MINNEAPOLIS — You can call it a game changer in the world of college sports with the NCAA approving an interim policy allowing student athletes to profit from their names, images, and likeness or NIL.
Giving athletes like Terrance Kamara, a former Minneapolis North football player and current running back for the University of Northern Iowa an opportunity to shine both on and off the field.
"Oh yeah its definitely our time," said Kamara.
This all comes as governors in more than a dozen states have signed NIL laws allowing players to be compensated, equalizing opportunities for both men's and women's sports.
"In many cases it will be an athlete that has no opportunity to go make money as a pro," explained Michael McCann, Sportico Legal Analyst & Senior Sports Legal Reporter. He went on to say, "they may not play football, they may not play basketball, they might be swimmers, they might be volleyball players, this is their chance.”
Just last week the supreme court voted unanimously to uphold a ruling prohibiting the NCAA from blocking educational benefits like paid internships for athletes.
The new NIL rule is an answer to prayer for players like Kamara who’ve had to turn down endorsement offers in the past.
"Us athletes I feel like we do so much for our universities, we’re bringing in all this money, every time we get out on the field we’re bringing more money into our university, I feel like its just about time that we get paid for that," said Kamara.
Former Minnehaha Academy guard and Tennessee State recruit Hercy Miller announced a $2 million endorsement deal with a Los Angeles-based company called Web Apps America. The company founder said the deal came together after NCAA rules changed.
In states which don't have NIL laws in place like Minnesota, the NCAA is leaving it up to the schools to develop their own policies.
Meantime, the NCAA is also working with congress to create a permanent policy that would protect athletes in those states.
NIL laws have been introduced in Minnesota under HB3329.
