The Amendment strengthens Missouri collegiate coaches’ ability to advocate for student athletes by expressly permitting coaches to participate in meetings between NIL entities and student athletes and to act on a student athlete’s behalf in negotiating and ultimately executing NIL deals.
Under Missouri’s current NIL law, student athletes are barred from using the intellectual property of the educational institution they attend. The Amendment requires Missouri colleges and universities to develop a process for granting student athletes the right to use certain portions of the institution’s intellectual property (including logos, team names, and other copyrightable material) in their sponsorships. The Amendment does, however, provide that a college or university may charge a reasonable licensing fee for and impose restrictions on the use of such intellectual property.
The Amendment includes a number of provisions already found in NIL laws of other states, including:
- Providing that nonprofit organizations may enter NIL compensation agreements with student athletes;
- Fleshing out requirements for financial literacy workshops that colleges and universities must offer to student athletes (i.e., at least two (2) per year if the institution is a direct or indirect party to an agreement requiring the use of a student athlete’s NIL);
- Shielding coaches from liability for decisions or actions routinely taken in the course of intercollegiate athletics that may affect a student athlete’s NIL earning potential; and
- Memorializing the right of student athletes to obtain professional representation, such as a licensed attorney or an accredited agent, to secure NIL compensation.
The Amendment is not limited to current collegiate student athletes. It provides that Missouri high school athletes may start inking NIL deals upon signing a letter of intent or other written enrollment agreement with an in-state college or university, thus incentivizing Missouri high school students to sign with in-state colleges and universities. Further, Missouri high school athletes may have conversations about earning NIL compensation prior to signing a letter of intent or other commitment (but may only receive NIL compensation after signing with an in-state college or university).
The Amendment also stakes out positions on broader, national questions about NIL, primarily by (i) including a provision expressly stating that student athletes are not employees of their respective educational institutions and (ii) making clear that Missouri colleges and universities cannot uphold rules promulgated by the NCAA or any athletic conference that prevent student athletes from entering into NIL deals.
on the last Wilner and Conzano podcast they interviewed a couple of West Coast recruiting experts. They discussed how there’s a shift in thinking with athletes and their families about initially finding a school where their son/daughter can play right away (sans NIL), and then open themselves to the marketplace in the transfer portal and a lucrative NIL deal.
We’re already seeing the erosion of college sports. The NIL, embrace of college sports gambling etc. is rapidly changing college athletics.
This is the part that really bothers me. We are already seeing gambling issues with the recent Alabama situation where the head coach got fired after “suspicious” betting patterns occurred in Cincinnati related to Alabama’s game against #1 LSU, where Alabama’s starter was scratched an hour before the game.
Alabama needs to double-down and triple-down and hire Pete Rose to run their BB team.
/endsarc
There are a lot of very disturbing trends coming out of college sports these days. Yes, NIL is problematic, but the gambling degenerates thing is actually worse. Point shaving happens, probably more than we currently know because of the influences out there. We have all seem our fair share of cases, but those are a drop in the bucket.
Let’s face it folks, gambling has always…always been the #1 tool of organized crime to launder money. There are more than a few rigged bettors willing to do things to put their thumb on the scale; and enforcement of racketeering and illegal betting is basically nonexistent. Too many sports…too many teams to bet on…too many kids and coaches who are not on NIL and not on high dollar contracts who are susceptible to the money.
Whoever allowed betting on college sports ought to be fired…oh wait, that was Congress and the state legislatures. 
More news I just saw that is a few days old.
The Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission is investigating 26 current student-athletes at the University of Iowa for sports betting, and released a report to Iowa on May 4 listing individuals associated with the Hawkeyes athletic department who, according to the school, “participated in sports wagering.” The school says it has alerted the NCAA and “hired outside counsel to assist in the investigative process.” Some of the active student-athletes appear to be members of the baseball team: Over the weekend, at least four Hawkeyes players—two catchers, a pitcher, and a designated hitter, per The Daily Iowan—were suspended from a series against Ohio State “due to a potential NCAA violation.”
NCAA rules explicitly prohibit “participation in sports wagering activities,” including giving information to sports bettors, on any sport played at any level, due mainly to concerns over “the integrity of sports contests.” The head of gaming for the Iowa commission conducting the investigation, a man named Brian Ohorilko, told ESPN Monday that they aren’t looking at any potential match-fixing or suspicious wagering activity, which raises the question of why this sports betting is being investigated by a state governmental body at all. But a timeline provided by the University of Iowa website says the school was notified on May 2 of “potential criminal conduct related to sports wagering that also suggested possible NCAA violations,” and noted that the list of names came by way of law enforcement.
In possibly related news, another public Iowa university, Iowa State, released a statement Monday acknowledging “online sports wagering allegations involving 15 of our active student athletes.” The state board of regents, which oversees Iowa’s three public universities, said Monday that it is “aware of concerns related to online gambling” in the two athletic departments and is “closely monitoring the situation.”
Ugh.
If anyone thinks that this isn’t happening at some extent at every single institution that sponsors athletics, they’ve got their head in the sand.
They need to try, but I think it’s a lost cause to try and keep NIL athletes from gambling, personally. It’s just too accessible. Blame the Mannings.
The dopamine rush from winning a bet is what drives competitive athletes. Add the NIL cash, for many it’s just too hard to resist. See one Michael Jordan and high stakes card games on the Bulls’ private jet.
Competing, winning and dopamine are like peanut butter & jelly.
Let’s also remember that the cohort who gambles the most are young men. So, in particular, colleges being involved in this is the seediest thing.