NCAA Athletes Have No Publicity Rights

It’s a feeling that some of us can relate to, whether you currently play a sport or played while in high school or college. The feeling of wearing a jersey with your name and number printed across the back brings a sense of pride and joy to an athlete. However, picture an athlete such as Tim Tebow, whose name and football jersey which were one of the top selling jersey in college history. A jersey so popular that according to Dave Curtis, a writer for the Orlando Sentinel, he helped make the University of Florida the number 3 school for merchandising in the U.S. So how much money did Tebow receive from the selling or licensing of his name and jersey? Well, he received nothing, not even a penny.

Many people fail to realize that athletes cannot receive any form of revenue from a company that has permission to use their brand identity. The NCAA “bylaws provide that institutions may give third parties permission to use a student athlete’s name, photo, and so on, as long as all money is paid to the member institution and not the student,” (Conrad, 2006). This has been a major controversy in the collegiate industry. Some players like Tim Tebow felt comfortable about the situation stating that it’s not all about the money. However, there are a few individuals in the collegiate industry that feel the opposite.

A couple of years ago, former college quarterback Sam Keller, along with others athletes were suing the NCAA and Electronics Arts, Inc. better known as EA for apparently using, without compensation, the images of former student-athletes (Burchart, 2011). Some of the violations Keller believe the company made were deprivation of Rights of Publicity, breach of contract and unreasonable restraint just to name a few. At the time NCAA and EA didn’t have a response to the lawsuit. However, Darren Rovell of CNBC reported on USATODAY.com that a California District Court judge recently denied EA motion to dismiss the combined case. It is possible that the result of this trial may cost EA over $1 billion dollars if the judge rules that the company violated those player’s rights.

It is my belief that the NCAA will never change their bylaws to allow athletes to receive some type of compensation for their brand identity. I also believe that this is one of the reasons players are selling their jerseys. For just a moment, put yourself in their shoes. There are several companies making millions of your name alone and you are forbidden to receive any type of profit. Now, I can understand an athlete’s point of view; however, I do not agree with an athlete violating a NCAA rule. Unfortunately, this is the agreement an athlete signed up for when becoming a NCAA player. Therefore, until the rules change, they need to follow the rules and eventually the opportunity will arise for them to receive the monetary benefits when or if they make it to the professional level.

-The Sportnista ‘95

 
Additional Source & Picture References:

Conrad, M. (2006). The Business of Sports. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc.

Custom Jerseys.com. (2011). Retrieved from http://www.customjerseysshop.com/goods-2251-Indianapolis+Colts+blank+jersey%3Ano+name+no+number+Authentic+blue+Jersey.html

No Rights Reserved. (2011). Retrieved from http://www.norightsreserved.org/

Paradigm Thrift. (2010). Just Say No. Retrieved August 4, 2011 from http://paradigmthrift.blogspot.com/2010_02_01_archive.html