In a landmark move by the state of California, Governor Gavin Newsom today signed a bill into law allowing college athletes to get paid for their accolades and efforts as athletes. The NCAA immediately responded by threatening to sue the state of California, saying that the passing of the bill was “unconstitutional” and that amateurs should not have the ability to get paid. The NCAA also threatened to bar California schools from participating in NCAA play if it moved forward with its plan.

The passing of the bill by California was partially in support of the class action lawsuit taken by former basketball star Ed O’Bannon, who led the charge against the NCAA for them making billions off of the likeness of athletes with products such as the EA Sports NCAA series of basketball and football video games. The lawsuit ultimately led to the NCAA suspending the production of these video games.

California is in an interesting bargaining position with the NCAA, considering it has the second most colleges that are governed with the NCAA. With the amount of schools that reside in California, what would stop it from seceding from the NCAA and creating its own intercollegiate leagues? The NCAA has long maintained power over the college institutions due to its control over media rights, and its ability to control the flow of funding to its respective member schools.

Newsom signed the bill on an episode of HBO's The Shop: Uninterrupted, appearing alongside LeBron James, O'Bannon, UCLA gymnast Katelyn Ohashi, and WNBA player Diana Taurasi. Lebron James has long been a supporter of athletes of all levels having the ability to be compensated for their abilities. James did not play under the NCAA, skipping college and going straight to the NBA in 2003.

We think it is time for collegiate athletes to receive their fair share of compensation, considering that the college institutions and the NCAA are making so much money off of the athletes’ likeness and work production. Many will argue that the athletes are receiving free education for their efforts, however we do not think this is commensurate with the amount of money that the institutions & the NCAA are making off of each player. A more fair option might be some sort of revenue-sharing structure where the athletes can participate more favorably in the amount of revenue generated from their likeness and efforts.

Newsom mentioned that other big states will follow on with California's new law. "This is the beginning of a national movement—one that transcends geographic and partisan lines," Newsom said.

This bill may open the floodgates for athletes in California, who in the new age of media have many more opportunities to monetize their likeness than they have had before in the past. With the proliferation of social media, athletes may have the ability to better position themselves as micro-influencers to brands to generate revenue and support themselves while in school.

We agree that there still may need to be some level of parameters placed on collegiate athletes in terms of agency representation and the like, however an athlete should be able to benefit off of its jersey sales and other merchandising, just like a university may be able to.

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