The House v. NCAA settlement may have been postponed, but West Virginia lawmakers are not backing down. Leaders in the state’s House of Representatives introduced two bills that would redefine NIL and revenue sharing in West Virginia.
According to Sports Illustrated, House Bill 2576 and 2595 – the NIL Protection Act — would allow schools to manage student-athlete NIL deals and revenue-sharing payments through non-profits. These bills would also make revenue-sharing “exempt from disclosure laws and public oversight.” All of this comes in direct defiance of the current NCAA settlement which includes revenue-sharing caps and the ability for third parties to vet NIL deals and payments.
While many states have passed legislation or signed executive orders allowing universities to directly pay student-athletes, none have gone so far as to shield those payments from public view.
Both bills in West Virginia have the support of not only powerful lawmakers but university officials, most notably WVU football coach, Rich Rodriguez.
Related: Judge Wants Range of Issues Addressed Before Approving NCAA Settlement
However, the NCAA may not be as supportive. During this week’s hearing for the NCAA settlement case, Judge Claudia Wilken “addressed the rising number of states looking to circumvent certain settlement terms” and suggested the NCAA “kick out” non-compliant universities. If the NCAA were to take Wilken’s advice, that would put WVU and its neighbor Marshall University in a difficult position, possibly disqualifying them from competition.
WVU athletic director, Wren Baker addressed the impending changes. “As you all know, because you follow it, college athletics is rapidly evolving and changing. This legislation really gives us the opportunity to compensate the student-athletes for their name, image, and likeness. The reality is, we’re recruiting in an environment where we need to make commitments to student-athletes to get them committed for next year.”
