{"id":642,"date":"2022-01-28T09:23:05","date_gmt":"2022-01-28T14:23:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.apslaw.com\/its-your-business\/?p=642"},"modified":"2022-12-08T16:44:25","modified_gmt":"2022-12-08T21:44:25","slug":"rapidly-changing-landscape-for-college-athletics-and-the-need-for-stakeholders-in-rhode-island-to-adapt","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.apslaw.com\/its-your-business\/2022\/01\/28\/rapidly-changing-landscape-for-college-athletics-and-the-need-for-stakeholders-in-rhode-island-to-adapt\/","title":{"rendered":"Rapidly Changing Landscape for College Athletics, and the Need for Stakeholders in Rhode Island to Adapt"},"content":{"rendered":"

Athletic departments and student athletes alike at Rhode Island\u2019s eight National Collegiate Athletic Association (\u201cNCAA\u201d) member schools should begin preparing now\u2014if they haven\u2019t already\u2014for a college athletics landscape in Rhode Island in which student athletes are permitted to benefit from, and be compensated for, their Name, Image and Likeness (\u201cNIL\u201d). The United States Supreme Court\u2019s 2021 decision in NCAA v. Alston<\/em>, 141 S. Ct. 2141 (2021) and the NCAA\u2019s subsequent changes to its own rules have effectively lifted the longtime prohibition against the NCAA\u2019s athletes benefitting from their NIL. Legislation has been proposed in the Rhode Island General Assembly which, if passed, would expressly permit athletes to benefit from their NIL, meaning that now is the time for all stakeholders to adapt to a vastly different college athletics landscape.<\/p>\n

For decades, the NCAA prohibited any sort of compensation, outside of scholarships, to athletes. Based on the Court\u2019s 1984 decision in NCAA v. Board of Regents of the University of Oklahoma<\/em>, 468 U.S. 85 (1984), the NCAA had broad authority to maintain a \u201crevered tradition of amateurism in college sports.\u201d The NCAA\u2019s position since that time had been that antitrust law permitted the organization to prohibit any compensation for athletes as a means of promoting competitive equity.<\/p>\n

This position was challenged over the years. However, it was only in June 2021 with the Court\u2019s decision in Alston<\/em> that the NCAA\u2019s position was defeated legally. In Alston<\/em>, the Court decided that certain NCAA rules regarding limitations on educational benefits had an anticompetitive effect. While the decision itself was narrowly written, the NCAA quickly took action of its own. Shortly after Alston<\/em>, the NCAA adopted a uniform interim policy suspending all NIL rules for current and incoming athletes across all sports and providing several pieces of guidance, including that: \u201cIndividuals can engage in NIL activities that are consistent with the law of the state where the school is located.\u201d<\/p>\n

Legislation is currently pending in the Rhode Island General Assembly which would provide rules and guidance on the issue of NIL compensation for athletes. On January 22, 2021, Rep. Joseph Solomon introduced House Bill 2021-H5082 \u201cRelating to Education \u2013 Compensation for Students Participating in Intercollegiate Athletics.\u201d The bill was passed in the Rhode Island House of Representatives on June 15, 2021, but the Rhode Island State Senate never voted on the bill during the 2021 session. However, the same bill was re-introduced as House Bill 2022-H6673 at the start of the legislative session earlier this month, giving the bill a chance to become law again.<\/p>\n

Among its provisions, the bill, as currently drafted, very plainly mandates: \u201cA post-secondary educational institution in this state, whether public or private, may not uphold any rule, requirement, standard, or other limitation that prevents a student of that institution from participating in intercollegiate athletics and also earning compensation as a result of the use of the student\u2019s name, image, or likeness. Earning compensation from the use of a student\u2019s name, image, or likeness may not affect the student\u2019s scholarship and eligibility.\u201d<\/p>\n

The proposed legislation expressly permits the compensation of student athletes for the use of their NIL, which is also now permitted by the NCAA following Alston<\/em> and the NCAA\u2019s own rule changes. Notably, if passed, the legislation, would also enact laws related to the representation of student athletes by agents and lawyers, and related to the treatment of athletes\u2019 scholarships as they relate to NIL compensation.<\/p>\n

It remains to be seen at what speed the General Assembly will move the bill through the necessary committees and, ultimately, whether the bill will pass. Stakeholders at Rhode Island\u2019s colleges and universities, including athletic departments, athletes, and athletes\u2019 representatives, should use this time to prepare in the event the bill is passed. Expressly permitting athletes to be compensated for their NIL creates an array of potential legal questions and issues, such as contract issues, intellectual property issues, and compliance issues. Allocating resources to address these myriad questions now will allow stakeholders to transition seamlessly if 2022-H6673, or a similar bill, becomes law. Readers are encouraged to contact Patrick Coyne at pcoyne@apslaw.com<\/a> with any questions on the impact that passage of a bill such as 2022-H6673 could have, and how to best prepare accordingly.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Athletic departments and student athletes alike at Rhode Island\u2019s eight National Collegiate Athletic Association (\u201cNCAA\u201d) member schools should begin preparing now\u2014if they haven\u2019t already\u2014for a college athletics landscape in Rhode Island in which student athletes are permitted to benefit from, and be…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":644,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[199,195,198],"tags":[197,196],"class_list":["post-642","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-intercollegiate-athletics","category-ncaa","category-sports","tag-intercollegiate-athletics","tag-ncaa"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.apslaw.com\/its-your-business\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/642","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.apslaw.com\/its-your-business\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.apslaw.com\/its-your-business\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.apslaw.com\/its-your-business\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.apslaw.com\/its-your-business\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=642"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.apslaw.com\/its-your-business\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/642\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.apslaw.com\/its-your-business\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/644"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.apslaw.com\/its-your-business\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=642"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.apslaw.com\/its-your-business\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=642"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.apslaw.com\/its-your-business\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=642"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}