Athletes to be Allowed to make Money off Likeness

Athletes to be Allowed to make Money off Likeness.  It is about time we had a law that makes this possible.  Actually it is sad that we need a law to allow athletes to make money off of their likeness.  Other people are allowed to do this.  Even other students that are on other types of scholarships.  Back when college sports started they truly were an add on to getting an education.  They were an extra curricular activity.   This has not been the case for a long time.  This probalby changed sometime in the 60’s.  Probably before then.  After the 60’s college sports has really turned into a massive business.  A business where the reason people watch were barred from making money.  I used to be in that group but as time has gone on I have change my views on it.

The main reason that California passed this law is to get the NCAA to act.  Clearly the NCAA was not going to act on athletes to be allowed to make money off likeness until they were forced to.  Since California has passed this law.  Florida, North Carolina, Kentucky and others are looking into passing similar laws.  This is a necessary step.  Other states are going to have to pass this to keep up with California.  The more states that pass this the faster the NCAA will act.  It is going to be important to  have a national standard.  With all the different states passing these I am sure there will be slight differences in each of the different laws out there.

This will be the End of College Sports – No It will Not

I hear all kinds of yelling coming from the powers that be in college athletics.  Especially the Athletic directors of power 5 schools.  They are saying this will turn into a huge mess and encourage cheating.  It will be the down fall of the college sports that people love.  I hate the tell them this.  College sports are already corrupt.  Convenient how they forgot that.  I do not see how this will make it any more or any less corrupt.  It could make it less corrupt in a few minor ways.  The car dealerships can now give an athlete a car with out getting in trouble.   Could someone come in and try to out bid another sponsor in an effort to get a player to go to a certain school.  They certainly could.  Again how would this be different than what happened with Reggie Bush or Cam Newton.  This kind of stuff was already going on.  This will not change that.

How Many Players will this affect

It could potentially affect all of them in every sport.  In reality it will affect very few of them.  It is unclear how many sponsors will be out there to pay the players.  More than likely they will focus on the top athletes.  Again that will not be any different than how things are now.  It will just mean that those top players will not be punished for breaking a rule.  There is a chance that it could affect some other players in other sports.  Depends on how much money is out there and how creative the people doing the marketing are.

This is Not Colleges Paying Athletes

This bill does not say that colleges have to pay the athletes.  It just allows the athlete to make money off of their likeness.  The only way this could possibly cost the Colleges at this point is that some of the advertising money they were making by using athletes likenesses would be diverted to the athletes.  How novel is that.  The person who’s likeness is being used gets a cut of the cash.  I guess I get how the colleges are pisses off about this. How dare someone get that money.

There Could be Some Down Falls

In the be careful what you wish for.  There are a few draw backs to this.  The Athletes that are lucky enough to snag a deal are going to have to pay taxes on that income.  Yes getting a bunch of clothes is considered to be income.  Players will also have to have some kind of representation.  There will be contracts involved in all of this.  They will have to get someone that will help them to understand what they are signing.  Also someone to make sure that they are not getting taken advantage of.  This will of course cost some money.  Really the Colleges should pay for this so they can help their athletes.  It is unclear where they stand on this now.

They Will not be “Pro” Athletes

While technically some of the players will be getting paid.  This will not turn college sports into another pro league.  There will still be rules as far as eligibility goes for who can play and for how long.  There are other leagues that do this now and amazingly they do not have any problems with it.  Others have figured it out.  I am sure the NCAA can figure it out as well.

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