The pressure ratcheted up on the NCAA Board of Governors recently when Colorado Gov. Jared Polis signed a bill into law giving college athletes rights to profit off of their names, images, and likenesses starting in 2023. It is the third name-image-likeness (NIL) law passed by a state legislature, joining California, which passed a law that takes effect in 2023 and Florida where a proposed law to take effect in 2021 awaits the governor’s signature. According to Sports Illustrated, 20 plus other state legislatures have taken up similar laws for consideration.

New NIL laws across America are a ticking time bomb for the NCAA, because NIL rights have taken center stage. The debate over whether and how to pay elite student-athletes for services that generate billions in revenue for colleges and universities is on. By passing laws at the state level to give athletes the right to profit off of their names, images, and likenesses, legislators have created the prospect of schools in those states enjoying massive recruiting advantages over schools in states that have not yet gotten on board with granting athletes NIL rights.

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