Latest news with #ImageandLikeness


USA Today
6 days ago
- Politics
- USA Today
College sports leaders shouldn't get too excited about Trump NIL executive order
It's not a great sign for President Trump's potential involvement in college sports when people who work in college sports are caught off-guard after word of a forthcoming executive order leaks out of the White House. And yet that was the case Wednesday after CBS reported the night before that Trump intended to sign one 'establishing national standards for the NCAA's Name, Image and Likeness program' in the coming days. What does that mean exactly? People who are generally informed on the interplay between college sports and the federal government didn't seem to know an executive order was imminent or what exactly would be in it – even folks with a direct line to Trump and who have engaged with about potential federal action that would bail college sports out of its current dysfunction. So now we wait. For something – or maybe nothing. With the Trump Administration, you can never quite tell. What we do know, however, is that the White House has, in fact, been working on something in the form of a likely executive order since Trump met with former Alabama coach Nick Saban at the school's graduation ceremony in May. Regardless of what's ultimately in it, however, coaches and administrators should resist the temptation to get excited about the possibility of Trump saving the day for a few simple, but important reasons. An executive order isn't a law. College sports and the NCAA do not operate under the purview of the executive branch of the federal government, thus any executive order compelling them to do anything would be legally questionable at best. And finally, any so-called 'fix' for college sports made with the stroke of one man's pen can be undone by the next one who occupies that office. UNWANTED TALK: Nick Saban rumor is last thing Alabama needs Sorry, college sports executives. You're going to have to actually do the work on this one. We know that's not easy, which makes the temptation to rely on Trump more tempting. It's been nearly six years since the NCAA pivoted toward begging Congress for relief from its never-ending string of lawsuits, and so far they've gotten no reward for their effort. Unless, of course, you consider it a reward to be dragged into more committee hearings to answer ridiculous, superficial questions from legislators who know as much about college sports as they do about the Finnish language. Oh sure, there's another bill on the way. And this one apparently has bipartisan support in the House. But then there's the Senate, where the top Democrat on the Senate Commerce Committee, Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., last week called it 'the National Championship of all heists' because it is too favorable to the NCAA's interests. Remember, any bill must get 60 votes due to filibuster rules in the Senate, which means a minimum of seven Democrats will need to sign off on it. That's not going to be easy, especially if it puts hard caps on how much college athletes can earn and eliminates the potential to bargain collectively for their rights in the future. Purely from a political standpoint, I'm not sure why Senate Democrats would cooperate at all here. If a bill finally passes that fixes some issues with the NCAA, they won't get credit – because Trump will take it. And he'll play it to the hilt, which doesn't seem particularly helpful to their electoral goals heading into the midterms next year. That's just how stuff works in Washington, and both parties play that game on issues far more serious and important than the NCAA's ability to regulate the transfer portal. It's part of why the NCAA's 'let Congress fix our mess' strategy has been a complete failure thus far and may never pay off. At the end of the day, there's a lot more upside for Congress to use college sports as a political plaything than to make a law that will only impact a relatively small number of people and isn't an urgent matter of national interest. But a 'let Trump fix it' strategy could be worse, particularly right now as institutions are scrambling to implement terms of the House vs. NCAA settlement that allow athletic departments to pay their athletes directly. At the moment, the House settlement and the College Sports Commission – a regulatory body created by the power conferences to enforce the settlement rules – hold the key to how college sports will operate over the next several years. Will the CSC get sued by athletes and booster collectives whose deals get denied because they aren't considered true NIL? Of course, but they already knew that. Unless Congress quickly grants college sports some type of antitrust exemption, the CSC will have to go in front of a judge and show that it follows the law to continue having regulatory power over college athletes' paychecks. That's really the only issue worth talking about right now, regardless of what Trump may write in an executive order. And what can he possibly do anyway? Maybe he can decree that college athletes can't be made employees through some type of National Labor Relations Board policy -- but they already aren't. So unless the NCAA is going to become a federal agency, where the president would have significant legal authority to regulate it, anything in an executive order is mostly going to be performative. And anything that touches actual NCAA business like the transfer portal or limiting how athletes earn money stands on far shakier legal ground than the guardrails that were already installed through the House settlement. Regardless of which direction a president wants to take college sports – any president, for the record – the fundamental problem will not change no matter who's in the office or how many executive orders they write. By refusing to engage in a true collective bargaining effort that mimics the relationship between the NFL/NBA/NHL/MLB and their respective players associations, the college sports industry left itself in a vulnerable position where any attempt to enforce its rules will face legal scrutiny. For better or worse, that's the American Way. And at this point, the focus of college sports should be long-term stability through the appropriate legal and legislative means instead of a flimsy proclamation. Colleges need to be especially careful right now. We've seen how the Trump Administration strongarms schools it has ideological disagreements with: Withholding federal grants, deporting international students, pressuring university presidents to resign. His involvement in college sports issues on behalf of the NCAA's immediate interests is going to inevitably create the appearance of long-term leverage. As frustrated as college sports executives might be with Jeffrey Kessler and other sports attorneys who keep them in court, creating space for tussles with this White House might not be the best tradeoff. Keep all that in mind when Trump issues his mysterious executive order. Because at the end of the day, only the people in charge of college sports can truly save it – no matter how much a president is itching to claim credit for doing so.


