from a St Louis Post Dispatch article on remarks from the SEC Commissioner
In his opening statement to kick off SEC football media days at Nashville’s Grand Hyatt, Sankey never directly referenced the state of
Missouri’s newly signed bill that addresses name, image and likeness. But he clearly alluded to the legislation that becomes law next month.
Sankey and his fellow conference commissioners long for national NIL standards instead of the current patchwork of regulations that vary from state to state, including some of the nation’s most liberal NIL laws in SEC states Arkansas, Missouri and Texas.
Missouri’s new NIL law, ,
allows Missouri high school athletes to earn endorsement money when they sign with in-state college programs and also clears the path for Mizzou’s in-house fundraising department to directly pay MU athletes for NIL purposes. Most alarming to some, Missouri’s law, like others in SEC states, prohibits the NCAA and conferences from investigating or penalizing Missouri colleges on matters related to NIL.
“The reality is our student-athletes deserve something better than a patchwork of state laws that support their name, image, and likeness activities, if support is the right word,” Sankey said here Monday. “Our student-athletes deserve something better than a race to the bottom at the state legislature level, as the efforts are made to create what are perceived as a competitive edge through state laws that are not overseen.
what is the likelyhood that the States with SEC teams are going to coordinate a unified approach to applying NIL funds to ensure equality?