Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a bill on Friday that would allow college athletes to make money by profiting off their name, image and likeness (NIL). Florida is the third state to pass an NIL-related bill, but its bill will be the first one to be put into action.
DeSantis signed the bill on Friday afternoon at the campus of the University of Miami in Coral Gables, Florida. He was joined by UM legend Jonathan Vilma and FSU legend Corey Simon.
The bill, which was passed by the Florida Senate and House of Representatives in March, says that athletes won’t be paid for playing but will be allowed to make a profit off their name, image and likeness.
Florida is the third state to sign a bill like this into law, joining California and Colorado, which signed those bills into law in September 2019 and March 2020, respectively.
Although, unlike the Golden and Centennial States, the Sunshine State’s law goes into effect on July 1, 2021, 18 months before California and Colorado’s would go into effect on Jan. 1, 2023.
"The bill does not do anything about paying an athlete from a university, [they’re] still amateurs,” DeSantis said on Friday. "But if EA Sports wants to do NCAA Football, they’re going to have some of these guys who are great players, they’re going to use their name, image and likeness, then there can be some compensation for that.”
The NCAA had previously been against athletes receiving any kind of compensation, but in April, the NCAA Board of Governors said it supports student-athletes receiving compensation for third-party endorsements.
However, the NCAA has said it is against states passing individual laws that would dictate the rules, but 20 states are currently considering such laws.
In April, the NCAA asked Congress to create a federal law that would supersede the state-by-state legislation. With Florida’s law now being official, it has 13 months to do so.
"I think it really is Florida leading the way on this,” DeSantis said. "If you’re a blue-chip recruit out there thinking about where you want to go, one of our Florida schools, I think, is a great landing spot.”
Follow Noah on Twitter @Noah_ram1. Contact him at nram@alligator.org
Noah is a third year journalism-sports and media student from Palm Beach Gardens, Florida. He has been with The Alligator since Spring 2019 and has covered men’s and women’s tennis, gymnastics and volleyball. When he isn’t on his beat, Noah is usually sadden over his beloved South Florida sports teams, such as the Heat and Dolphins.
