SC lawmakers looking to suspend law that regulates college endorsement deals - Live 5 News WCSC
CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCSC) - As March Madness tips off Thursday, this year’s tournament is the first in which players on the court can legally be paid for endorsements.
It follows a ruling last summer from the U.S. Supreme Court, which found the NCAA’s ban on college students receiving payment in exchange for the use of their names, images, and likenesses violated antitrust laws.
In South Carolina, lawmakers are now pushing to change how these deals are regulated.
Temporary laws, called provisos, are written into every state budget, usually going into effect for the one-year duration of that budget.
Included in the budget the South Carolina House of Representatives passed earlier this week is a proviso that would suspend South Carolina’s name, image, and likeness, or NIL, law, in the name of making sure colleges in other states don’t gain too much of an advantage over the ones in South Carolina.
“I would ask that everybody vote for this,” Rep. Tim McGinnis, R – Horry, said on the House floor Monday when introducing the proposal. “Otherwise, you’re going to see some of the best players in the country going to schools that don’t have Clemson or South Carolina in the name.”
Last spring, South Carolina lawmakers passed a law allowing collegiate athletes in the state to profit off their names, images, and likenesses in endorsement deals.
The Supreme Court’s ruling followed a few months later, opening the door for NIL deals to be allowed nationwide, and in the time since, some states have repealed or amended the NIL laws they passed before the ruling, including Florida and Alabama.
Some South Carolina lawmakers argued putting laws in place to regulate these deals before that ruling has turned an advantage into a disadvantage.
“States that didn’t pass a law, they have basically much more free rein than we do right now,” McGinnis said.
Among other regulations, South Carolina’s NIL law prohibits athletes from using their school’s facilities, uniform, or trademarks, like logos, in endorsements, stops them from doing these activities while they are participating in academic, athletic, or team-mandated activities, and forbids athletes from signing NIL deals that conflict with their school’s existing sponsorships or institutional values, along with ruling out endorsements for tobacco, alcohol, or gambling, including sports betting.
Those restrictions would be put on hold if the proviso is included in the final version of the state budget.
“The gist of what it’ll do is allow colleges to help facilitate some of these deals with students and help give them education along the way, so the colleges themselves will be able to act somewhat on behalf of the student,” McGinnis said.
The Senate will next have a chance to change the budget, and senators could opt to take out the NIL proviso.
Meanwhile, the NCAA and Congress are working out a uniform NIL policy for the entire country to eliminate discrepancies from state to state.
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source: https://www.live5news.com/2022/03/17/sc-lawmakers-looking-suspend-law-that-regulates-college-endorsement-deals/
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