NCAA President Mark Emmert to meet with lawmakers as some states push to pay college athletes

NCAA President Mark Emmert told USA TODAY Sports on Saturday that he will be meeting in Washington next week with senators and congressmen concerning legislation based around college athletes ability to make money from use of their names, images and likenesses. The meetings have taken on greater urgency as the number of states enacting related laws with effective dates of July 1 or sooner has grown to six in recent weeks.

On Thursday, Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp signed a bill that brought his state alongside Florida, Mississippi, Alabama and New Mexico with college-sports name, image and likeness (NIL) laws set for July 1. Last summer, Nebraska enacted an NIL law that allows its colleges to select any date on or before July 1, 2023 for implementation.

Altogether, there are now at least 13 states with these types of laws, and NCAA officials — along with those representing various conferences and schools — have been lobbying for a single federal measure. Three bills have been introduced in this Congressional session, and Emmert is set to meet with one of those authors, Sen. Jerry Moran, R-Kan., on Wednesday, a spokesman for Moran said Saturday.

The NCAA also has been considering changes to its NIL rules, a move that would fundamentally alter a system of amateurism that prevents athletes from participating in endorsement deals, monetizing their social-media followings or getting paid for signing autographs amid an enterprise that generates billions of dollars for their schools. But the NCAA’s proposals would conflict with some provisions of state laws.

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