Opinion: Colorado Passes Bill to Aid Athletes in Profiting Off Name, Image and Likeness

On Friday, Colorado Governor Jared Polis signed a bill allowing to help college athletes profit off of their name, image and likeness while participating in collegiate athletics. The bill is set to go into effect on January 1, 2023.

Colorado becomes the second state to pass a bill to aid college athletes in profiting off their name, image and likeness. California passed a similar bill in the fall of 2019 and as many as 30 states have bills pending.

The bill passed in the Colorado House of Representatives by a vote of 55-9. Sports Illustrated’s Ben Pickman wrote about this story on a national scale.

Allowing athletes to profit off their name, image and likeness has been a long time coming in college athletics. Ed O’Bannon won his case almost five years ago in the Ninth Circuit before the Supreme Court declined to hear it. By the time 2023 rolls around, it would have been eight years. That’s two full cycles of collegiate athletes.

The NCAA has been exploiting young adults for decades and it has taken the government to step in and put a stop to it. Most states will soon pass a bill and the federal government could still get involved.

So what does this mean for the University of Colorado?

At the moment, if no other states pass the same bill which is highly unlikely, they have a distinct advantage over the rest of their competition, besides California, starting in 2023. Athletes could play for CU and be able to profit unlike their peers in other states.

That is not going to happen. This is likely just putting pressure on the NCAA to change their rules in order to level out the playing field. Allegedly, according to Jon Rothstein of CBS Sports, “The NCAA may hold off on immediately addressing the topic of name, image and likeness for student-athletes due to the circumstances caused by Coronavirus.”

Sources: The NCAA may hold off on immediately addressing the topic of name, image, and likeness for student athletes due to the circumstances caused by Coronavirus.
— Jon Rothstein (@JonRothstein) March 19, 2020

The NCAA later refuted the report.

It shouldn’t be a surprise the NCAA will keep pushing this off as long as possible but if the government continues to apply pressure, they won’t have any other choice. Luckily, Colorado has a forward-thinking governor so they don’t have to worry about what the NCAA is going to do.

For those that think this will only impact football and men’s basketball players, Colorado is a great example of why that is wrong. Colorado produces Olympic athletes at one of the highest rates in the country. Famously, Jeremy Bloom lost his NCAA eligibility in football for participating in the Olympics in skiing and taking sponsorships. Dani Jones, who just completed her senior season as a track and cross country athlete, has already been participating in professional events but has not been allowed to profit off of it. That will change with this bill, although just through sponsorships.

One could make the argument this would impact Olympic athletes more than it will impact the average football player. Obviously, five-star recruits are a completely different story.

Social media has become a popular outlet for collegiate athletes. Some of them have built their brands to tens of thousands of followers on various networks. In 2023, those athletes will be able to run advertisements on their accounts and profit off of their social media presence.

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