CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Rich Rodriguez has watched college football evolve over his career from strictly amateur sports to big business where elite athletes can now command lucrative endorsement deals for the use of their Name, Image, and Likeness.
On Tuesday, the West Virginia University Football Coach and Athletics Director Wren Baker urged the state senate to approve two bills that will allow WVU, Marshall and other colleges and universities in the state to provide greater NIL opportunities to college athletes.
“As you all know because you follow it, college athletics is rapidly evolving and changing. This legislation really gives us the opportunity to compensate the student-athletes for their name, image, and likeness,” said Baker while addressing the Senate Education Committee.
“The reality is, we’re recruiting in an environment where we need to make commitments to student-athletes to get them committed for next year.”
The bills, HB 2576 and HB 2595, allow colleges and universities to establish a non-profit entity that could enter into contracts with student-athletes to compensate them through revenue sharing, and NIL rights and facilitate other NIL opportunities.
HB 2572 establishes a framework for compensation and well as provides 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.
Rodriguez said many coaches have bemoaned the changes in college athletics over the last decade but rather than just give up in the changing environment, Rodriguez wants to put WVU in the best position to succeed. He emphasized that when WVU is successful on the field or court, the entire state benefits.
“Having been around the country a little bit the past few years, I’m even more convinced now that we are in a unique spot to collectively win and have success. And it’s not all about winning, but a lot of it is bringing positive attention to our state. When you have success in athletics, and it’s in a national profile, you can maybe change some people’s mind about the kind of people that are in the state of West Virginia,” Rodriguez said.
The NCAA first allowed athletes to profit from NIL in 2021, opening the floodgates for player compensation. Since then, the NIL process has been shrouded in some secrecy and the universities have not played active roles in securing deals for athletes. That has been handled by private collectives adjacent to the athletic programs. These bills would change that approach.
“What this does, is it allows us the opportunity to be a part of those conversations, to actively have those, to share those with transparency, instead of the environment that we’ve had that’s kind of clouded in obscurity and isn’t pay for play but kind of is through these collectives,” said Baker.
“This really allows us to take control of that process, to understand what the value of each student’s name, image, and likeness is, and to negotiate what would be fair compensation for that.”
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. Earlier this week, a federal judge instructed attorneys to address a short list of concerns with the settlement deal before granting final approval.
WVU officials anticipate it 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.
Rodriguez emphasized with this framework in place, West Virginia is in a unique position to compete for recruits against other Power 4 programs.
“Part of our recruiting pitch is that we’re in a unique situation at WVU. There’s no professional team, no NBA, no WNBA, no major league baseball, no NFL. There’s only one Power Four team and that’s us. Our guys get a lot of attention. So that is not only good for you if you do well and for your future career, but also now you can monetize that,” said Rodriguez.
“We’re in a better position than most, even the Georgia’s and Ohio States, because we don’t have competition for that attention for our players, and it resonates well with these guys. They see our facilities. They see the stadium. Then they see the attention they get. Now with this and what’s going forward, we think we can play the other game with it as well.”