Florida has amended its law surrounding college athletes making money off their name, image and likeness to evening the playing field for many of the state’s colleges and universities.
The bill, HB7B, was signed into law by Gov. Ron DeSantis Thursday morning in front of a contingent of college football coaches and athletes from the University of Florida and Florida State.
“In 2020, we took a commonsense approach to ensure that student-athletes could control their name, image and likeness and be paid fairly for it,” said Governor Ron DeSantis. “Now that the NCAA has taken necessary steps to ensure fairness for student-athletes, we can focus on making sure that those athletes are supported and protected under the law.”
Rep. Chip LaMarca, who submitted the original bill, shared the news on Twitter along with photos of the signed bill, the group of athletes represented by football coaches Billy Napier (Florida) and Mike Norvell (Florida State) and a selfie with FSU quarterback Jordan Travis.
The ability to bring rivals together in one room showcased the magnitude of the moment.
“I won’t give any confidential information other than to say I did see two defensive linemen from opposite teams hugging in the governor’s office,” LaMarca told the Orlando Sentinel. “They’ll put that behind them when they meet in the Swamp (on Nov. 25).”
The law allows more institutional involvement from universities and colleges regarding NIL, enabling colleges, universities and its employees to steer NIL opportunities toward athletes. The previous legislation prohibited schools from directly contacting athletes regarding NIL opportunities.
Now if a business or organization wishes to contact an athlete about a possible NIL deal, coaches can help facilitate that connection.
“Thank you @GovRonDeSantis This Bill ensures @FSUFootball and the #NoleFamily can continue to #CLIMB back to the top of College Football! The future is bright in Tallahassee #GONOLES,” Norvell said on Twitter after attending the bill signing.
“We are appreciative of all the work done by everyone who made the NIL bill possible,” said Napier. “We are also thankful for the invitation to travel to Tallahassee today to attend the signing of the bill. It was an educational experience for our six student-athletes who proudly represented their peers and University.”
Florida was one of the first of many states to establish its NIL legislation. The law was intended to provide structure and guardrails for the process instead of NCAA legislation. But when the organization took on a broader view of NIL, many states that had enacted their laws began repealing them to allow universities the freedom to do much more with their athletes in the marketplaces.
“We realized when the NCAA walked away from the issue and didn’t have guidelines, we were stuck with these guardrails and at a disadvantage,” said LaMarca. “So we had to come back and do something.”
LaMarca submitted a bill to amend the law during last year’s legislative session, but there wasn’t enough support at the time to pass something. That changed going into this year.
“There was certainly a push this year. The governor made it a bit of an issue in special (sessions),” he said. “The Speaker of the House and the president of the Senate were all on board and we did it.”
The bill, which was tweaked with the help of Sen. Travis Hudson, R-Palm Coast, and Sen. Corey Simon, R-Tallahassee, breezed through special sessions with an 18-0 vote before making its way to the House floor, where it was unanimously approved 113-0 before going to the Senate, where it also received unanimous approval, 34-0. From there, all it needed was Gov. DeSantis’ approval and signature.
Part of the new law provides better education for the state’s college athletes, an important part of the legislation according to LaMarca.
“I saw this as an opportunity to equip our collegiate athletes with the best tools of any state in the country,” he said. “That was to make sure that we have excellent financial literacy and life skills, but entrepreneurship training, in that process. To give them the tools to really start a brand and build something based on themselves.”
The law also provides liability protection for coaches and schools whose decisions could impact an athlete’s NIL deals.
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