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Sports Law Team Pens Expert Analysis for Law360 on States’ NIL Legislation, Conflict With NCAA Guidance

Phoenix, Ariz./New York, N.Y. (June 5, 2023) - Phoenix Partner and Chair of Lewis Brisbois' Collegiate & Professional Sports Law Practice Gregg E. Clifton and New York Associate Christina Stylianou recently co-authored an Expert Analysis article for Law360 regarding the trend in states enacting legislation to govern name, image, and likeness (NIL) issues. 

In the article, titled “State NIL Laws Aim To Shield Colleges That Defy NCAA,” Ms. Stylianou and Mr. Clifton open by observing that while federal legislators have not introduced any new NIL legislation, six states have done so, including Arkansas, Oklahoma, Texas, Colorado, Missouri, and New York. They further explain that the state legislation features “novel provisions aimed at creating new recruiting advantages for their respective in-state universities” and that it also allows schools to be involved in student-athletes’ NIL negotiations, which directly contradicts the NCAA’s recent guidance on the issue.  

The authors go on to detail the state legislation, analyzing how it differs from the NCAA’s guidance. They explain that “n the continued absence of any detailed NCAA regulation or enforcement or any unifying federal legislation regarding NIL,” states are filling in the legal gaps by creating protections for their universities. The authors close the article by observing that going forward, “perhaps most interesting to watch will be the enactment and enforcement of those legislative provisions that dictate what the NCAA can and cannot do relative to universities’ NIL activity within their states.”