If bill passes, Iowa's college athletes could soon earn money from name, image and likeness

Iowa's college athletes would be among the first in the nation allowed to profit from the use of their name, image and likeness under a bill that a panel of senators advanced Wednesday.

Sens. Brad Zaun, R-Urbandale, and Nate Boulton, D-Des Moines, introduced the proposal again this year after another bipartisan bill failed to make it to a floor vote last session.

If Senate File 245 becomes law, Iowa would join Florida as the first state to have such legislation go into effect July 1.

"I don't see a good reason for our student-athletes in Iowa to patiently wait their turn when athletes in other states will not have to," Boulton said during a subcommittee meeting Wednesday. "I think that's what really has put the pressure on us as legislators to protect the student-athletes who are in our state and advocate for their interests." 

Under the bill, Iowa colleges and universities couldn't prevent athletes from receiving compensation for use of their name, image or likeness rights when the athlete isn't engaged in official, mandatory team activities. The bill would require the college athlete to disclose their full contract to the college or university.

This year's bill includes a significant change from Zaun and Boulton's effort last year. The bill no longer includes a provision that would have let colleges and universities require student-athletes to deposit some or all of their earnings into a trust fund until the athletes are no longer eligible for athletics. Boulton said that portion of last year's bill doesn't align with similar legislation in other states.

Lawmakers also moved up the effective date to July 1 of this year. The effective date had previously been 2023, in line with the-nation name, image and likeness law that California passed in 2019. This year's bill could go into effect earlier if a similar state or federal law goes into effect before July 1, or if an athletic association or conference that includes an Iowa college or university passes its own rule.

Dylan Boles, a football player from Stanford University who said he is transferring to the University of Northern Iowa for his master's degree, told lawmakers Wednesday that athletes would benefit from a source of income beyond what they currently receive. Some of his teammates would send their stipend money to their families to support them, he said. 

"As a result, some of those guys were really stretching the money that was supposed to be going to them very thin because they were accounting for much more than just themselves," he said. 

Keith Saunders, a lobbyist for the Iowa Board of Regents, told lawmakers Wednesday that while he agrees change is needed, it needs to happen at a national level, not state-by-state. 

"We would like all student-athletes, all institutions that have intercollegiate athletics, to play under the same set of rules," he said. "We don't want to see name, image, likeness contracts that are richer in one state versus another." 

Lawmakers in Congress have proposed nationwide legislation, and college athletics groups are having their own discussions. In late October 2019, the NCAA Board of Governors voted unanimously to give students the opportunity to benefit from name, image and likeness use "in a manner consistent with the collegiate model," with an eye toward enacting the changes this year. But the NCAA Division I Council voted in January to delay the legislation. 

Zaun said he also doesn't want a "patchwork" but doesn't have confidence that a national solution will come quickly. 

"I think it's worthy of the conversation," he said. "Most importantly, we can send a message to the NCAA to get their act together and continue this conversation." 

According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, five states — California, Colorado, Florida, Nebraska and New Jersey — have enacted legislation over the past two years allowing athletes to profit from use of their name, image and likeness. Florida's law, signed in June of last year, will be the first to go into effect.

Zaun said the bill would help keep Iowa from falling to a competitive disadvantage in recruiting. 

In a March 2020 Des Moines Register/Mediacom Iowa Poll, 50% of respondents said college student-athletes should be able to profit off the use of their name, image or likeness. Thirty-eight percent said they should not, and 12% said they weren't sure. 

The bill will now head to the full Senate Judiciary Committee, which Zaun chairs. Last year, Zaun and Boulton's bill passed through committee but did not make it to a floor vote. 

Ian Richardson covers the Iowa Statehouse for the Des Moines Register. Reach him at irichardson@registermedia.com, at 515-284-8254, or on Twitter at @DMRIanR.