NCAA president to recommend college athletes get endorsement deals

The NCAA president is recommending that college athletes get endorsement deals as states move to implement laws that allow college players to get paid for their names, images and likenesses.

NCAA President Mark Emmert told The New York Times in an interview published Saturday that he is telling colleges to approve new rules on athletes getting endorsement deals “before, or as close to, July 1.”

The organization for months has been considering new rules that would allow college athletes could get paid for their names, images and likenesses starting Aug. 1.

“We need to get a vote on these rules that are in front of the members now,” Emmert said.

Emmert is talking to the Justice Department in order to go ahead with a vote on the new rules that are before the NCAA.

The organization would have voted on the new rules in January, but antitrust concerns were raised by the Trump administration, according to the Times.

The push to get these rules implemented comes as laws to allow athletes to earn money from their names will go into effect in Florida, South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi and New Mexico this summer.

Emmert has been pushing for the federal government to get involved and apply rules across the board, as some state bills go further than what the NCAA currently allows.

However, Emmert would not comment on if the organization would take a state to court over a discrepancy.

The debate surrounding compensation for college athletes has played out in Congress too, with the Senate holding its first hearing on the issue last year.