A group of Florida legislators "gathered in Tallahassee" yesterday to study the NIL issue facing college sports, as the NCAA has a "modest luxury of time" to figure out a potential model, according to Alan Blinder of the N.Y. TIMES. Florida House Judiciary Committee Chair Paul Renner said that the NCAA, as well as the ACC and SEC, "declined to participate" in yesterday's meeting. But school and conference officials "insist" that conferences "remain active in lobbying state governments, often through member schools." Miami AD Blake James said that he and others from the school were "generally supportive of developing a way for student-athletes to monetize their reputations, but that they were urging refinements to legislation to try to curb potential abuses of the recruiting process." Blinder notes it is "less clear how the NCAA is trying to shape the debates in the states." The organization "sought to influence officials in California last year, but elected officials there criticized the strategy as imperious and ineffective." Now, with new threats looming, conference and university officials said that the NCAA "appears to have largely retreated from statehouses to focus its efforts on the federal government." The NCAA is "expected to use part of a convention next week" near L.A. to "update officials from universities across the country" (N.Y. TIMES, 1/14).
DOUBLE TAKE: FLORIDAPOLITICS.com's A.G. Gancarski noted in Florida, two sets of NIL proposals "are in play." The Democratic pitch would "examine the issue and create a report next year." The GOP version is "essentially the same sans the task force component" (FLORIDAPOLITICS.com, 1/13).
