NIL Regulation Remains Unresolved

The NCAA, many school administrators, and athletes have all made it clear they want a nationwide NIL standard. 

But Congress hasn’t passed a federal law, and the Alston ruling made it impossible for the NCAA itself to set guidelines. The question now: who will oversee NIL?

The NCAA’s constitution draft attempted to answer it, saying divisions, conferences, and schools should all write their own regulations. But the proposal only raised several logistical, legal, and ideological concerns at Monday’s virtual convention.

• William King, SEC Associate Commissioner for Legal Affairs and Compliance, suggested it would be a logistical nightmare for divisions or conferences to write uniform guidelines given irreconcilable state laws.
• Chad Hawley, Big Ten VP of Compliance and Policy, brought up potential “mixed signals” about who should oversee NIL, given that the NCAA has been lobbying for a law from Congress.
• Divisions may not even be allowed to write rules in the first place. NCAA President Mark Emmert told reporters that divisions will be discussing whether all proposed rules “comport” with the Alston decision.

Members of the Constitution Committee — who wrote the draft — didn’t appear to have concrete solutions. 

Board of Governors chair Jack DeGioia said the language had been added to the constitution because uniform NIL standards are a priority. 

But as for who sets those standards, “we’ll see what will be possible.”