The consensus at this year’s Intercollegiate Athletics Forum (IAF) is that changes are coming to the NCAA and overall governance of college sports, but questions remain about when and how.
Virtually every moderator and panelist at the IAF, held in New York City this week, mentioned the issue of student-athletes’ rights to earn money from their names, images and likenesses (NIL), but no one was able to say how it will unfold, what it will include and when it will take place. With California Governor Gavin Newsom signing a bill that will make it easier for college athletes to monetize NIL and similar bills pending in several states, it was agreed there needs to be national standardization as well as thoughtful consideration on how to implement this.
In a one-on-one interview with sports attorney Glenn Wong, former U.S. Secretary of Education and current co-chair of the Knight Commission Arne Duncan said the structure of the NCAA needs to change. With coming changes surrounding NIL — California’s new law is due to take effect in 2023 — Duncan said it’s time for college sports to get in front of issues.
“The NCAA has been too slow in addressing issues of name, image and likeness,” said Duncan. “It’s not like we didn’t know the issue was coming.
“To pretend someone whose jersey is selling isn’t related to the person makes no sense,” he added. “To act like that individual doesn’t deserve some piece of that revenue, that’s wrong.”
He noted that many student-athletes are people of color, while coaches, athletic directors and college presidents aren’t nearly as diverse. “When you have White institutions and White people at the top letting the revenue from what those of color are generating go elsewhere, that’s wrong,” said Duncan.
Duncan said it’s time to challenge the status quo. It’s clear the Power 5 conferences need to either establish their own division within the NCAA or become a new entity.
