The state of Florida’s name, image and likeness (NIL) amendment has cleared its last legislative hurdle and will now be sent to the desk of governor Ron DeSantis, whose signature is expected as early as Friday or sometime next week, according to sources. The amended law will go into effect once DeSantis signs it.
The main change, spearheaded by state representative Chip LaMarca and state senator Travis Hutson, is the removal of so-called cause compensation language that will allow for schools to more directly facilitate deals. Previously, schools were not allowed to be seen causing cash to be directed to athletes. The original thought behind it was to protect coaches’ time, but functionally it created red tape and confusion as schools tried to navigate what was permissible.
A source at one school gives Sports Illustrated an example of an athlete sending an email to a representative of a collective regarding a deal and cc’ing their coach on it because they didn’t know any better. It created some ambiguity about what exactly was and wasn’t permissible and if the deal could be done at all.
