Road to a Nationwide Standard

At the Convention, everyone appeared to want a blanket set of NIL rules. But no one seems to want to write those rules — or be responsible for enforcing them.

The NCAA couldn’t figure this out before NIL rules took effect on July 1. And between August and now, the Constitution Committee couldn’t, either.

Pathways to finalizing NIL rules still exist — though they could take months, if not years.

• The Constitution draft can be amended at least two more times before it’s voted on in January — so the committee still has time to receive feedback and come up with a more viable solution.
• Once the draft is finalized, each division will have seven months to create their own governance structures. They could try to delegate responsibilities to someone else.
• Congress could technically step in at any moment and pass a federal standard, rendering any NCAA-wide decisions and even state laws irrelevant.

Of course, there’s another way to solve the NIL conundrum: Do nothing. 

Some NIL advocates, like National College Players Association executive director Ramogi Huma, have argued a federal standard is obsolete. States and schools would compete with one another to pass the most athlete-friendly rules, according to Huma. 

After all, the industry has survived — and arguably even thrived — for four-and-a-half months without a federal mandate. Maybe NIL doesn’t need one.