It’s no secret that name, image, and likeness (NIL) has changed college sports and has created quite a bit of chaos as officials try to regulate it, now that athletes are allowed to profit from their NIL. And it sounds like new Big Ten commissioner Tony Petitti wants more regulation.
During an interview with Griffin Strom of Eleven Warriors, Petitti revealed that he supports “a national solution” to all of the headaches caused by NIL, given that college athletics is “one national ecosystem.”
“Student-athletes, it’s clear they have the right to monetize their name, image and likeness, and I think that’s a good thing. But I think going forward, it’s more about what that system’s going to be,” Petitti said. “And I think there’s a lot of words that come up and speaking with athletic directors and (senior woman administrators) and the (Council of Presidents and Chancellors) about transparency. But I will say one thing: college athletics is one national ecosystem. The Big Ten competes across multiple states, we compete nationally for championships. I think that system deserves a national solution and a national system.
“And so that’s why the collaboration is so important, that’s why federal legislation, there’s a lot about what you’ve been reading about over the last few months, because it’s the best solution. State-by-state doesn’t seem to make sense for a system that competes the way that we do.”
It would certainly make sense for everyone to be playing by the same rules. We’ll have to see if that can happen in the near future.
