The Arizona Legislature is joining the push by other states to allow college athletes to earn money from their name, image or likeness.

One such bill, sponsored by Rep. Anthony Kern, R-Glendale, already has been introduced to the legislature this month with another, from Rep. Reginald Bolding, D-Phoenix, expected to be introduced next week.

Both are similar to a bill passed by the California Legislature and signed into law by Gov. Gavin Newsom in September to go into effect in 2023. Newsom, a Democrat, predicted that “dozens of other states” would introduce similar legislation, and Arizona now is among a list of at least 17 to have done so.

Kern’s bill would go into effect Sept. 1, 2021 and prohibit any organization including the NCAA from enforcing “any rule that prevents a student athlete from earning compensation as a result of the student athlete’s name, image or likeness.”

Kern said Friday that he considers his NIL bill to be a “fairness issue” that will protect Arizona students and families and not give California an edge in recruiting Arizona athletes. 

“Universities are making hundreds of millions (from athletics), why not put some of that back into student’s pockets,” he said. 

Bolding said his bill is a “very similar piece of legislation” to Kern’s but would take effect in 2023.

“It’s important for states and universities to have a system that’s parallel to each other,” Bolding said. “Once different states have different rules, it can become difficult for athletes to decide what school to go to.”

Bolding believes a 2021 timetable is “too aggressive” and that 2023 “provides the NCAA time to come up with a fix.”

Kern said, “I’m more than happy to work with Rep. Bolding on this issue and appreciate his effort.”

In October, the NCAA Board of Governors voted to permit athletes to benefit from their name, image and likeness “in a manner consistent with the collegiate model.”

“No one really knows exactly what that means,” said Mit Winter, a collegiate sports attorney. “It’s going to be more restrictive than what these state laws are that don’t have any limits on how much athletes can be paid or when they can get the money. The only limit is they can’t enter into a deal with a company that already has a deal with the school. The NCA has to try and create rules around athletes being able to monetize their name, image and likeness while making it somehow tethered to education.”

An NCAA committee chaired by Ohio State athletic director Gene Smith and Big East commissioner Val Ackerman is continuing to work on specifics for new rules that the Board of Governors are asking to take effect no later than January 2021.

ASU President Michael Crow said through a spokesman that he supports NCAA guidelines on the name, image and likeness issue and has not reviewed Kern’s bill.

Winter said 17 states including Arizona have filed or pre-filed NIL bills with 15 more planning to do so. California is the only state so far to have passed NIL legislation.

Winter said NIL bills in Florida, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Oklahoma, Massachusetts and New Hampshire could go into effect in 2020. The NCAA then could be forced to seek a stay or sue asking to postpone a law going into effect until its NIL rules are in place, perhaps including money going a trust fund for each athlete.

“History presents a lot of good lessons for how this can look,” said Victoria Jackson, ASU clinical assistant professor of history and a member of the National College Players Association oversight board. “Olympic athletes figure it out along the way. It’s going to work out.”

Jackson compares NCAA schools grappling with the NIL issue similar to what happened with Title IX in the 1970s.

“While the NCAA was suing to get athletics to have an exemption to Title IX, at the same time people were figuring out how to put the law into practice,” she said. “There are people on every campus who have expertise to know how to do this (NIL) responsibly and also keep the system afloat.”

More: How former ASU QB Sam Keller pushed over ‘first domino’ to NCAA name, likeness reform

Reach the reporter at [email protected] or 602-444-8053. Follow him on Twitter @jeffmetcalfe.

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