Last week, Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp put pen to paper on House Bill 617, which legalizes college athletes earning money from their name, image or likeness (NIL), starting July 1.
Kemp signed the bill in a recruiting lounge at the University of Georgia, where many pro-ready athletes spend their college years.
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“I can’t think of a better venue than this one to really do something like this,” said Kemp, a UGA graduate. “If I was a five-star recruit, I personally wouldn’t want to be anywhere else but Athens.”
The NCAA’s media contracts currently generate huge sums of money for the decision-makers and none for the play-makers.
In a report by Dan Murphy for ESPN, “Star athletes build followings that reach up to hundreds of thousands of fans on social media. Promoting or endorsing a product via a YouTube channel, Twitter post or Instagram account can be worth more than $10,000 per post for a popular athlete who has an authentic and active social media presence.”
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In some cases, pro league-bound athletes can officially sign endorsements and promote products right out of college and before they even know what city they’ll be relocating to.
Two Georgia players were suspended in the past for accepting payment for their name, image or likeness. Wide receiver A.J. Green was suspended for four games back in 2010 for selling his autographed Independence Bowl jersey to an agent.
UGA running back Todd Gurley was also suspended for four games in the 2014 season for receiving more than $3000 for signing memorabilia. In his first game back from suspension, he tore his ACL, which ended his career at Georgia. He declared for the NFL draft, skipping his senior season.
A wrinkle in the bill Kemp signed is the pooling aspect. Per SI.com, “Schools can require athletes to pool up to 74.99% of their money earned in an escrow account that would then be shared with other athletes. However, it would not be able to be withdrawn until a year after they graduate/leave school. It is up to the schools whether or not they instate this requirement.”
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In addition, HB 617 requires college athletes in Georgia to enroll in a financial literacy and life skills workshop ahead of receiving any compensation.
Nick Bromberg at Yahoo Sports wrote, “A school like Georgia or Georgia Tech exercising its right to take a cut of endorsement money will immediately prove to be a disadvantage in recruiting. Schools in other states recruiting the same football and basketball players can simply tell an athlete that he or she will be able to keep all of their endorsement money. And that’s a pretty persuasive argument. You can bet a coach like Georgia’s Kirby Smart won’t want to be putting himself at an immediate disadvantage.”
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Several states have gone ahead with their own NIL bill, and there’s not yet any federal framework for a nation-wide approach. A federal guideline would streamline the process, as opposed to having different rules based on any given state’s version of the bill.
Tyler Strong is the Business Editor for The Augusta Press. Reach him at tyler@theaugustapress.com.
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