The NCAA Board of Governors has taken the first step toward allowing athletes to cash in on their fame. The board voted unanimously on Tuesday to clear the way for the amateur athletes to “benefit from the use of their name, image, and likeness.”
The vote came during a meeting at Emory University in Atlanta.
In a news release, board chair Michael V. Drake said the board realized that it “must embrace change to provide the best possible experience for college athletes.”
“Additional flexibility in this area can and must continue to support college sports as a part of higher education,” Drake said. “This modernization for the future is a natural extension of the numerous steps NCAA members have taken in recent years to improve support for student-athletes, including full cost of attendance and guaranteed scholarships.”
The key NCAA task forced decision will allow athletes to profit from their names, images, and likenesses while still preserving amateurism rules for the nation’s largest governing body for college athletics
Ohio State athletic director Gene Smith and Big East Conference Commissioner Val Ackerman are leading the working group.
The NCAA’s decision is an important early step in a process that could take months or even years to work its way through the NCAA’s various layers.
NCAA rules have long barred players from hiring agents and the association has steadfastly refused to allow players to be paid by their schools, with some exceptions. A California law set to take effect in 2023 would prevent athletes from losing their scholarships or being kicked off their teams for signing endorsement deals. Other states could put laws in place earlier than that.
The NCAA says it represents some 450,000 amateur athletes nationwide.
NCAA President Mark Emmert said the association is creating “a path to enhance opportunities for student-athletes while ensuring they compete against students and not professionals.”
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