Skip to content
CapRadio

CapRadio

signal status listen live donate
listen live donate signal status
listen live donate signal status
  • News
    • topics
    • State Government
    • Environment
    • Health Care
    • Race and Equity
    • Business
    • Arts and Lifestyle
    • Food and Sustainability
    • PolitiFact California
  • Music
    • genres
    • Classical
    • Jazz
    • Eclectic
    • Daily Playlist
  • Programs + Podcasts
    • news
    • Morning Edition
    • All Things Considered
    • Marketplace
    • Insight With Vicki Gonzalez
    • music
    • Acid Jazz
    • At the Opera
    • Classical Music
    • Connections
    • Excellence in Jazz
    • Hey, Listen!
    • K-ZAP on CapRadio
    • Mick Martin's Blues Party
    • Programs A-Z
    • Podcast Directory
  • Schedules
    • News
    • Music
    • ClassicalStream
    • JazzStream
    • Weekly Schedule
    • Daily Playlist
  • Community
    • Events Calendar
    • CapRadio Garden
    • CapRadio Reads
    • Ticket Giveaways
  • Support
    • Evergreen Gift
    • One-Time Gift
    • Corporate Support
    • Vehicle Donation
    • Stock Gift
    • Legacy Gift
    • Endowment Gift
    • Benefits
    • Member FAQ
    • e‑Newsletter
    • Drawing Winners
    • Thank You Gifts
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Close Menu
 We Get Support From:
Become a Supporter 
 We Get Support From:
Become a Supporter 

California Governor Signs Bill Allowing College Athletes To Profit From Endorsements

By Colin Dwyer | NPR
Monday, September 30, 2019

UCLA players celebrate during a game against the Arizona Wildcats at the Rose Bowl last year in Pasadena, Calif. Gov. Gavin Newsom has signed a bill paving the way for college athletes in the state to hire agents and sign endorsement deals.

Victor Decolongon / Getty Images

Updated at 12:17 p.m. ET

In a move that puts California on a collision course with the NCAA, Gov. Gavin Newsom has signed a bill effectively allowing college athletes in the state to earn compensation for the use of their likeness, sign endorsement deals and hire agents to represent them.

The governor signed the measure in a segment released Monday by Uninterrupted, a sports programming company co-founded by LeBron James.

Newsom proclaimed the move as "the beginning of a national movement — one that transcends geographic and partisan lines."

"Collegiate student athletes put everything on the line — their physical health, future career prospects and years of their lives to compete. Colleges reap billions from these student athletes' sacrifices and success but, in the same breath, block them from earning a single dollar," he said in a statement. "That's a bankrupt model — one that puts institutions ahead of the students they are supposed to serve. It needs to be disrupted."

California is the first state to pass such a law, which is to take effect on Jan. 1, 2023.

That marks a significant shift from the current policies enforced by the NCAA, collegiate sports' national governing body, which generally renders student-athletes ineligible to accept compensation for "the use of his or her name or picture to advertise, recommend or promote directly the sale or use of a commercial product or service of any kind."

And the NCAA Board of Governors pushed back hard against the bill at the time of its passage in the Legislature, saying that it would leave the playing field for universities of different sizes radically uneven.

"Right now, nearly half a million student-athletes in all 50 states compete under the same rules," the 22-member panel composed mostly of university presidents and athletic directors said in a letter to Newsom on Sept. 11. "This bill would remove that essential element of fairness and equal treatment that forms the bedrock of college sports."

On Monday, shortly after Newsom's announcement, the NCAA released another, slightly more conciliatory statement — one acknowledging that "changes are needed to continue to support student-athletes" but also warning that "this new law already is creating confusion for current and future student-athletes, coaches, administrators and campuses, and not just in California."

"We will consider next steps in California," the group added, "while our members move forward with ongoing efforts to make adjustments to NCAA name, image and likeness rules that are both realistic in modern society and tied to higher education."

The financial stakes of the dispute are massive.

Between TV rights, marketing fees and other avenues — particularly for its major cash cow, the NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament — the organization has reported annual revenues cresting $1 billion.

