On November 16, 2020, the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) issued its proposed bylaws to be considered at its January 12-15, 2021 Convention. Included therein are the long-awaited new bylaws that would allow NCAA athletes to be compensated for the commercial use of their own Names, Images, and Likenesses (NILs), subject to certain restrictions. If adopted, effective August 1, 2021, these provisions would eliminate numerous previously prohibited compensation restrictions imposed by decades of onerous NCAA amateur status rules. On October 6, 2020, effective immediately, the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) adopted bylaw amendments that broadly allowed its athletes to receive NIL compensation. This Drake Group (TDG) position statement provides a critique of these actions by the NCAA and NAIA.
