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On Friday June 12, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed into law a bill allowing college athletes to get paid for their name, image and likeness. DeSantis confirmed the signing of the bill during a ceremony at the University of Miami. Representative Chip LaMarca joined Seth Harp on The Tailgate on ESPN Gainesville to discuss how he developed the bill.
The state of Florida is the third state to enact this law. This came after California and Colorado made it legal to do so.
BREAKING: Florida @GovRonDeSantis is signing the college athlete name, image & likeness bill.
Effective July 1, 2021, college athletes in Florida can sign paid endorsement deals. FL jumps CA as 1st state to give athletes these rights. Honored to have been part of this effort.
— Darren Heitner (@DarrenHeitner) June 12, 2020
Name, Image, and Likeness
The new bill will allow college athletes to accept paid endorsements beginning in July of 2021. This Florida law goes into effect sooner than in both California and Colorado.
“Overall this bill will allow athletes to be treated just like every other student, who’s on scholarship or not on scholarship, that they can go participate in the free market. They can do a lot of things that they couldn’t do before,” said LaMarca.
The new law bars the NCAA or any post secondary educational institution from prohibiting student-athletes from earning a living from third-party endorsements or personal business ventures. For example, a baseball player could offer batting lessons or training to younger athletes for compensation. Or, an athlete could receive compensation from brands not in direct competition with the college’s contract. The bill opened many doors for these student-athletes.
“Ultimately it’s about getting the full education and life skills and this bill will allow them to do that. I’m a big supporter of people being treated equally and being able to live their lives and succeed at levels that they didn’t think they were capable of. If they have a vision they will be able to see it through,” said LaMarca.
Here's Florida's new Intercollegiate Athlete Compensation and Rights law, effective 7/1/21: https://t.co/F5gwkMepB6.
Includes that NIL compensation can't be connected to schools, licensed agents/attorneys allowed to assist, financial literacy + life skills workshops & more. pic.twitter.com/34NtlSI8ye
— Darren Heitner (@DarrenHeitner) June 13, 2020
LaMarca hopes that the State of Florida can encourage more states to develop similar bills and that the NCAA can recognize the need to take care of student-athletes.
