Mark Emmert says granting college athletes the right to control their name, image and likeness would be an “existential threat” to the collegiate model.
If that adjective sounds familiar, it’s only because Emmert tends to describe other athlete compensation proposals he doesn’t like, such as the cost of attendance stipend (‘As we’ve talked about it more and the membership has had a chance to digest it, it’s being seen as less threatening.’), in the same way.
Sounds like he has a nerve wracking job. Maybe that’s why he says he can’t do math.
Emmert was asked if the NCAA could become a partner with players in marketing their name, image and likeness.
“You’ve got 50 different states with 50 different labor law rules,” Emmert said. “If you move into what are, in essence, labor negotiations, you have to do that state-by-state … It just falls apart in its complexity.”
Complexity. That must be why the NCAA wouldn’t let each school set its own COA stipend level… oh, wait.
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UPDATE: This, too.
These people are so bad at this.
Get The Picture 
Sometimes the irony writes itself.
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These people are so dumb, hypocritical or greedy … I guess they’re all 3.
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Senator if an NCAA student athlete does not own their image and likeness is that only while in uniform or anytime? I pose the question to understand what exactly does a student athlete actually own?
Did Hershel Walker own his signature when he sign the pro contract? How about the jersey AJ signed?, Todd Gurley’s signature? If they did not own these images how do they get punished by the organization that said they own these image? Appears the NCAA did not come to the aid of these players when the NCAA’s property was used.
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If a collegiate athlete claims his/her name, likeness or image in any way that links to their status as a college athlete, they are in violation of NCAA rules.
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Hang on…it has to be more that than, doesn’t it? If Jake Fromm is on a car tv ad and simply says, “Hi, I’m Jake Fromm and I love my truck from Truck City Ford” is he in violation or not? No reference to his collegiate status is being made and he’s not in uniform. Asking for a friend named Jake.
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If he’s trading on his fame, it counts.
If he started some sort of business that didn’t trade on his fame, he’d be okay.
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The NCAA would find a way to screw him (and us) in that case, too.
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There was a kicker from UCF ruled ineligible because he had a youtube channel. Although I believe his channel did make reference to him playing football for UCF, it’s ridiculous either way. It’s gotten to a point where students-athletes actually have fewer options to market themselves or make money compared to regular students
Remember when Gurley got suspended? I remember hearing that some other student made t-shirts saying “Fr3e Todd Gurley” or something and he was making money off of them. So another student was able to make money off of Gurley’s name while Gurley was suspended for making money off his own name.
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Thanks, I was emphasizing the “profitability” angle. If the student athlete cannot profit but the NCAA can profit from the student athlete’s image/likeness why do they (NCAA) not pursue their rights to the lost profits? The NCAA never pursued the card/memorabilia dealer for their monies or protected their property (student athlete) from exploitation.
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Someone needs to tell Emmert to put the shovel down or at least stop digging.
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^^This.
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Natty Light Seltzer? Eeeewww.
“If you want a beer real bad, we have a real bad beer.”
Jeez Big 12.
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Yeah, seltzer sounds gross. I’ll stick to the original thank you!
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Emmert is right. This IS an existential threat to the NCAA because the NCAA is unwilling to change.
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The SEC should have beers branded with bowl destinations.
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Is it just me, or is anyone else waiting for Emmert to say “Live from New York, it’s Saturday Night!”
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It’s only a matter of time until the schools start selling naming rights of the players. State Farm QB #11, CAT tractor offensive line, Allstate Mayhem DB #20. I’m just kidding (I think)
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In essence, that’s what happened with EA Sports and the O’Bannon suit.
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“Athlete compensation and NIL rights would ruin college sports. We as an organization demand that payments to athletes continue to only occur under the table so that we are not able to enforce legislation.”
NCAA
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The Big 12 has an official hard seltzer. And they wonder why they can’t play defense out there. Nothing screams “soft” louder than “official hard seltzer.”
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