Florida Allows Universities to Make Athlete Pay Deals

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a bill Thursday allowing universities to enter into agreements to support college athletes in the state.

Florida was one of the first states to pass legislation allowing college athletes to profit from their name, image, or likeness, but it did not allow people associated with universities to enter into endorsement agreements. The new law removes this provision to make Florida more competitive with other states that have no restrictions. The bill was passed unanimously by the House of Representatives and the Senate during a recent special session.

“In 2020, we used common sense to ensure that student-athletes can control their name, likeness, and likeness and get paid fairly for it,” DeSantis said at the event. bill signingjoined by college athletes and coaches from Florida State University and the University of Florida. “Now that the NCAA has taken the necessary steps to ensure fairness for student athletes, we can focus on ensuring that these athletes are supported and protected in accordance with the law.”

NCAA rules allow athletes to make deals with third parties. Schools are prohibited from paying athletes and they cannot participate in contracting.

This has led to an increase in the number of incentive and funded teams to enter into potentially lucrative agreements with college athletes. The presence of teams that operate outside the purview of the sports department they purport to represent creates potential problems for schools.

Specifically, in Florida, blue-chip recruit Jayden Rashada of California signed with the University of Florida in December but asked for and was granted permission to release him after a deal with a potentially worth more than $13 million team fell through.

The updated law requires student-athletes to attend two seminars on financial literacy, life skills and entrepreneurship before graduation. It also states that Athlete Representatives who represent Intercollegiate Athletes under contracts involving the use of their name, likeness or likeness must protect the student from exploitation. The legislation also protects schools and coaches from liability when decisions such as substitution or suspension of a player could damage deals with a player.

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