Florida lawmakers begin discussions on NIL

(The Center Square) — A working group in the Florida Legislature is taking a look at the state's name, image and likeness laws, with a goal of possibly changing them to make the state's intercollegiate athletic programs more competitive.

This allows college athletes to get paid for use of their name, image and likeness and was the result of 2015 litigation by a former NCAA basketball player, Ed O'Bannon, over his uncompensated appearance in a basketball video game.

Combined Workgroup on Collegiate Name, Image, and Likeness Chairman Alex Rizzo, R-Hialeah, said one of the priorities in his opening statement on Wednesday was to determine the impact on the legal responsibilities on the finances of the state's universities.

"Regardless of how we feel about it, the reality is ones impacted most have been our student athletes," Rizzo said. "There is a lot that we are going to be discussing. The [House] Speaker [Daniel Perez] has asked us to be inquisitive so we can chart the course forward."

Former Florida basketball player Chris Richard, who was the sixth man on the during the 2006-2007 NCAA championship run and Mr. Basketball in Florida in 2002, told the committee that EA Sports, the maker of the NCAA basketball series of games, tried to hide "who we are."

"I remember the first time they started selling our jerseys originally, it was only the number one, but after that, they had different numbers for players," Richard said. "Just to see how the school made a lot of money, the whole world made money because we signed autographs and some of the autographs end up on eBay and the fans are making money.

"[NIL] would've helped me a lot, but it would've helped out a lot of my teammates more because I was fortunate enough to get drafted in the NBA"

The University of Florida is facing litigation over the recruitment of high school quarterback Jaden Rashada.

Rashada sued the Gainesville-based school last year over how he says the school allegedly defrauded him out of millions in NIL funds after a deal between the two parties broke down. Rashada played one season at Arizona State and transferred after the end of the season to Georgia.

Florida Senior Associate Athletics Director Steve McClain told the committee that outsourcing NIL to third-party collectives was like having a company disperse responsibility for its health and other benefits to employees.

"In the beginning of NIL, it was very restrictive," McClain said. "People would talk about school X is not doing this in the NIL space. We had our hands tied. There's no recourse if people if people stepped out of bounds.

"When we talk about name, image and likeness, college athletics is one of the few athletic areas where everything comes down to recruiting. Talent acquisition is college athletics is all about recruiting. While the intent is going to be, how can it help athletes? Coaches, sometimes administrators, sometimes boosters and fans will say how can we leverage NIL in recruiting? By giving more control to the universities and athletic departments would be helpful there."