A few weeks ago, the California State Senate unanimously passed a bill that convulsed the structure that controls the NCAA (National Collegiate Athletic Association), the entity that governs and controls the sports programs of more than 1,200 university institutions in the North American country.
In the vote, which finished 39 votes in favor and 0 against, it was defined to give permission to the state university athletes to earn money from their name or image through sponsorship or support agreements from 2023.
Beyond what happened in Parliament in early September, a historic law for sport in the United States was signed on Monday. And it was Lebron James , legend of the NBA and one of the personalities of the world of American sports that made public his ideals in favor of the measure, who invited the governor of California, Gavin Newsom, to make the announcement official in “The Shop ” , The program that number 23 of Los Angeles Lakers has in its audiovisual platform called Uninterrupted .
“This is the number one reason why I created this platform. To have moments like these: have the governor of California signing a law that will give benefits to college athletes. Here we have the signature, ” said James, showing the paper signed by Newsom.
The law, called the “Fair Payment for Play Act,” will take effect on January 1, 2023, and will not have as a condition that California schools pay athletes to compete at their university. What will be prohibitive will be for entities to prevent an athlete from selling their image and name rights to sponsors or external clients.
“This will be a major problem for the NCAA,” the governor of California said on the program. “I will cause other dozens of states to join this initiative that will change university sports for the better. It will be the opportunity to balance the rights of athletes with those of the organization, ” added Newsom.
A few days ago, in what was the Media Day organized by the Lakers in the pre-start of the NBA season, James was blunt when asked about his support for the law in the state of California. “If I had played in college, my shirt with 23 would have been sold all over the country. The image of my body would have been in the 2004 NCAA basketball video game. Moreover, the stadium tickets where he had played would have been sold every night. With all that, my mother and I would not have had any benefit, ” added the three-time NBA champion.
After what happened with the signing of the “Fair Pay to Play” law, the NCAA has not yet issued an official statement with comments on the measure. Less than a month ago, in the letter presented by Mark Emmert, president of the entity that governs the fate of university sports in the US, the NCAA’s vision was clear: “If this project becomes law, the 58 schools belonging to California they could not compete in tournaments, ”said the statement.
At the beginning of 2019, a board of directors of the NCAA met to analyze and promote changes in order to modernize the image rights policies of athletes, but still did not exhibit any update based on an issue that revolutionizes American sports