The model, a stopgap until Congress can pass a uniform bill to govern the issue, removes guardrails in the original legislation that would have conflicted with the bevy of state NIL laws taking effect July 1.
Under the plan, effective July 1, the NCAA would mostly exempt itself from NIL.
The timeline for this process begins Thursday with the board’s virtual meeting, followed by a meeting Monday by the NCAA Division I Council, the organization’s policy-making group of conference commissioners and school department administrators.
Multiple sports law experts told SI earlier this week that language in the Supreme Court’s opinion makes it difficult for the association to pass any legislation that restricts athlete NIL compensation, or risk an avalanche of antitrust lawsuits.
The alternative model offers a simplified, streamlined approach that, depending on each school’s plan, could grant just as many rights to athletes as permissive state laws.
Now, days before the July 1 effective date, these schools and their conferences must scramble to create NIL policies themselves with little guidance or oversight.
In a restricted model, schools are at risk of being lambasted by the public and their own athletes and setting themselves up for a disadvantage against rival programs with more athlete-friendly rules.
“They’re racing.
the NCAA’s more restrictive permanent legislation—is a divisive issue that has led to robust debate and somewhat fractured feelings among high-level conference administrators.
Some say the alternative plan “goes way too far” and that they’d prefer to begin with more restrictive rules before slowly working toward a more permissive model.
Thirteen more states have passed laws that take effect at a later date, including two, Nebraska and Oklahoma, that could kick in at any point.
While their basic foundations are similar, the statutes slightly differ in details, some more restrictive than others.
Most notably, the legislation prohibits athletes from using school marks and logos in endorsements, outlaws them from using school facilities for NIL activities and bans them from using university-provided content in NIL ventures.
That request is now presented in boldface print and underlined with an exclamation point,” Sankey told SI.