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NCAA News Archive - 2007
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Legislation submitted to ease promotional restrictions
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By Michelle Brutlag Hosick
The NCAA News
The NCAA News
The Division I Academics/Eligibility/Compliance Cabinet is sponsoring legislation for the 2007-08 cycle that would change regulations regarding promotional activities and the use of names, images and likenesses of student-athletes in those activities.
The cabinet at its June 11-13 meeting in Indianapolis developed three proposals that address outdated areas in NCAA amateurism bylaws that do not account for new technology such as streaming video on the Internet.
The proposals should make it easier for campus compliance officers and NCAA staff to apply rules related to the use of student-athlete images and likenesses in promotional activities.
The first proposal would allow commercial entities to co-sponsor promotional activities involving institutional, charitable and nonprofit groups if the promotion meets certain criteria. The criteria prohibit direct promotion of the commercial co-sponsor’s product or service and require the promotion to identify the relationship between the institution and the company. The legislation also eliminates the requirement that all revenue from the promotion be returned to the institution or conference, or to a charitable, educational or nonprofit group. In addition, it allows for the sale of photographs of student-athletes such as those in highlight videos or media guides.
Cabinet members said that while allowing the money to flow back to institutions might appear to benefit the high-resource schools that can broker affiliations with big companies, they believe less well-known institutions might value the funding they receive as a result of the legislation more than the more prominent schools.
The second proposal would allow commercial companies to use highlight clips and other existing images of student-athletes in a promotion so long as the athletics department approves the advertisement and the ad does not make it appear as though a student-athlete is promoting the product or service. In addition, the promotion must make a relevant connection between the commercial entity and the institution.
The third proposal allows media entities to use student-athletes’ images in promoting games and in reporting news about the student-athlete or institution. That has been a commonly accepted practice within the membership.
The proposals are the result of year-long efforts from a working group that included members of the cabinet’s agents and amateurism subcommittee. The subcommittee unanimously supported all three proposals, saying they were thoughtfully scrutinized and carefully balanced.
Support was not unanimous within the full cabinet, though. Some members believe the legislation would escalate the over-commercialization of intercollegiate athletics and would put undue pressure on student-athletes to be complicit in the “arms race” in Division I by allowing their images to be used for the institution’s financial gain.
Other members said sending the legislation forward represented a chance for the membership to vet the ideas more than it reflected cabinet support.
Early certification
The cabinet also sponsored other proposals for the 2007-08 legislative cycle, including one that creates an early academic-eligibility certification for prospective student-athletes who meet specific criteria. The Division I Board of Directors approved a pilot program allowing for early certification in 2007 and directed the cabinet to devise a more permanent plan.
That plan will allow prospects with an SAT score of 1,000 or ACT sum score of 85 after six semesters of high school to qualify for early academic certification if they have completed 13 core courses, including three in English, two in math and two in science.
Because the legislation will assist campus and NCAA Eligibility Center staff and not provide any special benefit to the prospects who are certified early, no waiver process will be created. Individuals who do not qualify for early certification will fall into the normal process and will receive certification decisions after high school graduation and the submission of a final transcript.
Before deciding to sponsor the legislation, the cabinet reviewed extensive data that showed prospects who meet the criteria after six semesters are almost always certified. Also, the initial-eligibility subcommittee received information showing that since the pilot program began May 31, more than 35,400 prospects met one of the two sets of criteria for early certification in that program’s parameters. The pilot program allowed some student-athletes to be certified early on the basis of a test score only, and others could achieve the same result with a high grade-point average and lower test score.
Cabinet members hope that the early certification program encourages people to submit their information sooner, reducing the burden on NCAA Eligibility Center staff and compliance officers at member institutions during the summer. It also will allow staff members to pay more attention to those prospects still in the system during the busy time and allow for NCAA information — such as anti-gambling messaging and academic requirements — to be sent to early qualifiers.
While some people believe early certification might cause some prospects to shirk academic duties in their senior year of high school, others say prospects who fit the academic profile required for early certification are unlikely to allow their grades to fall too far.
Final transcripts still will be requested for all qualifiers for research purposes.
June 11-13/Indianapolis
The cabinet at its June 11-13 meeting in Indianapolis developed three proposals that address outdated areas in NCAA amateurism bylaws that do not account for new technology such as streaming video on the Internet.
The proposals should make it easier for campus compliance officers and NCAA staff to apply rules related to the use of student-athlete images and likenesses in promotional activities.
The first proposal would allow commercial entities to co-sponsor promotional activities involving institutional, charitable and nonprofit groups if the promotion meets certain criteria. The criteria prohibit direct promotion of the commercial co-sponsor’s product or service and require the promotion to identify the relationship between the institution and the company. The legislation also eliminates the requirement that all revenue from the promotion be returned to the institution or conference, or to a charitable, educational or nonprofit group. In addition, it allows for the sale of photographs of student-athletes such as those in highlight videos or media guides.
