Three years after California took the lead in the battle for college athlete rights as the first state to legalize name, image and likeness payments to players, another potentially game-changing bill is on the move through the state legislature in Sacramento.
Senate Bill 206, signed into law by Gov. Gavin Newsom in the fall of 2019, made it illegal for the NCAA universities to prohibit third parties from paying college athletes for use of their NILs in endorsements, sponsorships and other appearances. But it did not ask school athletic departments to alter their budgets, which allowed for an easy passageway.
In contrast, Senate Bill 1401, named the “College Athlete Race and Gender Equity Act,” cuts right to the heart of the collegiate model and the ideals of amateurism. SB 1401 would require California schools to share 50% of annual revenues in football and men’s and women’s basketball with the athletes, initiating a new era of “pay for play” — and what college sports leaders fear would be a doomsday scenario for athletic departments that currently use profits from revenue sports to fund their non-revenue sports programs.