USA Today
11-07-2025
- Health
- USA Today
Baltimore Ravens' Mark Andrews hosts camp for athletes with diabetes
Late June into early July marks an off time for NFL players. There's a break between mandatory minicamps and when players report back to team facilities for training camp. We're weeks away from the start of what will be a six-month grind for most and a seven-month marathon for the playoff contenders. That makes now a good time for players to relax and/or spend their time on passion projects. NFL uniforms ranked: Where do Commanders, Saints land after revealing new alternates? REPORT: NFL and NFLPA agreed to keep collusion findings secret Baltimore Ravens tight end Mark Andrews leaned into the latter today. Andrews has long been outspoken about living with Type I diabetes after being diagnosed as a child. He's become a spokesperson for Dexcom, a company that manufactures continuous glucose monitoring systems to help those with diabetes monitor their insulin levels. Dexcom and Andrews' partnership includes "Dexcom U" - a Name, Image and Likeness (NIL) program specifically for college athletes with diabetes. They hosted a camp today in Baltimore as part of Dexcom U Signing Day. Ravens TE Mark Andrews and Dexcom are hosting a camp today in Baltimore. It's part of Dexcom U Signing Day, the only NIL program created for college athletes living with diabetes.'It's something that hits home for me,' Andrews said. This is the fourth year of the event but was the first time the NIL program hosted a nationwide open call for athletes to join its roster. A post shared by Mark Andrews (@mandrews) This year's class of athletes has yet to be announced. Last year's class included collegiate athletes competing in soccer, steeplechase, water polo, football, lacrosse, basketball and beach volleyball. Andrews' appearance at the Baltimore camp also included a game of head, shoulders, knees and ball against some of the athletes there. Mark Andrews was back in Baltimore today for an event with Dexcom and a bunch of college athletes living with to come later, but here he is being dethroned as the king of head, shoulders, knees and ball while his girlfriend makes the calls. Andrews isn't the only current NFL player with Type I diabetes. Indianapolis Colts wide receiver Adonai Mitchell, Kansas City Chiefs tight end Noah Gray and Jacksonville Jaguars linebacker Chad Muma are some of the other notable players. Baltimore's training camp kicks off on July 15 for the rookies while Andrews and the rest of the veterans will report on July 22. The Ravens open their preseason action against the Colts on Aug. 7.


USA Today
03-07-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
Ohio State basketball guard Bruce Thornton discusses why he returned to Buckeyes
#Buckeyes Bruce Thornton leaned on his morals when he decided to return for another season; loyal to the program. @OhioStateHoops Loyalty can be a hard thing to come by in the day and age of Name, Image and Likeness (NIL) and the transfer portal. You can't blame college players for looking out for themselves, but it's refreshing when a guy makes a decision based on a commitment and follows through on what he started. That's where Ohio State guard Bruce Thornton comes in. During his three years in Columbus, the Buckeyes have yet to reach the NCAA Tournament. The program has been in purgatory, trying to get back to where it once was, and he's thought to be a key part of that. It has to be disappointing to not experience some of the things Thornton thought he would when he committed to play on the banks of the Olentangy, so nobody could really blame him if he decided to move on to another program for his last season in college. That's not what happened, though. Instead, Thornton decided to come back to Columbus for his last season to help lead the team to where he thinks it can go. When asked by Kellyanne Stitts of the ABC affiliate in Columbus, WSYX, on what went into his decision to return to Ohio State, Thornton pointed to unfinished business. "I've always been a loyal guy," Thornton said. "Me being here just sticking it out just showing love back to Ohio State because they've been nothing but great to me this whole time since I've been here throughout the whole process, good, bad and ugly, so it just felt right to do it one more time. Thornton was then asked about all of the new guys on the team this season and how things are coming together, and he felt quite optimistic. "We have a lot of new guys this year, and I'm very excited," said Thornton. "I feel like our chemistry and our camaraderie together to try to build each and every day the best way we can each and every day so that we can be the best team we can possibly be." But there always has to be improvement to continue to move things forward, so the All-Big Ten performer was then asked what he's looking for in his game coming into the season. "I'm just trying to win games. I don't care what else I do, just make sure I win games and put a banner up in our practice gym, that's it." There seems to be more optimism coming out of the program this year. Something feels a little different, but of course, things have to happen on the court for the program to start to get back to one of the best in the Big Ten, and by extension, the country. Contact/Follow us @BuckeyesWire on X (formerly Twitter) and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Ohio State news, notes and opinion. Follow Phil Harrison on X.


