Emmert fiddles while amateurism burns.

Your NCAA, hard at work.

Set to pass NIL at its virtual convention in mid-January, the NCAA delayed the decision, citing a letter from the Department of Justice. However, a more practical reason has emerged. The governing body of college athletics is waiting for the Supreme Court to rule on its antitrust case, NCAA v. Alston, before passing any NIL legislation, multiple sources tell Sports Illustrated. Some contend that approving NIL would damage the NCAA’s argument in Alston, weakening its chances for a victory in a case that, while it centers around antitrust, also could produce a decision that greatly impacts amateurism.

But how long is the NCAA willing to wait? The Alston decision isn’t expected until June, if not later, coming dangerously close to what is becoming a D-Day for college sports: July 1. Eleven states have passed NIL laws, four of which take effect July 1: Mississippi, Florida, New Mexico and Alabama. Two more states have a bill awaiting a governor’s signature to become law and 18 more have introduced a bill this spring, as states hurry to one-up one another for recruiting purposes.

The states hurry, even if the NCAA doesn’t.  Or maybe that should be because the NCAA doesn’t.

Big 12 commissioner Bob Bowlsby, part of the NCAA’s NIL working group, says the group has met at least twice a month, spending the last four months continuously tinkering with what they term as an evolving NIL legislative proposal. SI obtained the original proposal last fall.

While the NCAA hopes Congress passes a federal bill to govern NIL, the organization expects at some point to remove its tabled item and pass the long-awaited measure.

“There are those advocating to pass it before July 1,” Bowlsby says. “There are those who say some of the chaos is required and let the state laws go into effect. It puts the institutions in a tough spot. They’re going to either comply with NCAA rules and against the state or comply with state law and against the NCAA.”

Gee, Bob, I wonder which course of action they’ll choose.

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