Cabinet members said that while allowing the money to flow back to institutions might appear to benefit the high-resource schools that can broker affiliations with big companies, they believe less well-known institutions might value the funding they receive as a result of the legislation more than the more prominent schools.
The second proposal would allow commercial companies to use highlight clips and other existing images of student-athletes in a promotion so long as the athletics department approves the advertisement and the ad does not make it appear as though a student-athlete is promoting the product or service. In addition, the promotion must make a relevant connection between the commercial entity and the institution.
The third proposal allows media entities to use student-athletes’ images in promoting games and in reporting news about the student-athlete or institution. That has been a commonly accepted practice within the membership.
The proposals are the result of year-long efforts from a working group that included members of the cabinet’s agents and amateurism subcommittee. The subcommittee unanimously supported all three proposals, saying they were thoughtfully scrutinized and carefully balanced.
Support was not unanimous within the full cabinet, though. Some members believe the legislation would escalate the over-commercialization of intercollegiate athletics and would put undue pressure on student-athletes to be complicit in the “arms race” in Division I by allowing their images to be used for the institution’s financial gain.
Other members said sending the legislation forward represented a chance for the membership to vet the ideas more than it reflected cabinet support.
Early certification
The cabinet also sponsored other proposals for the 2007-08 legislative cycle, including one that creates an early academic-eligibility certification for prospective student-athletes who meet specific criteria. The Division I Board of Directors approved a pilot program allowing for early certification in 2007 and directed the cabinet to devise a more permanent plan.
That plan will allow prospects with an SAT score of 1,000 or ACT sum score of 85 after six semesters of high school to qualify for early academic certification if they have completed 13 core courses, including three in English, two in math and two in science.
Because the legislation will assist campus and NCAA Eligibility Center staff and not provide any special benefit to the prospects who are certified early, no waiver process will be created. Individuals who do not qualify for early certification will fall into the normal process and will receive certification decisions after high school graduation and the submission of a final transcript.
Before deciding to sponsor the legislation, the cabinet reviewed extensive data that showed prospects who meet the criteria after six semesters are almost always certified. Also, the initial-eligibility subcommittee received information showing that since the pilot program began May 31, more than 35,400 prospects met one of the two sets of criteria for early certification in that program’s parameters. The pilot program allowed some student-athletes to be certified early on the basis of a test score only, and others could achieve the same result with a high grade-point average and lower test score.
Cabinet members hope that the early certification program encourages people to submit their information sooner, reducing the burden on NCAA Eligibility Center staff and compliance officers at member institutions during the summer. It also will allow staff members to pay more attention to those prospects still in the system during the busy time and allow for NCAA information — such as anti-gambling messaging and academic requirements — to be sent to early qualifiers.
While some people believe early certification might cause some prospects to shirk academic duties in their senior year of high school, others say prospects who fit the academic profile required for early certification are unlikely to allow their grades to fall too far.
Final transcripts still will be requested for all qualifiers for research purposes.
Other highlights
Division I Academics/Eligibility/Compliance CabinetJune 11-13/Indianapolis
- Sponsored legislation allowing the U.S. service academies to contact prospective football student-athletes during the spring and summer of and immediately after the prospect’s junior year in high school. Because of limitations created by the Congressional appointment process to the service academies, supporters note the exception for the service academies is appropriate.
- Declined to sponsor legislation that would have allowed prospective tennis student-athletes to accept unlimited prize money for participation in open tournaments. Also declined to sponsor a companion proposal that would have required prospects who take time off between high school graduation and college enrollment to use a season of eligibility if they participate in organized tennis during that time. The proposals were the result of nearly a year’s work with the Intercollegiate Tennis Association and were supported by tennis coaches. Cabinet members believe the potential for abuse is too great, however. The cabinet did sponsor legislation that will allow prospective tennis student-athletes to compete on a professional team if they do not receive compensation beyond expenses.
- Heard from its agents and amateurism subcommittee about the status of the amateurism-certification process, which has reviewed about 125,000 cases since the process began this academic year.
- Agreed that the initial-eligibility subcommittee will monitor the impact of Proposal No. 06-65-A adopted earlier this year, which requires prospective student-athletes to complete core-course requirements within four years of enrollment in ninth grade. The proposal will take affect August 1.
- Heard that the recruiting subcommittee will continue to monitor computer-mediated communication in the wake of an April decision to ban the practice of using text messaging in recruiting. The subcommittee did ask that an official interpretation be issued prohibiting the use of software or a service that converts e-mail to text messages or other impermissible forms of electronic communication.
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