States Keeping Ball In Bounds For Passing NIL With Sports Betting

• Student-athletes are finding more states passing NIL regulations that would allow them to be compensated through outside opportunities.
• Ohio has just added a NIL clause to their sports betting legislation so that it will be available should the bill find passage.
• Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Maryland, Mississippi, Texas, and New Mexico have all recently implemented NIL regulations for their student-athletes.

BALTIMORE – More and more states are choosing to either allow college athletes to be compensated for their NIL or lawmakers are at least adding it into the language of sports betting legislation in 2021.

NIL has been a big issue for some time now nationwide and there has been a back-and-forth debate about it. For example, if one state were to give their student-athletes the ability to profit through their NIL and another didn’t, those players would likely choose to go to a college that gave them that opportunity rather than go to a school that didn’t.

With keeping that in mind, multiple states have jumped on regulating NIL issues. Governor Andy Beshear of Kentucky put his signature on an executive order on Thursday that will be enacted on July 1.

“Today’s step was done in cooperation with all of our public universities as well as leadership of both parties,” said Beshear. “This action ensures we are not at a competitive disadvantage in recruiting, and also that our student-athletes have the same rights and opportunities as those in other states. For any individual athlete, their name, image, and likeness are their own and no one else’s.”

Other states that have recently approved NIL regulations are Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Maryland, Mississippi, Texas, and New Mexico.

What’s Being Said And Done With NIL Around The Country

Regulated sports betting continues to expand throughout the United States. This only furthers the popularity of college athletes as sports bettors wager on their games. The students could profit from their NIL by riding the coattails of how many more people are finding themselves becoming fans of their sporting events.

Additional chances at sponsorship and other deals with big named companies for student-athletes could be seen as they become household names due to their performances for their teams.

Justice Brett Kavanaugh believes that this is a no-brainer for the NCAA as colleges all across the country gain tons of funding through their sports programs and the better the team, the bigger the profits. So why wouldn’t the players that help make that all possible be allowed to be compensated?

“The bottom line is that the NCAA and its member colleges are suppressing the pay of student-athletes who collectively generate billions of dollars in revenues for colleges every year. Those enormous sums of money flow to seemingly everyone except the student-athletes,” said Kavanaugh.

“College presidents, athletic directors, coaches, conference commissioners, and NCAA executives take in six- and seven-figure salaries. Colleges build lavish new facilities. But the student-athletes who generate the revenues, many of whom are African-American and from lower-income backgrounds, end up with little or nothing.”

College football betting is a huge draw for fans. Through these bets, gamblers become more acquainted with the players they’re wagering on. That only contributes to future money that could be made by these players if their states regulated NIL.

With all of the states adding it to their laws, Ohio has now decided to do the same.

Ohio has until the end of the year to pass bills. They are currently in talks to regulate a sports betting industry. Now they’ve added NIL to their sports gaming legislation so that both subjects would find passage at the same time.

This will do little to help for the Buckeye State’s players in their upcoming 2021 seasons because other states and their student-athletes already have NIL passed and will benefit from it sooner than Ohio would.

What’s Coming For College Athletes & Compensation

Simply looking at sportsbooks, both retail and mobile sportsbooks, gamblers will see tons of betting lines on college sports. Just like sports wagering has taken years in getting more states regulated industries, the same could be said for NIL.

It will happen across the nation, just at its own pace the way the laws of regulated sports gaming have. Once lawmakers see the benefits of allowing it, it’s all but signed, sealed, and delivered by Governors into law.

News tags: Alabama | Andy Beshear | Brett Kavanaugh | Florida | Georgia | Kentucky | Maryland | Mississippi | NCAA | New Mexico | NIL | Ohio | Texas