In the wake of the withdrawal of a proposal that would have created a standard for the use of a student-athlete’s likeness in institutional, charitable, educational or nonprofit promotions, the Division I Academics/Eligibility/Compliance Cabinet Subcommittee on Agents and Amateurism heard from a variety of constituencies about the topic during its meeting June 14-15.

Student-athletes, representatives from an NCAA corporate champion, a university sponsor and NCAA supplier, and NCAA staff met with subcommittee members to discuss the impact of advancing technology on promotional activities involving student-athletes’ images. The current promotional activities rule was crafted more than 20 years ago to address the use of a student-athlete’s name, image or likeness in printed materials, and the restrictions do not translate easily to other media such as the Internet, mobile phones or even television advertisements in which footage of student-athletes in competition is often used.

The subcommittee has been monitoring this issue over the course of several meetings, and, like the Division I Board of Directors, struggled with distinguishing activities that are promotional in nature from those that might be construed as an endorsement of a commercial product.

Board members were particularly concerned about trying to develop rules that fit the ever-changing technological landscape, and struggled with how to change the rules concerning promotional activities without leading to an "implied endorsement" of the sponsor’s business, product or service by a student-athlete. Subcommittee members discussed the need for creating a balance between preserving the amateur status of the student-athlete and the relationships with corporate entities that often provide both valuable exposure for schools and conferences and funding that supports sports programs at an institution.

To better understand the issue from several perspectives, the subcommittee heard from John Egan, group director of sports marketing at Coca-Cola; Joe Crookham, president of Musco Lighting; Jeff Rogers, vice president of development sales at Musco Lighting; Tasha Humphrey, basketball student-athlete at the University of Georgia; and Nick Roach, football student-athlete at Northwestern University. David Knopp, NCAA director of strategic activation; Greg Shaheen, vice president of Division I men’s basketball and championship strategies; and Scott Bearby, associate general counsel, also provided insight.

The subcommittee also reviewed several advertisements that promote college sports, including an advertisement for the Coca-Cola Community All-American of the Year award that honors student-athletes who make a difference through community service.

Egan said Coca-Cola was interested in protecting and promoting intercollegiate athletics because it benefited the company to be associated with the enterprise.

"We have a common objective — finding the most effective way of promoting intercollegiate athletics," Egan said. "If a consumer perceives something as too commercial, that’s not good marketing."

However, the company also is interested in the authenticity of its advertisements — for example, the community service award ad used a male model in place of a student-athlete because NCAA rules do not allow a current student-athlete to appear in an ad with both the distinct Coca-Cola script and the "dynamic ribbon" graphic that appears on many Coca-Cola products. The company would have preferred to use a real student-athlete or student-athletes performing a community service, Egan said.

The student-athletes indicated they would have no problem with appearing in advertisements that center on an entire team instead of just one individual, and that promote competition, not the person.

Subcommittee members acknowledged that corporate partners are integral to intercollegiate athletics, especially considering the current financial climate, but also indicated a strong desire to avoid the appearance of any student-athlete endorsing or promoting a commercial product or service.

Some members also saw an opportunity to advance the core values the Association tries to promote for its student-athletes.

"We need to find a way to accommodate our corporate sponsors and still keep our core values," said subcommittee chair Dave Maggard, athletics director at the University of Houston.

The subcommittee declined to sponsor legislation at the June meeting, though it forwarded some concepts to the full cabinet for consideration with an eye toward crafting a proposal in September that could be introduced into the current legislative cycle by the Board of Directors later this year.

The current legislation allow only one corporate trademark in conjunction with the institutional or nonprofit promotion, but it does not limit how large that logo must be. The concepts included the possibility of restricting the size and number of a corporate sponsor’s logo or trademark and banning the display of a commercial product or service in conjunction with the promotional activity. The subcommittee also wrestled with the values piece, with some members believing that corporate sponsors should be required to advance the core values of intercollegiate athletics in any promotional activities and others believing that current rules requiring that such activities support institutional, nonprofit, charitable or educational causes makes such a requirement redundant.

Maggard said the subcommittee understands that corporate sponsorships are an important part of athletics programs at many institutions, but the members are keenly interested in protecting student-athletes.

"We’re really attempting to be as thoughtful and careful as we can," he said. "While we understand the importance of the corporate and commercial world, we also want to balance that with the amateur status of the student-athlete."

The subcommittee will seek membership input on the issue and will discuss possible legislative recommendations when it meets in Indianapolis September 6-8.

Divisions II and III adopted the original legislation modifying the promotional activities rules at the 2006 Convention.