Just yesterday, the California Senate passed the “Fair Play to Play” act. The bill, after passing the Senate unanimously, is waiting for approval from California Governor Gavin Newsom. It is expected that the bill will pass. 

  The bill will allow student athletes in California to earn money and accept endorsements based off of their image and likeness. The bill is a huge step in the right direction for college athletes fighting the battle of earning money.

  The NCAA did not want the bill passed, but they are not completely opposed. Michael Drake, a member of the NCAA board of governors, said that they would be open to adapting to the changing world, but would like the change to be made on a national scale as opposed to a state level.

  It’s about time that somebody passed a bill allowing college athletes to make money off of their image and ability. It’s ridiculous that college athletes, who make millions of dollars for their respective universities, are cogs in the NCAA machine. 

  I’m not banging the table for universities to start paying their athletes, because that is not feasible. Most D-1 schools have around 20 D-1 teams. Only the very elite, top school, maybe 5 schools, make a profit off of their athletics programs.  The rest either break even or lose money. So I don’t believe that they should be paid directly from the universities for which they play. But they should be able to make money.

  Why does the NCAA care if the players that make them millions of dollars make some endorsement money? I don’t know. Probably because the NCAA is one of the worst organizations in America. There is no reason at all that players can’t capitalize on their stardom. 

  The only people that will be affected by athletes making endorsement money is coaches. Coaches like Nick Saban and John Harbaugh who appear in commercials, while they rack in millions of dollars of salary. 

  Heck, it’s even good for the universities. Just take Trevor Lawrence and stick him in a Clemson shirt as he does a Nike commercial. Lawrence makes money, and Clemosn gets their brand recognition. 

  California Senator Jeff Stone said, “This is one of those situations where I think we need to blaze the trail.”

   The trail is now clear. Other states follow behind.