As leaders in intercollegiate athletics convened virtually at the Intercollegiate Athletics Forum (IAF), the discussions centered on how college sports have navigated this unprecedented year.
The IAF is an annual fixture. As many events have done this year, the conference, which is usually a hub of networking and vibrant discussions, moved to a virtual space. While participants expressed how much they miss live interactions, they noted that the affordability of digital platforms such as Zoom may be a vital cost-cutting measure that helps college sports move forward.
IAF opened with the annual one-on-one interview between Dr. Mark Emmert, president of the NCAA, and Abraham Madkour, publisher and executive editor of Sports Journal. The discussion began by noting that, at the end of 2019, Emmert said the majority of his focus for 2020 would be issues surrounding name, image and likeness (NIL).
While COVID-19 and the cancellation of many intercollegiate sports has been the most pressing concern, NIL is still an important issue. With several state laws on NIL due to take place — Florida is up first in July — Emmert said it’s important to address NIL on a national level so that rules are uniform across college sports.
“We can’t move forward with our legislation until we have a legal framework within which to do it,” Emmert said. “We need Congress to act, but we’re also trying to signal to everybody that we’re ready for this and we’re going to move forward if we possibly can. We need to do it in a way that supports college athletics and is not destructive.
“You cannot run a national competitive sports model with fairness and equity that has 50 different sets of rules. We need some sort of preemption [from Congress] and we’d like it, obviously, before the first laws kick in at the state level. If we can’t get there, we’re going to have a chaotic landscape.”
Division I men’s and women’s basketball have begun play. While there have been some postponements and cancellations, Emmert complimented the institutions for their resiliency and for doing the utmost to promote the health and safety of student-athletes. Discussions are underway to hold post-season in a bubble situation similar to what the NBA and WNBA did this past summer. Emmert said he expected a decision before the end of 2020.
