"It’s a slap in the face to college athletes. Many of these athletes are Black and from low-income homes - the NCAA treats them like disposable university property..." - NCPA's Ramogi Huma
After promising state and federal lawmakers that it would adopt college athlete name, image, and likeness (NIL) compensation freedoms for more than a year, the NCAA announced today that it suspended its NIL vote.
NCPA Executive Director Ramogi Huma stated, “The NCAA is announcing that college athletes can’t benefit from their own name on the same day of the biggest money-making game in college football – the national championship. It’s a slap in the face to college athletes. Many of these athletes are Black and from low-income homes - the NCAA treats them like disposable university property. Scores of college athletes are being used to generate money for NCAA sports in a pandemic without the NCAA enforcing any COVID standards. This is what they get in return for their sacrifice?”
Citing the delay as further evidence that the NCAA will never proactively treat college athletes fairly on this issue, the NCPA is calling on all states to adopt it’s model NIL legislation to guarantee athletes the same freedoms granted to other students and Americans:
https://www.ncpanow.org/solutions-and-resources/model-legislation
The NCPA sponsored the California NIL bill signed into law in 2019 and was the primary advocacy force behind similar NIL bills that were approved in Florida, Nebraska, and New Jersey. The NCPA is currently assisting a number of lawmakers in other states who are pursuing NIL bills and is advocating for laws to take effect at the same time Florida’s law becomes effective (July 1, 2021).
The NCPA also worked to help develop the College Athletes Bill of Rights introduced in both the US Senate and US House of Representatives.
“College athletes deserve fair treatment now, and they need lawmakers to grant them these freedoms once and for all,” stated Huma.
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