Pac-12 proposes allowing athletes to make money off names, likenesses

NCAA sports continue to respond to players' pressure for change. The Pac-12 has proposed changing NCAA rules to allow college athletes to use their names, images and likenesses for non-athletic business ventures.

September 11, 2015

NCAA sports continue to respond to players' pressure for change. The Pac-12 has submitted a proposal to change NCAA rules to allow college athletes to use their name, image and likenesses to promote non-athletic business ventures. The proposal will be taken up by the Power 5 conferences and could be voted on at the NCAA convention in January 2016.

The NCAA also announced 72 proposals that will be considered by Division I members during the current academic year. These proposals may not pass but they're a positive sign that when players stand up and put pressure on the system change can happen.

ESPN:

The Pac-12 has proposed changing NCAA rules to allow college athletes to use their names, images and likenesses for non-athletic business ventures.

The NCAA lost an antitrust lawsuit last year that challenged the association's use of athletes' names, images and likenesses to generate revenue. A judge ruled in the Ed O'Bannon case that schools should be allowed to make deferred payments of about $5,000 per year to football and men's basketball players for the use of their names, images and likenesses.

The Pac-12's proposal will be taken up by the Power 5 conferences (Big Ten, Big 12, Atlantic Coast Conference and Southeastern Conference) and could be voted on at the NCAA convention in January.

The NCAA announced 72 proposals that will be considered by Division I members during the current academic year.

Among the others:

• The SEC and ACC each have proposals that would prevent football coaches from holding so-called satellite camps away from their campuses.

• The Mountain West has proposed allowing NCAA-sponsored events to be played in states that allow sports wagering.

• The Mid-American Conference has proposed lifting all restrictions on communicating with recruits over social media.

• A proposal that creates new academic misconduct rules with also be considered. The proposal would require schools to publish and follow an academic misconduct policy for all students; define impermissible academic assistance; and determine when a student worker's involvement would be considered academic misconduct.

• The Division I Council wants schools to consider a measure that would give men's basketball players 10 days from the end of the NBA combine to withdraw their names from the draft, allow college players to enter the draft multiple times and allow them to participate in the combine and try out for one NBA team per year.