Nutter Center Athletic Mural | Photo by Daniel Delgado | The Wright State Guardian
In late October, the NCAA Board of Governors voted unanimously to allow athletes to receive pay for their name, likeness and image.
Previously, the NCAA had rules in place prohibiting athletes from earning money, emphasizing that student athletes are students first and athletes second.
What does this mean though?
Under the new law in California, students will now be able to receive money from endorsements and outside companies. Many states are following and similar bills have been, or will be, introduced in 16 other states.
The NCAA was long against allowing athletes to be paid, wanting to keep a firm line between college and professional sports.
They have now compromised in order to avoid a fight in court.
Although the bill in California was recently passed, it is not set to be effective until 2023 and there is still a lot of work to be done regarding how athletes will get paid.
With this being a huge change for college athletes, it could have a big impact on Wright State University, being successful in sports and a Division I college.
WSU athletics may join the conversation in the future
“While we are aware of the announcement by the NCAA’s Board of Governors, we cannot be sure yet how much that it will directly impact us here at Wright State,” said Bob Grant, director of athletics at WSU. “We in college athletics must continually adapt, albeit in a sensible manner, but our duty will always be to support our own Raider student-athletes first and foremost. We look forward to contributing to the discussion on the national level.”
While this decision could impact WSU, currently Ohio has not passed or proposed any bills similar to that of California’s.
Many people have strong opinions about this change, but few are willing to give statements considering the contentious nature of this issue.
“Because this is an ongoing thing and almost all of the actual details are still being figured out, our coaches don’t want to discuss this at this point, but potentially in the future as more information and details come out from the NCAA,” said Nick Philips, assistant athletic director at WSU.
Others, like Cheryl Schrader, current President of WSU, have taken to Twitter to express their opinion on the matter:
Schrader references athletes being allowed to receive compensation for their name, likeness, and image and states that she believes it will “further the divide for opportunities in sports between genders.”
When asked for more clarification, Schrader declined to comment on the matter.
Recent alumni have also expressed their dislike of the new law passed by the NCAA:
Although to some, the vote seems like a great change that athletes would benefit from, for others, it raises big questions about the purpose of college sports and the divide between college and professional athletes.
