California will now allow college athletes to make money from endorsements and hire agents thanks to a bill signed by the state’s governor. According to the Associated Press, Gov. Gavin Newsom announced Monday he signed a law that would allow college athletes in the state to make money from their images, name and likenesses. The law would also prohibit schools from kicking athletes off the team if they are getting paid. The law would go into effect on Jan. 1, 2023.
California is the first state to pass this law. And it looks like more states will follow in its footsteps.
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“It’s going to initiate dozens of other states to introduce similar legislation,” Newsom said on the Uninterrupted talk show The Shop according to the Los Angeles Times. “And it’s going to change college sports for the better by having now the interest finally of the athletes on par with the interests of the institution. Now we are rebalancing that power.”
The NCAA Board of Governors asked Newsom to not sign the bill because it “would erase the critical distinction between college and professional athletes.” So what the NCAA could do now is ban schools such as the University of Southern California, University of California, Los Angeles, Stanford University and the University of California, Berkeley from NCAA competition. If that happens, those schools to leave the NCAA and form a new league. And if more states allow college athletes to make money from endorsements, they will join the new league as well.
Most pro athletes are all about college athletes making money. But one former NFL player and college superstar, Tim Tebow, is not happy with athletes being able to hire agents and get endorsement deals.
“I feel like I have a little credibility and knowledge about this,” Tebow said during a Friday interview on ESPN’s First Take.
“Because when I was at the University of Florida, I think my jersey was one of the top jerseys around the world … and I didn’t make a dollar from it, but nor did I want to. Because I knew, going into college, what it was all about.”
Tebow continued: “It’s about your team. It’s about your university. It’s about where my family wanted to go. It’s about where my grandfather had my dream of having Florida win an SEC championship. And you’re taking that away so young kids can earn a dollar. And I feel like that’s just not where college football needs to go.”
