NCAA President Mark Emmert will meet with lawmakers this week in Washington D.C. about legislation governing college athletes' ability to profit from the use of their names, images and likenesses, including Sen. Jerry Moran (R-Kan.), the author of one of three bills introduced in Congress on the issue this session, Senate Commerce Committee chair Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), and the committee's ranking member, Sen. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.). Emmert's meetings come with less than two months until several state laws on name, image and likeness go into effect on July 1, and he said he is "confident" that the NCAA will approve new rules of its own before the start of the 2021-2022 academic year. (USA Today)
Medina Spirit, the winner of this month's Kentucky Derby, failed a drug test after the race and could be disqualified if a second sample taken at the same time as the first confirms the result, a potential stain on the legacy of his Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert, who was suspended by Churchill Downs from entering other horses there. The colt, which would be the third horse in the race's 147-year history to be disqualified after finishing first, is tentatively scheduled to race in Saturday's Preakness Stakes, but track officials said it would determine his eligibility after a review of the facts. (The New York Times)
The NHL said in a memo that it will ease COVID-19 protocols during the Stanley Cup playoffs for players and teams that have been fully vaccinated, allowing players to gather socially outside of team facilities, dine outdoors and convene in each other's hotel rooms. The relaxed protocols, which currently don't apply to players and teams based in Canada due to reduced vaccine access in the country relative to the United States, are similar to those enacted by the NBA and MLB, and come after Vegas Golden Knights goaltender Robin Lehner criticized the league last month for maintaining stringent restrictions for players who had been vaccinated. (Sportsnet)
COLLEGE SPORTS
The next steps for the NCAA allowing athletes to be paid will be two meetings in May and June Chuck Culpepper, The Washington Post
The two Division I Council meetings will attempt to hammer out some of the NCAA's ideas for how it would manage the new system, explained Shane Lyons, the athletic director at West Virginia and one of the 40 members of the Division I Council. The first meeting will address the issue of a third-party entry that will manage the new system "kind of like a clearinghouse," Lyons said.
With start date nearing, Mississippi State signs with CLC's Compass as first NIL client Michael Smith, Sports Business Journal
Mississippi State, like most schools, had taken a wait-and-see approach to name, image and likeness legislation before deciding if it would manage NIL in-house or bring in an outside agency. But with just seven weeks remaining before a state law will permit college athletes to be compensated for their NIL rights, the Bulldogs decided they couldn't wait any longer.
Inside the emails: Could Blueprint dollars fund Doak football stadium renovations at FSU? Karl Etters, Tallahassee Democrat
Florida State University is exploring tapping into taxpayer money to fund proposed renovations to Doak Campbell Stadium, at least in part, through the Blueprint Intergovernmental Agency. The influx of money, gathered over the last 20 years through a sales tax ballot initiative, could be funneled into some of the major upgrades to the stadium while the university continues to analyze the need for a convention center for which $30 million has already been devoted.
Customized logos for recruits, social media handles on jerseys and in-house branding programs: How schools are differentiating their approach to athlete branding Andy Wittry, Out of Bounds
Just because a university or athletic department has signed a contract with a third-party NIL company doesn't guarantee that every athlete at the university has the same access to the company's services. Some universities and athletic departments have only paid for accounts for athletes who compete in specific athletic programs, which are decisions that can potentially be dictated by factors such as fan interest and the amount of a revenue an athletic program generates.
