For a long time now, it has been debated whether National Collegiate Athletic Association athletes should or should not receive benefits from advertisements, sponsorships or the use of their image on campaigns. For Californian student-athletes, that debate was ended when their state passed a law giving them the right to collect payment for the use of their image. 

On Thursday, the NCAA passed an official change to their rules, where they approved the idea of college players collecting money for their roles. The specifics of the NCAA policy are yet to be determined. 

California Governor Gavin Newsom signed the bill into law, making student-athletes in that state eligible for financial benefits from using their image in advertisements.

Following California’s success, other states such as Florida have proposed similar measures, therefore putting pressure on the NCAA for a reformation of the association’s rules and standards. Although, these other proposals have not been as aggressive as California’s has been.

Senate Bill 206, commonly known as the Fair Pay To Play Act, introduced by Democratic Senator Nancy Skinner on Oct. 1 of this year, prohibits the NCAA from barring universities from competition if its athletes are compensated for the use of their name, image or likeness come Jan. 1, 2023.

All of the schools pertaining to the University of California system, California State University schools, Stanford and University of Southern California have all opposed the bill, as fears related to the cost increase have built up, with the schools trying to get Newsom to veto the bill. Of course, their efforts were unsuccessful.

This time around, the NCAA was not as harsh in their response to the reform proposal, although they did express that if all states pass such a bill, it could lead each state to create its own set of rules rather than sticking to a national standard. 

Traditionally, such worry has been present at the passing of many bills. However, if no one takes the initial step, it is unclear whether such ruling could have a negative impact, or indeed, a positive one.

The new law could be extremely beneficial to athletes belonging to ethnic minorities, as historically these have been the ones to face the most struggles along the way.

A few weeks after the introduction of the bill, more House and Senate members have reacted, and indicated their support toward the start of a new era in the world of intercollegiate athletics.

In response to all of the aforementioned, Republican Senator Mitt Romney indicated that Congress will act in support of these student-athletes. 

Seeing all of the support the movement has gained in these past few weeks, Michael Drake, Chair of the NCAA Board of Governors said how we must embrace change to provide the best possible experience for college athletes. 

While the older generations, in a great majority, still oppose that the House and Senate pass such a bill, looking at the future of younger student-athletes should provide motivation. Sport has the power to teach athletes skills such as time management or teamwork, which will be crucial in any career setting in their future.

For many athletes and their families, the new reform would mean the world, as we all know how costly athletic material, access to a training facility and health components such as nutrition, physiotherapy or transportation to and from practice are.

While the new bill would mostly be applicable to Div. I and Div. II schools, Congress and the House should also look at Div. III schools, which have long been forbidden from granting student-athletes athletic scholarships. 

It will be interesting to see if any of the states try to oppose the recent steps taken by the NCAA Board of Governors.