SC college athletes could get paid sooner under new state proposal
Dec. 27, 2019
Rather than wait for the top collegiate athletic governing body to come up with its own rules, two Democratic S.C. lawmakers want South Carolina to set up rules now that would let college athletes earn money while in school.
Joining California, state Sens. Marlon Kimpson, of Charleston, and Mia McCleod, of Richland, filed legislation — S. 935 — this month prohibiting the NCAA, colleges and universities from keeping student athletes from making money off of their image and likeness.
South Carolina is one of 30 states considering legislation on the issue.
The S.C. bill says athletes could make money based off signing autographs or appearing in commercials or video games. Under the legislation, a student athlete’s scholarship would not be affected. If signed into law, the legislation would take effect in 2021.
University athletic directors and the NCAA — which generated $1 billion in revenue in 2017— have been increasingly resistant to any proposals that would allow college athletes to earn money while in school.
However this month, NCAA president Mark Emmert paid Congress a visit, asking for a national solution rather than having each state adopt different rules. This followed the NCAA’s decision in October that would allow student athletes to benefit from their image and likeness, as long as its “consistent with the collegiate model.” The NCAA said it wants rules to go into place by January 2021.
But Kimpson said he doesn’t plan to wait, going as far to call the NCAA’s proposal “vague.”
“We should not be deterred in our quest to bring some level of economic fairness to the football field, or to the sports arena,” Kimpson said. “We should not be deterred by a simple press release acknowledging what we’ve known all the time that something needs to be done. They’re contemplating a scheme consistent with what they’ve done in the past, with regards to the cost of attendance.”
Not all agree, including the athletic director at the University of South Carolina.
State legislative action is not the best course to take, said Ray Tanner, who said he would rather see change made on the federal level so that every college and university is operating on a single standard. Tanner also said college athletes are also afforded access to professional staff — for instance, medical specialists, mental wellness counselors and nutritionists.
“I believe that a patchwork of different laws from different states will not work, as there will be no uniform approach to support national competition for all student-athletes,” Tanner said. Other students have the ability to earn money for something they produce in school. Kimpson offered an example of a chemistry student on full scholarship, who gets a stipend working in the library.
“If he or she creates an app, they aren’t limited from how much they could negotiate from Apple, or Samsung, or any other computer manufacturer or software developer,” Kimpson said. “What we’re talking about here is certain names on teams generate enormous sums of money in terms of ticket sales, memorabilia, television rights than others. That’s just capitalism. That’s just the market.”
Kimpson said the vast majority of student athletes won’t go into a professional league after college graduation. “This may be their only opportunity to make any money during their college years,” Kimpson said.
Dec. 27, 2019
Rather than wait for the top collegiate athletic governing body to come up with its own rules, two Democratic S.C. lawmakers want South Carolina to set up rules now that would let college athletes earn money while in school.
Joining California, state Sens. Marlon Kimpson, of Charleston, and Mia McCleod, of Richland, filed legislation — S. 935 — this month prohibiting the NCAA, colleges and universities from keeping student athletes from making money off of their image and likeness.
South Carolina is one of 30 states considering legislation on the issue.
The S.C. bill says athletes could make money based off signing autographs or appearing in commercials or video games. Under the legislation, a student athlete’s scholarship would not be affected. If signed into law, the legislation would take effect in 2021.
University athletic directors and the NCAA — which generated $1 billion in revenue in 2017— have been increasingly resistant to any proposals that would allow college athletes to earn money while in school.
However this month, NCAA president Mark Emmert paid Congress a visit, asking for a national solution rather than having each state adopt different rules. This followed the NCAA’s decision in October that would allow student athletes to benefit from their image and likeness, as long as its “consistent with the collegiate model.” The NCAA said it wants rules to go into place by January 2021.
But Kimpson said he doesn’t plan to wait, going as far to call the NCAA’s proposal “vague.”
“We should not be deterred in our quest to bring some level of economic fairness to the football field, or to the sports arena,” Kimpson said. “We should not be deterred by a simple press release acknowledging what we’ve known all the time that something needs to be done. They’re contemplating a scheme consistent with what they’ve done in the past, with regards to the cost of attendance.”
Not all agree, including the athletic director at the University of South Carolina.
State legislative action is not the best course to take, said Ray Tanner, who said he would rather see change made on the federal level so that every college and university is operating on a single standard. Tanner also said college athletes are also afforded access to professional staff — for instance, medical specialists, mental wellness counselors and nutritionists.
“I believe that a patchwork of different laws from different states will not work, as there will be no uniform approach to support national competition for all student-athletes,” Tanner said. Other students have the ability to earn money for something they produce in school. Kimpson offered an example of a chemistry student on full scholarship, who gets a stipend working in the library.
“If he or she creates an app, they aren’t limited from how much they could negotiate from Apple, or Samsung, or any other computer manufacturer or software developer,” Kimpson said. “What we’re talking about here is certain names on teams generate enormous sums of money in terms of ticket sales, memorabilia, television rights than others. That’s just capitalism. That’s just the market.”
Kimpson said the vast majority of student athletes won’t go into a professional league after college graduation. “This may be their only opportunity to make any money during their college years,” Kimpson said.