Dan Murphy, ESPN Staff Writer January 11, 2024, 5:38 am
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- Graduated from the University of Notre Dame
PHOENIX – The NCAA Division I Council voted Wednesday to adopt new rules designed to help athletes avoid unscrupulous agents and unfavorable terms in name, likeness and likeness contracts.
Beginning in August, the NCAA will provide athletes with standardized contract recommendations for NIL contracts and aggregated data to help schools and athletes get a more realistic picture of current endorsement deal prices. The association also plans to create a voluntary registry of credible and trustworthy agents, based largely on feedback from athletes who have worked with it in the past.
“We don’t want to stand in the way of student-athletes trying to activate their NIL rights, but we do want to help them essentially protect themselves,” said Jon Steinbrecher, MAC commissioner and vice chair of the division’s council I. The Council voted on the new rules this week during the NCAA's annual meeting.
Additionally, the council has formally proposed new rules that, if adopted, may help facilitate agreements between athletes and NIL collectives – a move that will likely give some level of control over roster management to on-campus athletic departments and teams would return. Schools and all affiliated NIL collectives are still prohibited from negotiating contracts with recruits or transfers prior to enrollment.
The council is expected to vote on these proposed changes before the start of the next school year after gathering feedback from school leaders.
These changes do represent a significant shift in NIL policy, which had previously sought to keep schools away from support activities for an extended period of time. However, they could quickly become obsolete if the NCAA decides to implement even more progressive rule changes next year. Last month, NCAA President Charlie Baker proposed a far more dramatic new policy change that would, among other things, allow schools to pay athletes directly to promote their universities through name, image and likeness agreements.
Baker's proposal was more aimed at starting a conversation than setting concrete policy. The NCAA Division I Board of Directors is expected to vote later this week on whether to formally begin discussing these changes. If they decide to proceed, these changes could come into effect as early as fall 2024.
“We just had a few conversations [about Baker’s proposal]said Steinbrecher. “I don't know why I should be afraid of all this. Let's focus on that. Let's think about what it means to us and how we want to help shape it. But let’s move on.”
Council members are optimistic that the rules introduced this week will remove some bad actors from the NIL market. There is currently no comprehensive public data source that can provide a clear picture of how much athletes earn from their deals. Aggregated and anonymous data shared across all NCAA members – there are no plans to share the details of specific contracts signed by athletes – could help both schools and athletes get a more realistic picture of what they are bargaining for when negotiating contracts with companies and NIL collectives.
The standardized contract templates are not yet finalized but will likely include suggestions for the terms of NIL deals, such as ensuring that no contracts last longer than an athlete's college career or that an agent does not take an excessive percentage of the proceeds.
Morgyn Wynne, an Oklahoma State softball player and one of two athletes on the Division I Council, said the rules adopted Wednesday are “extremely necessary” to help athletes choose their support options.
“We have been very supportive of the things that have been done to protect student-athletes,” Wynne said. “I don’t think there’s really any concerns that should arise from that.”
Among other things, the council also voted Wednesday to adopt stricter penalties for people who violate NCAA rules. In the future, coaches who are suspended will have to stay away from their teams on the days between games in addition to missing the games themselves. Schools that hire coaches who hand out flagrant penalties for past violations could face penalties, and the NCAA plans to create a public database of people who have committed Level 1 or 2 violations in the past.
Baker, who took over as president of the association in March, is expected to address his proposed changes and other important issues in college sports during his first annual State of the Union address to Congress on Wednesday evening.