “would erase the critical distinction between college and professional athletics” and would give California schools an unfair recruiting advantage. College sports generate billions of dollars in revenue, including $1 billion annually for the NCAA . But none of that money is allowed to go to college athletes.

Since California decided to allow college athletes to earn money from their prowess, a growing number of states — Georgia, Maryland, New York, South Carolina and Washington, among others — are looking into similar action. Members of Congress may also be taking up the effort.

Under pressure, the NCAA last fall announced it would take action to lift the money-making ban for the 450,000 athletes under its purview, but it did not commit to a specific timeline for doing so. As a result, Florida and other states are pressing ahead, just in case the NCAA later balks. But there’s also the matter of staying competitive, particularly with California colleges that might now have an advantage in recruiting marquee players to their programs. That would be a big concern in sports-rabid states such as Florida, which has some of the country’s highest-profile sports programs.