USA Today
27-06-2025
- Entertainment
- USA Today
WATCH: Ohio State football players take part in NIL media day
In a sign of the times, Ohio State football players took part in a media day this past week, but not just any media day of the traditional variety. No, instead, the players participated in Name, Image and Likeness (NIL) media day to showcase their skills in how marketable they are. The Ohio State football creative team captured a little bit of it in a social media post to share with everyone, and though there's not a whole lot of information to glean from it all, it's still interesting to see how these events happen behind the scenes, and important to note for all of those prospective recruits out there that the Buckeyes put an emphasis on what a player can do off the field as well. Take a look at a short video of Ohio State football players taking turns in front of cameras and interviews in an NIL media day on Thursday, and just wonder how far things have come in such a short time when even paying for a meal on a recruiting trip was frowned upon. Now, runways are being laid out to help them land NIL deals. NIL itself is going to look entirely different too as the sport now embarks on direct revenue sharing, but you can bet Ohio State will try to embrace that and be ahead of the curve as well. Contact/Follow us @BuckeyesWire on X (formerly Twitter) and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Ohio State news, notes and opinion. Follow Phil Harrison on X.
Yahoo
23-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Why FSU AD Michael Alford is cautiously optimistic on how NCAA House Settlement will work
Florida State athletic director Michael Alford is in favor of the recently approved NCAA House settlement, but he expressed concerns about the enforcement of the new NCAA spending guidelines in the university's Board of Trustees (BOT) meeting on Thursday, June 12. The settlement, which was approved on June 6, allows, but importantly doesn't require, schools to directly pay their athletes for the use of their Name, Image and Likeness (NIL), subject to an annual cap based on athletics department media revenue, estimated to be about $20.5 million in its first year of implementation. Advertisement Alford has long voiced his support for the settlement and its landscape-changing impacts on collegiate athletics, and in the BOT meeting, he called it a "good thing for college athletics." "We are really excited about it, it's a changing environment in collegiate athletics. We have elected to be a part of it," Alford said. "We're going to compensate, and are working on our budget to compensate our student athletes at the highest, elitetist level we can do to continue to compete for championships." While supportive of the new era, Alford voiced concerns about the enforcement of the new guidelines. THE AFTERMATH: As Florida State-ACC lawsuit ends, here's how the settlement provides clear exit path Advertisement "The system will work, we just have to allow it to work. I'm in full favor of the system and the audit that comes behind it," Alford said. "What I'm skeptical of, and have let my feelings be known to our ACC legal counsel and our commissioner, is the enforcement." Alford said he's heard from coaches at FSU that other universities are conducting and attempting to implement deals that would violate the current agreement. "I'm hearing other things that people are doing out there, and our coaches are informing me of this, and my response is, 'That's not legal in the new system," Alford said. "They can't be promising kids this." In conversation with the ACC, Alford said he's in favor of how the conference is going to respond to violations of the new polices. Michael Alford: FSU athletes have already seen impact of House settlement One major change in particular is the creation of the NIL GO, a clearinghouse powered by Deloitte under the newly created College Sports Commission. Advertisement Third-party deals ― agreements between athletes and boosters or other entities ― worth more than $600 are required to be reported to the clearinghouse to be approved or denied, something Alford said FSU athletes have already seen happen. Deals will be evaluated on if they serve valid business opportunities instead of potential recruiting incentives. "We've already had people inserting agreements, and agreements have already come back denied," Alford said. "It's a new process, I'm familiar with it, I'm in favor of it, and I think it's going to work... what I'm talking to the commissioner about, even as of yesterday, is the enforcement." "More information on that should be coming out real soon." Advertisement Liam Rooney covers Florida State athletics for the Tallahassee Democrat. Contact him via email at LRooney@ or on Twitter @__liamrooney This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: FSU AD Michael Alford concerned about House settlement enforcement