NIL legislation headed to Gov. Youngkin

RICHMOND, Va. (WVIR) - A bill headed to Governor Glenn Youngkin’s desk would make Virginia the 23rd state to pass name, image, and likeness (NIL) legislation. It would set some parameters around how and who college athletes can partner with.

The landscape in college athletics is constantly evolving. Student-athletes have been able to partner with business since July 1, 2021, but now Virginia wants to regulate the process.

“The reason that there is state legislation is because the federal government has not passed any regulation,” NBC29′s Legal Analyst AC Rieman said. “It’s now up to the states to come up with their own name, image, and likeness regulations.”

Now, before student-athletes sign the dotted line on endorsements, they need to be aware of both state and university guidelines.

“Student-athletes are able to hire their own agents,” Rieman said. “Now, the schools can still control the student-athletes to some extent, because every single deal has to be reported to the school and they also need to have the school’s permission to use any type of uniform or logo.”

This legislation also lays out other guidelines for student-athletes: “Some of the things that are prohibited are drugs, cannabis, alcohol, tobacco, casinos, any adult entertainment. And so when they are thinking about, ‘should I do this deal? Should I not take this deal?’ Not only do they have to think about the money aspect, but they’ve got to make sure that they’re not breaking any rules,” Rieman said.

Gov. Youngkin is expected to sign the bill into law.

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