RICHMOND, Va.– Things are about to change on how universities and colleges in Virginia approach name, image and likeness. Gov. Glenn Youngkin signed a bill Thursday morning that allows Virginia universities freedom to provide their student athletes name, image and likeness compensation.
“What this bill does, very importantly, is continue what has been a rapid evolution of the name image and likeness legislation in the Commonwealth of Virginia,” said Youngkin on Thursday.
“This is going to be a program managed by Virginia’s universities and colleges and not by outside institutions and associations,” added the governor. “It enables us to be competitive across the nation with other power five conferences and major universities and enables our athletes to fully benefit [from] their God-given skills.”
The event was attended by representatives from several different institutions around the Commonwealth, including from Virginia and Virginia Tech. UVA’s group consisted of Virginia director of athletics Carla Williams, head football coach Tony Elliott, head volleyball coach Shannon Wells and Virginia’s deputy athletics director for legal and regulatory affairs Jason Baum. For the Hokies Virginia Tech head coach Brent Pry and athletic director Whit Babcock were in attendance.
“It’s been a challenge for all of us trying to manage through NIL in this new era, and so we think this law will be very helpful for us to make sure our student athletes can benefit,” said Williams.
“It positions the Commonwealth Virginia on the forefront of college athletics and being a national leader,” added Babcock. “It is a dynamic and chaotic space and when schools can be more coordinated, we feel like it’s definitely an asset and right way”
Del. Terry Austin, R-Botetourt sponsored the new legislation, while UVA’s Baum played a big role in helping draft the bill.
“There was great collaboration across the universities in order to understand what they needed to get done,” said Youngkin, “but on top of that, what they were seeing from the competitive environment. I really credit delegate [Terry] Austin because he did a great job soliciting and including that input in his construction of the bill.”
In simple terms, this bill will allow school in the state of Virginia to pay athletes in NIL – it is the first law of its kind in any state. This law effectively will also make it illegal for the NCAA to punish a school for compensating an athlete.
“This bill provides the next most important step for Virginia to be competitive, to enable our universities to provide the kinds of support and oversight that our universities need to be able to provide,” said Youngkin. “And of course, it breaks down barriers so that our athletes can fully benefit and that an outside Association won’t restrict that.
“It gives the schools and the board of visitors an opportunity to set policies and procedures that are so important,” he added. “So an important bill to sign today. It’s about being competitive.”
“I think this is a competitive advantage for us, for the schools in the state of Virginia,” said Pry. “This was good news. I was smiling. We will be pitching the narrative over the next couple of weeks and it’s gonna impact our program. Right now, there’s just so much competition with conference realignment, NIL, transfer portal, this is a feather in our cap when we can put our best foot forward.”
With the transfer portal opening up in both football and basketball, official visits picking up across the board, this will help coaches around Virginia talk to recruits on these visits. This will bill will also help Olympic sports across the state as well.
“Gives us an opportunity to have a conversation [with student-athletes] without feeling like you’re breaking a rule or crossing a line that you’re not supposed to cross, and it allows us to be able to speak openly,” said Elliott about this bill’s impact. “I think one of the things that we’ve got to understand is that this is all new to the student-athletes, and this brings more challenges that we need to be able to speak to. They need financial literacy, education, contract reviews that they need help and support [with]. So it just allows us to be able to speak openly and freely and educate, and I think that’s our role as coaches in the industry that we’re in: to educate on all different fronts.”
“It’s a really positive talking point,” added Pry. “And you look for those right genuine talking points. It makes sense for recruits and families.”
“We want it to be a part of the package and not the package,” said Elliott about NIL. “And so we talk more about the experience of development within the program, educational opportunities at the University of Virginia, but now this just gives us the ability to say hey, as a state, we kind of have spearheaded this thing.”
This will also help coaches in the Commonwealth to navigate conversations with their school collectives, like Virginia’s Cav. Futures and Virginia Tech’s collective, Triumph.
“Lo Davis does a great job with with Cav Futures and we already have a great working relationship, and we know what our lines are, and which lines that we’re not going to cross, but it does allow us to be able to do to steer individuals to Lo so that he can educate them on what Cav Futures s is all about at the University of Virginia,” said Elliott. “Our collective is structured in a way that it fully supports the student athlete, it’s not just geared, to the NIL it helps them to navigate that space on all different fronts.”
“Certainly room for both [collective and university] in the space and to use it in the right way. So we’re really grateful to our collective,” said Babcock. “They’ve been fabulous, but more school coordination, your school involvement, we feel like it’s an asset.”
The bill does stress that athletes are not considered school employees and their pay cannot be performance bases, but they are allowed to use university or athletic funds for marketing etc.
It will take effect on July 1.