HARRISBURG – A bill refining an existing law that allows the compensation of student athletes for the use of their name, image or likeness (NIL) became law last week, said Sen. Scott Martin (R-13).
House Bill 2633, now Act 139, includes a provision that removes language prohibiting schools from arranging NIL deals for their student athletes and requiring students to share the contract with the school at least seven days prior to the execution of the contract.
“This is a small, but important clarification that will give student athletes more agency over their private contracts and the money they earn as a result,” Martin said. “In the absence of national standards around NIL compensation by the NCAA or Federal Law, we must do everything we can here in Pennsylvania to make sure every student athlete that chooses one of our schools is treated fairly.”
Last year, the U.S. Supreme Court decision in National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) v. Alston paved the way for student athletes to be compensated for the use of their NIL, but no national standard was ever set for how to do so equally and appropriately.
As such, the states were left to enact their own rules, of which Pennsylvania did with Martin’s authoring of Act 26 of 2021, along with Sens. Tommy Tomlinson (R-6) and Sen. Pat Browne (R-16).
“Our institutions of higher education continue to work with students to help them navigate the new law and promote and protect themselves,” Martin said.
CONTACT: Terry Trego