Buckeye Breakfast: Anthony Gonzalez Co-Sponsors NIL Bill

The former-Buckeye-turned-congressman has been working on this issue for quite awhile and now there is bipartisan legislation in front of Congress to consider.

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Anthony Gonzalez Co-Sponsors NIL Bill

Former Ohio State receiver and current member of the United States House of Representatives Anthony Gonzalez has been passionate about helping NCAA student-athletes profit from their Name, Image and Likeness (NIL) for a long time. Late this past week, Gonzalez took another step forward in assisting that cause.

Gonzalez co-sponsored a new bill in congress which seems to be generating significant support because it's bipartisan legislation. Along with Rep. Emanuel Cleaver (D-Mo.), Gonzalez put forward a bill that they hoped to bring to a vote sometime in early 2021.

The bill restricts some of the products or companies that college athletes could partner with, such as marijuana, gambling, adult entertainment, tobacco or alcohol companies. It does not implement all of the restrictions that the NCAA and other college athletics administrators want Congress to impose, but it create a 13-member commission whose role would be to continue to regulate the law as any unintended consequences from the original bill emerge.

"The reality is we're going down a path we've never gone down before," Gonzalez told ESPN.

This proposed legislation would be governed by the Federal Trade Commission. It would also give schools the authority to deny athletes from wearing anything that promotes one of their endorsers during games or school-sponsored events. But it does not include any language related to athletes signing deals with competitors of companies that have deals in place with schools already (i.e. Coke vs. Pepsi, Under Armour vs. Adidas vs. Nike). The bill also prevents schools from paying athletes directly - they are not to be confused as employees of their school.

Read more about the bill Gonzalez co-sponsored.

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