Last June, Florida passed name, image and likeness legislation that would take effect July 1, 2021, pushing the NCAA to take action much faster than previously passed bills in California and Colorado with 2023 start dates. Then less than 48 hours ago, Florida appeared to be backing off, adding an amendment to charter school legislation that would push the effective date back a year to July 1, 2022.
It was a shocking development that grew out of supposed concern that the NCAA would punish student athletes in Florida if they took advantage of the new state law. This despite the fact that Alabama, Mississippi and New Mexico also have July 1, 2021 effective dates, with Arizona right behind them on July 23. Another six states have legislation that goes into effect over the next two years.
Darren Heitner, a former Forbes.com contributor and a Florida attorney who helped draft and promote the initial legislation, said yesterday morning he was as surprised as anyone.
"No one, including most people in Tallahassee, had any warning or expectation that an amendment would be proposed and snuck into a charter schools piece of legislation at the last minute.”
Head football coaches and student athletes across Florida jumped into the conversation yesterday, urging Governor Ron DeSantis not to sign the new legislation.
Sen. Travis Hutson introduced the amendment. He says it was out of fear of NCAA retaliation.
“We did not want our student athletes, if this law went into effect, to start profiting off NIL and potentially lose scholarships from the NCAA,” Hutson says. “We decided to do a one-year hold. It was an abundance of caution. We want our kids to profit from the NIL and that’s something we’re passionate about, but not at the chance they could lose the right to play.”
It’s unclear how he and others involved came to this decision. Only a week prior, Iowa men’s basketball player Jordan Bohannon said NCAA President Mark Emmert told a group of four college basketball players he wouldn’t punish student athletes who took advantage of state NIL legislation going into effect July 1.
It took less than 36 hours to get the initial timeline back on track, however. An amendment was introduced this morning, which was approved by the House and then the Senate, returning the effective date to July 1, 2021.
Heitner says the bill’s initial authors are also to thank for the pressure applied over the past 48 hours to bring the date back to 2021.
“After a couple of sleepless nights, a massive amount of pressure applied to the Florida legislature and Governor DeSantis, and a lot of back-and-forth among legislators in Tallahassee, the Florida House, and Senate properly revisited the amendment that would have pushed back the effective date on the name, image, and likeness law to July 1, 2022.
“Interestingly, the new amendment, which brings back the effective date to July 1, 2021, includes a provision that essentially requires Florida schools to depart from the NCAA if the NCAA chooses to in any way punish Florida schools for complying with the NIL law. I am very thankful to the many coaches, athletes, and athletic directors in the state, and a special thanks must be given to Representative Chip LaMarca and his Chief Legislative Aide Corey Staniscia, who were instrumental in not only initially getting the law through last year, but bringing back the effective date to July 1, 2021.”