By Nancy Zimpher and Jonathan Mariner Published in MarketWatch, August 11, 2020. While millions of fans are lamenting the looming disappearance of college sports this fall, the coronavirus pandemic is also exposing financial fault lines and a broken governance model that may trigger an opportunity to irrevocably transform big-dollar college athletic programs. COVID-19 has cast…
The Knight Commission appreciates the gravity, urgency and uncertainty of decisions about how to reopen college sports, and recognizes that reopening college sports programs is an important leading indicator of the broader national crisis gripping higher education during the COVID-19 pandemic. The decisions that college leaders make about whether to bring athletes back to campus and engage in training and competition should not be made in isolation but rather should go hand in hand with decisions about returning other students to dorms, classrooms and dining halls. Maintaining the safety and health of college athletes is just as vital as maintaining the safety and health of all students, faculty, staff and university administrators.
On June 4, 2020, the Knight Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics held a webinar to assess the NCAA’s proposal allowing college athletes to earn money for the use of their name, image and likeness (NIL) and to evaluate key differences with recommendations made by other groups. The session focused on issues such as compliance with fair market value, the confusion around group endorsement opportunities and ways to achieve uniformity, either through Congress or the Uniform Law Commission. The expert panel included Congressman Anthony Gonzalez, who is working on an NIL bill, Val Ackerman, Gabe Feldman and Tom McMillen.
The Knight Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics Co-Chairs Arne Duncan and Carol Cartwright wrote a letter to NCAA President Mark Emmert offering support, and some specific recommendations, as Emmert and the Division I governance groups work to adapt NCAA policies to the financial crisis spawned by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Knight Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics released a set of principles today to guide the development of new policies allowing college athletes to earn compensation for the use of their name, image and likeness (NIL) from sources other than their institutions.
The Future of College Sports Panel Video at the 13th Annual GEMALaw Sports & Entertainment Law Symposium at Georgetown Law Center on January 31, 2020.
For Public Release Dec. 16, 2019 The Knight Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics, a leading voice for college sports reform, informed NCAA President Mark Emmert today that it will examine new models to restructure college sports, citing the challenges created by the “highly commercialized environment” for Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) football and some NCAA Division I…
The following provides links to papers and videos from prior Knight Commission meetings where potential changes of NCAA rules regarding the use of student-athletes names, images and likenesses (NIL) were considered. These discussions preceded the passage of California’s SB 206 in September 2019 that will allow student-athletes at California universities to be compensated for the…
Click on each photo to enlarge. Carol Cartwright Gabe Feldman (left), Amadou Kilkenny Diaw Amadou Kilkenny Diaw From left: Scott Bearby, Gabe Feldman, Amadou Kilkenny Diaw From left: Eric Chenowith, Tom McMillen, Scott Bearby, Gabe Feldman, Amadou Kilkenny Diaw Tom McMillen (left), Scott Bearby Jonathan Mariner Garth Glissman Michael Crow Jacques McClendon Amy Perko (left),…
For Public Release May 22, 2019 Photos are available here. Videos are available here. Agenda and list of meeting participants available here. WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Knight Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics today discussed a series of recent reforms made in response to the men’s college basketball scandal and urged the NCAA to continue efforts to…