CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Companion bills to provide college athletes with greater Name, Image and Likeness opportunities have cleared the House of Delegates.
The House overwhelmingly approved HB 2576 and HB 2595 Tuesday without debate. The bills allow colleges and universities to establish a non-profit entity that could enter into contracts with student-athletes to compensate them through revenue sharing, NIL rights and facilitate other NIL opportunities.
HB 2572 establishes a framework for compensation and well as providing some restrictions. Athletes would not qualify as employees and NIL contracts could not impact scholarship status. Restrictions on NIL contracts include industries related to alcohol or adult entertainment.
Companion legislation, HB 2595, authorizes institutions to establish a new non-profit entity for athletics, similarly structured to research corporations. The new organization will manage revenue sharing dollars and NIL opportunities.
The NCAA first allowed athletes to profit from NIL in 2021, opening the floodgates for player compensation. In October 2024, preliminary approval was granted for a settlement in the case House vs. NCAA. That settlement allows institutions to compensate athletes through revenue sharing.
Both West Virginia University and Marshall University support the bills.
“What it guarantees is protection in West Virginia should the settlement fall part or should the NCAA try to step in and block us from doing certain things. We do not believe the NCAA will do that. We believe they will change some of their policies once the settlement is finalized,” explained Travis Mollohan, Associate Vice President of Government Relations at WVU.
Mollohan anticipates WVU will be required to make about $20.5 million available to share with athletes. Those dollars would go to the new university controlled entity to be dispersed to athletes. At Marshall, that share of revenue to be shared is expected to be around $1.5 million.
By establishing a non-profit organization, institutions would also be able to keep information about NIL deals private, preventing other schools from simply outbidding West Virginia institutions for players.
“One of the things we’re concerned about in this competitive environment is larger schools can look and see what student-athletes are being paid and offer more money. This would allow us to keep that information confidential,” said Toney Stroud, Chief Legal Counsel for Marshall University.
Both bills now move to the Senate for consideration.