The NCAA continues to take steps toward allowing athletes to be compensated for their name, image and likeness.

The latest news comes Wednesday as the organization’s Board of Governors has announced they support student-athletes’ ability to profit from third-party endorsements both related to and separate from athletics. The Board of Governors also will allow athletes to profit from their social media channels and businesses they run during their college careers.

While the athletes will be able to profit from their likeness, they will not be able to use anything associated with their school during any promotions. For example, had this rule been in place during his college career, Tua Tagovailoa could have been sponsored by any business in Tuscaloosa but he could not be in an Alabama uniform or wearing apparel associated with the school in the advertisement.

This rule, if passed, will not take effect immediately, it will begin at the start of the 2021-22 academic year — which will be around July 2021.

The NCAA will now work toward allowing student-athletes to profit from their name, image and likeness before state laws around the country, including in California and Florida, come into effect. The NCAA will now work with Congress to make this law federal, before state laws are passed in different states across the country.

According to the NCAA, these measures that it will ask Congress to act upon:

  • Ensuring federal preemption over state name, image and likeness laws.
  • Establishing a “safe harbor” for the Association to provide protection against lawsuits filed for name, image and likeness rules.
  • Safeguarding the nonemployment status of student-athletes.
  • Maintaining the distinction between college athletes and professional athletes.
  • Upholding the NCAA’s values, including diversity, inclusion and gender equity.

You can read the entire report from the NCAA on the organization’s website.