NCAA Student-Athlete Compensation Changes

The National Collegiate Athletic Association Board of Governors, which is the highest level of leadership for the NCAA, met to discuss rule changes regarding payments for student athletes and released a statement on April 29. 

The previous rules said athletes were not to earn money from deals with brands, but after California passed a law last year allowing college athletes to be paid by endorsements, the NCAA faced pressure to allow their players to be compensated. 

According to NCAA’s website, the board supported rule changes to allow student-athletes to receive compensation for third-party endorsements both related to and separate from athletics, such as social media promotion or personal appearances. 

Many student-athletes have not gotten the opportunity to receive payment because of the previous rules, but the board is now supporting compensation with more lenient guidelines. 

The board would permit the athletes to identify themselves by their sport, but the promotion of conference and school logos wouldn’t be allowed. There was also an emphasis on the point that their actual university should never pay student-athletes for the use of their personal attributes. 

There are three divisions of the NCAA, and the board is recommending each of those divisions adopt new rules by January for their 2021-22 academic year.