Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis supports college athletes being able to make a few dollars while playing.
The topic of players being compensated has been in the news nonstop ever since California passed a law allowing athletes to profit off of their likeness. Now, it sounds like Florida could be the latest state to join the movement. (RELATED: David Hookstead Is The True King In The North When It Comes To College Football)
DeSantis said the following on Thursday, according to ESPN:
When I look for good policy ideas, California is usually not the first place I look. But I think California is on the right track…California did the first step. If Florida then follows suit — it’s not as if Delaware is doing this — these are really big powerhouse states when it comes to college athletics, and I think that’s going to require the NCAA to reevaluate.
This is quickly turning into a nightmare scenario for the NCAA. It’s one thing when one state does it. The NCAA can just drop the hammer on California and ban them from competition, which it already said it would.
However, once several states join the movement, then the NCAA has a major problem on its hands. You can’t ban Florida from competition.
You’d be taking out several major football teams and basketball teams.
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The reality is that once states in the Big 10 and SEC get involved with player compensation, then the NCAA is going to have to make some moves.
There’s simply way too much money on the line in those two conferences for the NCAA to ban them or not adapt.
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Obviously, the schools paying the players directly probably isn’t going to end well, but there’s no reason a kid shouldn’t be able to profit off of his likeness just like any other student can.
This is America. It’s not North Korea or the Soviet Union in the 1950s. We like money in this country, and we encourage getting paid.
We’ll have to wait to see what Florida does, but it looks like the tide is certainly turning against the NCAA. That’s good news for freedom.