Criticism of April 29, 2020, NCAA Board of Governors’ Guidelines for Future NCAA and Federal NIL Legislation
On April 29, 2020, the NCAA issued a press release announcing its Board of Governors’ action responding to the comprehensive April 17, 2020, NCAA Federal and State Legislation Working Group Final Report regarding college athletes commercializing the use of their own names, images, and likenesses (NILs). While the Board of Governors expressed general support for rules changes that would allow college athletes to receive compensation previously not permitted under the NCAA’s amateur status rules, they proposed no legislative changes. Rather, their comments were offered as guidelines for future legislation to be developed by the three NCAA competition divisions. After reading the Working Group’s final report, The Drake Group offers six critical observations about the future NCAA and federal NIL legislation:
