NC governor to create standards for college athletes monetizing fame amid NIL debate
North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper issued an executive order Friday that sets standards for college and university policies on athletes who may receive payments tied to their celebrity status.
Cooper’s executive order places North Carolina among the ranks of state governors who have moved to set parameters around deals as new NCAA rules went into effect Thursday allowing athletes to monetize their name, image and likeness.
“This order ensures that North Carolina has rules in place to let collegiate student-athletes earn compensation from their name, image and likeness,” Cooper said in a news release. “Treating these athletes fairly and uniformly will help our state remain a competitive and desirable place to get educated and compete.”
Since the NCAA changed its rules, individual schools have imposed their own guidelines for athletes who engage in NIL opportunities. Cooper’s executive order is in line with those guidelines.
For example, Cooper’s order prevents athletes from engaging in NIL deals with companies that are “antithetical to the values of the institution or that association with the product or brand may negatively impact the image of the institution.”
That’s similar to Duke’s policy, which prohibits its athletes from promoting “products or services related to gambling or performance-enhancing supplements on the NCAA’s banned drug list.”
The same goes for the stipulation in Cooper’s order that says schools may limit athletes from “compensation regarding name, image, and likeness of a student-athlete during official team activities or institution-sponsored events.”
Schools are already on board with preventing NIL activities from occurring during games.
Efforts by North Carolina state lawmakers to create a law with statewide standards are already underway. On Wednesday, Sen. Jim Perry, a Republican from Kinston, revived an effort to pass legislation that would impose statewide restrictions on colleges and universities.
The NCAA faced the prospect of athletes in some states having different eligibility rules than athletes in others as 13 states have laws allowing athletes to sign endorsement deals or generate income from their social media followings while maintaining their college eligibility, effective this year.
The college sports governing body rushed through new rules this week so such activities do not violate amateurism rules nationwide. In doing so, the NCAA said any state or federal laws would supersede its policy.
While most states that acted ahead of the NCAA passed laws setting parameters for name, image and likeness deals, North Carolina had yet to do so. Neither had Kentucky or Ohio. But Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear signed an executive order doing that last week and Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine did the same on Monday.
Cooper’s executive order is intended to provide a bridge until the General Assembly passes an NIL law, or a federal law is put in place. In a statement, Cooper said he “intends to work with the legislature on potential legislation to supplement this Executive Order.”
Perry, from Kinston, said Friday that Cooper’s order is not binding for universities.
“Gov. Cooper’s executive order does not have the force of law,” Perry said. “The Senate will continue working on this matter and we expect to produce legislation shortly.”
For more North Carolina government and politics news, listen to the Under the Dome politics podcast from The News & Observer and the NC Insider. You can find it at link.chtbl.com/underthedomenc or wherever you get your podcasts.
This story was originally published July 2, 2021 at 1:40 PM with the headline "NC governor to create standards for college athletes monetizing fame amid NIL debate."
