NCAA V. ALSTON: THE FUTURE OF COLLEGE SPORTS IN THE NAME, IMAGE, AND LIKENESS ERA

In National Collegiate Athletic Association v. Alston, the archaic amateur model for college sports was abolished. The United States Supreme Court ruled in favor of student-athletes across the country by striking down National Collegiate Athletic Association ("NCAA") restrictions on student-athlete education benefits based on antitrust grounds. In doing so, the Court opened the door for student-athletes to benefit from their name, image, and likeness ("NIL") rights. Following the decision, the legal landscape for rights of publicity in college sports has quickly evolved as many states have passed NIL laws and the federal government has tried to develop a framework for what a universal NIL law will look like. The current set of NCAA and state laws have granted student-athletes with varying degrees of opportunities to be compensated by selling their NIL rights. As a result, many questions surrounding this new era of college sports remain unanswered. This Note addresses the impact of Alston on college sports, discusses the NIL market and student-athletes' rights in their NIL, and provides several key principles that Congress may consider when adopting a universal NIL law.