Big East Commish Says NCAA Considering Endorsement Deals
In an interview with SI Now's Maggie Gray, Big East Commmissioner Val Ackerman stated that she believes the NCAA is currently reconsidering their stance on not allowing student athletes to sign endorsement deals.
Courtesy SI.com: Under the current rules, student athletes may not be paid for the use of their image or likeness or they would forfeit their amateur status and their collegiate eligibility could be affected. When Gray asked Ackerman why students shouldn’t be able to capitalize on the value they bring to their university, Ackerman responded that the NCAA is considering changing that rule.
“That’s one that’s actually under consideration I believe by the NCAA,” Ackerman said. “It’s actually a time right now where student athlete interests are being closely examined. I don’t have an answer for you on that one today but I will say that and a number of other topics are under review, and I think rightly by the NCAA and it’s very possible that over the course of the next year or two as these these ideas work their way through the legislative system you could see changes.”
On-going legislation includes the plaintiffs in the O'Bannon case petitioning the Supreme Court to hear their case and also the Kessler antitrust lawsuit versus the NCAA.
Allowing student athletes to be paid for use of their likeness would be a major step (perhaps, the step) in seeing a potential return of college sports video games. However, the timetable in which the NCAA could possibly allow this is unclear. Investigations of programs and deciding player eligibility has proven to take significant time, while making satellite camps illegal was decided in short order.
The return of college gaming is likely still years away, however just hearing that the NCAA is reconsidering this stance is one of the most positive news stories on this front in some time.
