Florida May Amend Its Groundbreaking NIL Law

Florida was not the first to have its governor sign a name, image, and likeness (NIL) bill into law, requiring that the NCAA no longer interfere with college athletes’ ability to enter into endorsement deals and otherwise monetize their fame. However, it was the first state to push a July 1, 2021, effective date, leading to the end of prior restrictions that had made it so college athletes could not earn money even though there was a market for paying players.

California had, in fact, led all states in being the first to push forward with a bill that would change the college landscape. Yet, California’s NIL law would not go into effect until 2023 (this was later changed after Gov. Ron DeSantis approved Florida’s NIL bill).

Florida’s bill, sponsored by Rep. Chip LaMarca, pushed the envelope on many issues and, at the time, put the state at an advantage as compared to others. It said that schools and the NCAA could not prevent college athletes from using their names, images, and likenesses; it allowed college athletes to make use of professional representation by sports agents or lawyers; and it required schools to provide athletes with financial literacy and life skills workshops.

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However, leading into the 2022 Florida legislative session, which begins on January 1, LaMarca felt unsatisfied with the progress that he and others in the state accomplished. He announced, on December 15, the filing of new legislation that seeks to amend the groundbreaking bill that was passed two years ago.

What changed that caused LaMarca to push a refresh to the existing law? He says that the catalyst for requesting a change to Florida’s NIL law was the NCAA all-of-a-sudden, on June 30, deciding to eradicate its existing bylaws that prohibited athletes from monetizing their fame and implementing a very basic interim NIL policy, which remains in place in its same form many months later. When the NCAA vacated its prior prohibitions it seemed to provide schools in states without any NIL laws an advantage as compared to schools in states that led the way for reform, like Florida. LaMarca is determined to level the playing field.

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LaMarca’s legislation, if passed and signed into law, would eradicate the prohibition previously inserted into the law that says schools and their employees cannot cause compensation to be directed to college athletes for their NIL. While these entities and people still cannot directly pay players as a part of any NIL activity, they will no longer be precluded from being a part of the process that may ultimately put dollars in the players’ pockets. This is because the NCAA does not explicitly prevent such activity from taking place.

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Darren Heitner is the founder of Heitner Legal. He is the author of How to Play the Game: What Every Sports Attorney Needs to Know, published by the American Bar Association, and is an adjunct professor at the University of Florida Levin College of Law. You can reach him by email at [email protected] and follow him on Twitter at @DarrenHeitner.

Topics

Darren Heitner, Florida, Intellectual Property, NIL, Sports