Big Ten Conference commissioner explains NIL to lawmakers on Capitol Hill

Posted on October 19, 2023
Name, Image and Likeness has changed college sports. (Photo courtesy: Big Ten/Twitter)

By Dave Dahl

SPRINGFIELD – “Name / image / likeness” is a legal way for college athletes to make money; say, by turning up on a car dealer’s television commercial, or when the campus bookstore sells a jersey with his or her name on it.

The NIL phenomenon is what brought Big Ten Conference commissioner Tony Petitti to Capitol Hill.

“There are now more than thirty different state laws related to name / image / likeness,” Petitti told senators. “Many states are passing NIL and associated laws designed specifically to provide their in-state universities with a competitive advantage of recruiting to the promise of NIL.”

Petitti is not the only one calling for a national standard, as opposed to a law for each state. “I think there’s a lot of bipartisan support. There needs to be a national standard,” said U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) after cracking, “Where I come from, college football is a religion.”

Dave Dahl can be reached at [email protected].

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