NCAA changing stance on athlete money

N E W YORK» The NCAA is poised to take a significant step toward allowing college athletes to earn money off the fame they have gained by playing sports.

The Board of Governors will be briefed Tuesday by administrators who have been examining whether it would be feasible to allow athletes to profit from their names, images and likenesses while still preserving NCAA amateurism rules that are the bedrock of its existence. The move comes as the nation’s largest governing body for college athletics faces increasing pressure from lawmakers across the country intent on following California’s lead by dismantling compensation prohibitions that currently apply to more than 450,000 NCAA athletes.

Ohio State athletic director Gene Smith and Big East Conference Commissioner Val Ackerman, the leaders of the NCAA’s name, image and likenesses working group, will present a progress report to the board at Emory University in Atlanta. It will be a key early step in a process that could take months or even years to work its way through the NCAA various layers.

“I don’t expect a report saying that we’re going to stay exactly like we are. I don’t think we’re going to get a status quo report,” Atlantic 10 Conference Commissioner Bernadette McGlade said last week. She said she expected it to be the first of many steps, “certainly not a final report.”

NCAA rules have long barred players from hiring agents and the association has steadfastly refused to allow players to be paid by their schools, with some exceptions. The California law would prevent athletes from losing their scholarships or being kicked off their teams for signing endorsement deals. The measure doesn’t take effect until 2023, leaving time for the NCAA to take its own steps even though other states are considering measures that could take effect even earlier.

A possible place for the NCAA to start is allowing athletes to make money from nonathletic business opportunities, which is currently prohibited. McGlade said the NCAA has been approving waivers at a high rate to allow athletes to earn money if they, for example, develop a product or write a book.