The NCAA maintains that it converts much of that intake into crucial opportunities for student-athletes, saying it has "provided billions of dollars in scholarships and the opportunity for millions across 24 sports to earn undergraduate and graduate degrees."

That hasn't silenced critics, who have grown louder in recent years amid a recent spate of high-profile investigations — including efforts by the FBI — looking into alleged corrupt recruiting practices in NCAA men's basketball. The hefty punishments levied against schools and players by the national governing body has focused a spotlight on why the competitors featured in such a lucrative industry are left out of its profits.

Michael Sokolove, who wrote of the massive scandal at the University of Louisville's basketball program in The Last Temptation Of Rick Pitino, talked to Fresh Air last year about one notable discrepancy.

"If you look at a program like Louisville, which is a program that I focused on, they generate about $45 million a year in revenue. They give out 13 scholarships. That adds up to about $400,000 a year. The rest of it gets spread out to the coach, who makes $8 million a year, to the assistant coaches, who make as much as a half-million dollars a year," Sokolove said.

"All throughout the athletic department, people are making six-figure salaries. It does not go to the players, what I call the unpaid workforce."

Pushback also has come from a number of prominent athletes, including James, who opted to skip college basketball entirely to head straight to the NBA — before the pro league implemented a minimum age requirement in 2006, barring others from following James' path.

"Part of the reason I went to the NBA is to get my mom out of the situation that she was in," James said in the informal signing ceremony with Newsom that was held on a barbershop set. "I couldn't have done that if I would have stepped on a college campus."

Others, such as NFL cornerback Richard Sherman, have rejected the notion put forward by the NCAA and others that a free college education is recompense enough for the amount of work these athletes put in. Sherman told Sports Illustrated in 2015 that he would "love for a regular student to have a student-athlete's schedule during the season for just one quarter or one semester and show me how you balance that."

"People think, 'Oh, you're on scholarship.' They pay for your room and board, they pay for your education, but to their knowledge, you're there to play football," said Sherman, who got his degree from Stanford University. "You're not on scholarship for school and it sounds crazy when a student-athlete says that, but those are the things coaches tell them every day: 'You're not on scholarship for school.' "

Copyright 2022 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

View this story on npr.org

Follow us for more stories like this

CapRadio provides a trusted source of news because of you.  As a nonprofit organization, donations from people like you sustain the journalism that allows us to discover stories that are important to our audience. If you believe in what we do and support our mission, please donate today.

Donate Today  

Sign up for ReCap and never miss the top stories

Delivered to your inbox every Friday.

 

Check out a sample ReCap newsletter.

Thanks for subscribing!

Thank you for signing up for the ReCap newsletter! We'll send you an email each Friday with the top stories from CapRadio.

Browse all newsletters

Most Viewed

Stalled U.S. Forest Service project could have protected California town from Caldor Fire destruction

Who is Harriet Hageman, the woman who beat Liz Cheney in the Wyoming House race?

California coronavirus updates: WHO renames monkeypox subvariants away from regional signifiers

Northern California wildfires: Where to find updates on air quality, evacuations, and official information

California coronavirus updates: First Lady Jill Biden tests positive for COVID-19

We Get Support From:
Become a Supporter

Back to Top

  • CapRadio

    7055 Folsom Boulevard
    Sacramento, CA 95826-2625

    • (916) 278-8900
    • Toll-free (877) 480-5900
    • Email Us
    • Submit a News Tip
  • Contact Us

  • About Us

    • Contact Us / Feedback
    • Coverage
    • Directions
    • Careers & Internships
    • Mission / Vision / Core Values
    • Press
    • Staff Directory
    • Board of Directors
  • Listening Options

    • Mobile App
    • On Air Schedules
    • Smart Speakers
    • Playlist
    • Podcasts
    • RSS
  • Connect With Us

    •  Facebook
    •  Twitter
    •  Instagram
    •  YouTube
  • Donate

  • Listen

  • Newsletters

CapRadio stations are licensed to California State University, Sacramento. © 2022, Capital Public Radio. All Rights Reserved. Privacy Policy | Website Feedback FCC Public Files: KXJZ KKTO KUOP KQNC KXPR KXSR KXJS. For assistance accessing our public files, please call 916-278-8900 or email us.