Menu
Colleges

Conferences, Schools React With Caution To California NIL Bill

The Pac-12 believes student-athletes in non-revenue sports will be negatively impacted by the NIL billUSC

The signing of California SB 206, which will allow college athletes to profit off their name, images and likeness, prompted immediate reaction from conference and school leaders in the state and across the country. The Pac-12 responded with a statement saying it believes the bill will have "very significant negative consequences for our student-athletes and broader universities in California." The statement said, "This legislation will lead to the professionalization of college sports and many unintended consequences related to this professionalism ... and will likely reduce resources and opportunities for student-athletes in Olympic sports and have a negative disparate impact on female student-athletes" (Pac-12).

OTHER POWER 5 CONFERENCES: Big 12 Commissioner Bob Bowlsby in a statement said, "This bill creates great instability for the intercollegiate athletics programs at universities in California." He added, "The passage of SB206 will negatively impact the universities in California and will undermine the unique American collegiate model that has been an enormous source of opportunity for millions of young student-athletes and many millions of fans" (Ft. Worth STAR-TELEGRAM, 10/1). SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey in a statement said, "There is meaningful concern related to the inherent consequences that will inevitably arise when individual states unilaterally alter a set of rules that currently apply to student-athletes and universities throughout the country. ... We must also fully address the underlying potential for abuse by external influences and strive for a structure that appropriately ties financial support of student-athletes to their educational pursuits" (SI.com, 9/30).

SCHOOL OF THOUGHT: San Diego State AD John David Wicker said, "The State of California created a bill that's very open-ended, and now it's on the NCAA to go fill in all the different areas to try to make something work. Because it can't just work in California; it has to work in all 50 states. They've gone out and created a law that puts us in direct conflict with the NCAA and its rules, which stands to impact our student-athletes negatively" (SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE, 10/1). Gonzaga AD Mike Roth said he "sees this can with all kinds of worms emerging from it." He added, "Once we go down this path of NIL, my fear is we're professionalizing it and I really have a fear that professionalization will destroy college athletics. ... My fear is schools that are willing to push the envelope will continue to do so and this way have a very clear and easy way to do it" (Spokane SPOKESMAN-REVIEW, 10/1). Cal State-Long Beach AD Andy Fee: "Do we create a new world that essentially blows up amateurism as we know it?" ("Evening News," CBS, 9/30). Pepperdine AD Steve Potts said, "I just don't want to put our student athletes in a position where they're not allowed to compete at the highest level" (WALL STREET JOURNAL, 10/1).

IMPACT ON WOMEN'S SPORTS: Nebraska volleyball coach John Cook said, "Nobody worries about women's sports on this, it's all about the men's, but I think for them it's gonna create chaos, and it's gonna be really hard to police. We'll probably have to triple our compliance office, and I just think it's gonna open a can of worms" (OMAHA WORLD-HERALD, 10/1).

SBJ Morning Buzzcast: March 25, 2024

NFL meeting preview; MLB's opening week ad effort and remembering Peter Angelos.

Big Get Jay Wright, March Madness is upon us and ESPN locks up CFP

On this week’s pod, our Big Get is CBS Sports college basketball analyst Jay Wright. The NCAA Championship-winning coach shares his insight with SBJ’s Austin Karp on key hoops issues and why being well dressed is an important part of his success. Also on the show, Poynter Institute senior writer Tom Jones shares who he has up and who is down in sports media. Later, SBJ’s Ben Portnoy talks the latest on ESPN’s CFP extension and who CBS, TNT Sports and ESPN need to make deep runs in the men’s and women's NCAA basketball tournaments.

SBJ I Factor: Nana-Yaw Asamoah

SBJ I Factor features an interview with AMB Sports and Entertainment Chief Commercial Office Nana-Yaw Asamoah. Asamoah, who moved over to AMBSE last year after 14 years at the NFL, talks with SBJ’s Ben Fischer about how his role model parents and older sisters pushed him to shrive, how the power of lifelong learning fuels successful people, and why AMBSE was an opportunity he could not pass up. Asamoah is 2021 SBJ Forty Under 40 honoree. SBJ I Factor is a monthly podcast offering interviews with sports executives who have been recipients of one of the magazine’s awards.

Shareable URL copied to clipboard!

https://www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/Daily/Issues/2019/10/01/Colleges/California-Reaction.aspx

Sorry, something went wrong with the copy but here is the link for you.

https://www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/Daily/Issues/2019/10/01/Colleges/California-Reaction.aspx

CLOSE