This bill would not provide a salary to players. Co-sponsor Joe Lagana (D-Paramus) says colleges and the NCAA make a lot of money from souvenirs and such — so why can't players get a cut?
"It's about time now that we enter the 21st century and do what probably should have been done a long time ago, and that's allow athletes to go down this road," Lagana told KYW Newsradio.
California has already passed such a law and several others are considering it. There would be limits, particularly when it comes to personal endorsement deals.
"The schools are profiting of the sale of your likeness and image, and the NCAA is also profiting off of that," Lagana, a former college athlete himself, added. "Right now, current rules and regulations disallow that athlete to essentially profit the same way the school or the NCAA profits."
He expects a good deal of blowback from schools and the NCAA. So it'll take some time before the issue is settled. But this debate could serve as a starting point for a national standard, at least with states if not on the federal level.
The bill's other sponsor is Sandra Cunningham (D-Jersey City), who chairs the Senate Education Committee.