The NCAA took another step toward allowing college athletes to profit off their name, image and likeness during its Board of Governors meeting on Tuesday. Reform in this area will greatly affect college athletes across the nation, including at Syracuse. 

The Board of Governors, the NCAA’s highest governing body, expressed support for recommended rule changes, releasing an updated list of guidelines and “guardrails.” This comes after California passed the Fair Pay to Play Act in September and as many other states, including New York, have discussed legislation to compensate college athletes.

Here are some important points from the NCAA’s conference call Wednesday morning: 

• Athletes will be permitted to “receive compensation for third-party endorsements both related to and separate from athletics.” That includes being social media influencers, starting their own businesses and receiving payment for personal appearances.
• In advertisements or otherwise, athletes won’t be allowed to broadcast their trademarked school or conference logo.
• Universities and boosters can’t pay athletes for name, image and likeness activities in recruiting. Big East commissioner Val Ackerman called this issue “the source of the most concern.” 
• The NCAA said it will need help from Congress to help regulate and monitor NIL rule changes.
• NCAA video games and replica jerseys remain “unworkable,” one official said. The lack of a player’s union prevents group licensing required for those entities. 
• It will not be a free market for athletes. The NCAA is considering prohibiting certain companies from endorsing athletes due to previous involvement in rules infractions.
• Athletes can hire agents to help find marketing opportunities, but not professional sports opportunities.
• Athletes will have to disclose their contracts with their athletic departments to ensure compliance within the guidelines.
• There will be no cap on how much an athlete can be compensated by a third party, but the regulations limit some opportunities. 

The board expects the NCAA’s three divisions to move toward drafting NIL rules next January and implementing them for the 2021-22 academic year. 

“I think they need a year to work it out,” men’s basketball head coach Jim Boeheim recently told Brent Axe on ESPN Radio Syracuse. “It will pass, it will be granted. Obviously there are a lot of things that could happen in that … Are you going to be comfortable with the quarterback getting a $100,000 commercial at Alabama and the lineman getting nothing or less? In professional sports, the linemen, even though they don’t get as much as the quarterback, they get paid.” 

If approved, Syracuse athletes will be able to make money off the field by fall 2021. Then, quarterback Tommy DeVito will be a redshirt senior, shooting guard Buddy Boeheim will be a senior, and incoming 5-star center Kamilla Cardoso will be a sophomore. 

Colleges will now have to prepare for the changing marketplace. Nebraska, for example, is partnering with a company that specializes in helping sport organizations and athletes monetize their social media followings and build individual brands. 

At Syracuse, sport management professor Dave Meluni started a “Brand Athletes” project in his SPM444 class where students create virtual athletes and develop their social media presence over a semester, eventually connecting them with brands. Meluni supports name, image and likeness compensation, and mentioned training camps, social media influencing and autograph signing as obvious marketing opportunities. 

“There’s brands out there that are looking for the influencer engagers on social media,” Meluni said. “And I think that’s going to be a huge piece.”

Joseph Girard III has the 57,900 followers on Instagram, the most of any current SU athlete. Class of 2022 five-star commit Dior Johnson has 516,000. 

If adopted, the rules likely would impact athletes with bigger platforms on revenue-generating teams like football and men’s basketball than those on less popular Olympic sports. There likely would be exceptions, however. For example, women’s basketball star Tiana Mangakahia has more Instagram followers (11,900) than DeVito (11,700), indicating a high market value for endorsements. 

An athlete like women’s lacrosse attack Megan Carney, who’s in one of Meluni’s classes, may be able to go home to Texas — where the sport is growing rapidly — and hold a camp for kids. Maybe she can make $500, Meluni said, which could pay for her flight home for break. 

“I think for the non-revenue generating sports, there’s certainly an opportunity,” Meluni said. “And I don’t want to hear that there’s not.” 

Still, many hurdles remain. It’s unclear how the NCAA will enforce some of its “guardrails” in regards to agents, recruiting and fair value of endorsements. Meluni pointed to a potential conflict in multimedia rights deals and companies that sponsor schools — if Syracuse is a Pepsi school, could DeVito star in a Coca-Cola ad? There’s also uncertainty surrounding the capacity in which Congress will be able to help, especially as it’s currently trying to deal with the coronavirus pandemic.

“You can’t overemphasize that there’s a lot to be determined going forward,” NCAA president Mark Emmert said.

Published on April 29, 2020 at 1:20 pm

Contact Danny: dremerma@syr.edu | @DannyEmerman