The NCAA president lashed out at “evidence of dysfunction in the current NIL environment” and reiterated his desire for Congress to create national guidelines to shape the so-called name, image and likeness sponsorship deals that are reshaping college sports. .
Charlie Baker's social media post came on Friday, capping a week in which UNLV quarterback Matthew Sluka made headlines by abruptly ending his season. His agent explained that Sluka made the decision after he was not paid $100,000 in an NIL deal promised by an assistant coach when the quarterback agreed to transfer to the Rebels last winter.
Baker did not mention the Sluka affair directly in his post, but made reference to “promises made but not kept.”
“We continue to see evidence of dysfunction in the current NIL environment, including examples of promises made but not kept to student-athletes,” Baker said.
He pointed to a sample contract the NCAA provides to athletes that includes what he calls “fair and recommended terms.” But the NCAA, a consistent loser in court in recent years on the issue of player payments, does not have the authority to force athletes to follow its standards.
On Thursday, attorneys presented a reworded settlement proposal in a lawsuit that would funnel $2.78 billion to current and former players as part of a new revenue-sharing agreement between schools and athletes. The NCAA is a defendant in that lawsuit, and the settlement also restricts its oversight of many NIL agreements.
The terms of the agreement are supposed to last 10 years, although other factors, such as the players' possible attempt to unionize and state or federal legislation, will have an impact on what the college landscape will look like in the future.
“We continue to advocate for Congress to create national NIL guidelines that protect student-athletes from exploitation, including the use of standard contracts,” Baker wrote at the end of his post.
