California governor Gavin Newsom has signed SB206, a landmark bill guaranteeing the state's college athletes the right to market their name, image and likeness.
The law goes into effect on Jan. 1, 2023.
“Every single student in the university can market their name, image and likeness; they can go and get a YouTube channel, and they can monetize that,” Newsom said in an interview with The New York Times. “The only group that can’t are athletes. Why is that?” The law sailed through the California senate and assembly, and along the way has spawned copycat efforts from South Carolina and New York, and a similar bill is in the works in Florida. It's also expected to spark lawsuits from the NCAA, as NCAA president Mark Emmert has called the bill an "existential threat" and a "huge, huge issue. As big a one as we've seen in modern times." In response to the news, the NCAA released a statement acknowledging both California's new law and similar efforts elsewhere, saying, "We will consider next steps in California while our members move forward with ongoing efforts to make adjustments to NCAA name, image and likeness rules that are both realistic in modern society and tied to higher education."
Ohio State AD Gene Smith has said his school may not schedule California opponents once the bill becomes law. Similarly, the NCAA could attempt to box out California by making its schools ineligible to compete for NCAA titles (although its sponsors and TV partners would surely have something to say about that.)
But there exists a tipping point where the fire would simply become too big to contain. If five states, 10 states, 20 states join California between today and 2023, the NCAA can't boot all of them -- and this says nothing of the bipartisaneffort to end the NCAA's ban on name, image and likeness payments at the federal level.
As always, stay tuned to The Scoop for the latest.
