for SEC footprint states to compare and contrast.
All SEC states except LA, MO & KY have already enacted legislation.
LA & MO are waiting on governor signature, which is expected. In LA the individual schools Board of Trustees are having to propound and approve regulations for this before the Governor signs off. UK is preparing to pass a law but it doesn't go into effect until 1/1/2023 ... akin to several other non-Southern state laws. There is a push to move that time frame up to 1/1/2022, but it appears at a minimum UK will begin behind the curve a little.
Most of the states laws are very similar in language; it's clear that they copied one another heavily.
They provide, basically:
(1) that an athlete can receive reasonable compensation for use of NIL
(2) that the schools must approve the contracts and can reject them if they conflict with an existing institution contract**
(3) agents/lawyers may rep the players in the negotiation of these deals
(4) schools can't enter contracts obo the players so as to be able to offer them as an incentive to attend
(5) a state body is created to develop the rules around this process as they become necessary
GA has an interesting law. It allows for a state university to direct that up to 75% of the total compensation received by an athlete funneled into a fund for the compensation of former athletes of the university. UGA has already publicly stated that they're not doing that, yet. If they were to do so I am sure it would be challenged legally.
The AL is different in that it is the only one I read that expressly provided for felony criminal penalties for knowingly violating it by boosters or school personnel, etc. It also provides for a "per violation" civil penalty of $1000 which applies to all violations. Students cannot be criminally sanctioned for violating but the civil penalties would apply.
FL says that an athlete can void any contract more than a year in length if the athlete stops competing at the college level at the university he/she was attending at the time the contract is entered, and is not forced to disgorge compensation. That means in FL if the third party contracting with an athlete front end loads the compensation they can get screwed if the kid transfers or goes pro.
** -- This is fascinating to me. It means, e.g., that Allen Flanigan can't sign a promo deal with Nike if AU blocks it bc AU is an UnderArmor school. It also means that AU could ostensibly block ANY contract which allows an athlete to promote a product or business which is not an "official provider of Auburn athletics" but might be seen to be in competition with an official provider. There will be a METRIC SHIT TON of litigation on these contracts. It's going to be nuts.
EDIT: There are several FEDERAL versions of this. None appear near to being considered or passed at this time. Several are much farther reaching than just NIL; for example, they all require schools to pay uncovered medical expenses for athletes up to 2 years after they leave the program. Others specifically require a CBA to ALL athletes at a university, regardless of sport, to receive compensation for the contracts of others; e.g., a female LAX player gets a check bc football players get endorsement deals. Just interesting if dysfunctional like most federal legislation.
That was my first overview. Would love to hear the thoughts of others.
SECOND EDIT:
Here are links to some of the laws if you actually want to read them:
AL law
GA law (pdf)
FL law (pdf)
TX law
US SB 5003 (Moran, R-KS)
All SEC states except LA, MO & KY have already enacted legislation.
LA & MO are waiting on governor signature, which is expected. In LA the individual schools Board of Trustees are having to propound and approve regulations for this before the Governor signs off. UK is preparing to pass a law but it doesn't go into effect until 1/1/2023 ... akin to several other non-Southern state laws. There is a push to move that time frame up to 1/1/2022, but it appears at a minimum UK will begin behind the curve a little.
Most of the states laws are very similar in language; it's clear that they copied one another heavily.
They provide, basically:
(1) that an athlete can receive reasonable compensation for use of NIL
(2) that the schools must approve the contracts and can reject them if they conflict with an existing institution contract**
(3) agents/lawyers may rep the players in the negotiation of these deals
(4) schools can't enter contracts obo the players so as to be able to offer them as an incentive to attend
(5) a state body is created to develop the rules around this process as they become necessary
GA has an interesting law. It allows for a state university to direct that up to 75% of the total compensation received by an athlete funneled into a fund for the compensation of former athletes of the university. UGA has already publicly stated that they're not doing that, yet. If they were to do so I am sure it would be challenged legally.
The AL is different in that it is the only one I read that expressly provided for felony criminal penalties for knowingly violating it by boosters or school personnel, etc. It also provides for a "per violation" civil penalty of $1000 which applies to all violations. Students cannot be criminally sanctioned for violating but the civil penalties would apply.
FL says that an athlete can void any contract more than a year in length if the athlete stops competing at the college level at the university he/she was attending at the time the contract is entered, and is not forced to disgorge compensation. That means in FL if the third party contracting with an athlete front end loads the compensation they can get screwed if the kid transfers or goes pro.
** -- This is fascinating to me. It means, e.g., that Allen Flanigan can't sign a promo deal with Nike if AU blocks it bc AU is an UnderArmor school. It also means that AU could ostensibly block ANY contract which allows an athlete to promote a product or business which is not an "official provider of Auburn athletics" but might be seen to be in competition with an official provider. There will be a METRIC SHIT TON of litigation on these contracts. It's going to be nuts.
EDIT: There are several FEDERAL versions of this. None appear near to being considered or passed at this time. Several are much farther reaching than just NIL; for example, they all require schools to pay uncovered medical expenses for athletes up to 2 years after they leave the program. Others specifically require a CBA to ALL athletes at a university, regardless of sport, to receive compensation for the contracts of others; e.g., a female LAX player gets a check bc football players get endorsement deals. Just interesting if dysfunctional like most federal legislation.
That was my first overview. Would love to hear the thoughts of others.
SECOND EDIT:
Here are links to some of the laws if you actually want to read them:
AL law
GA law (pdf)
FL law (pdf)
TX law
US SB 5003 (Moran, R-KS)
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