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On Wednesday, June 30, Gov. Ned Lamont announced that he has signed a bill into law that will allow student-athletes to be compensated for their names and likeness.
“For decades, student-athletes have been unfairly prevented from benefitting from their own image,” Lamont said. “I'm glad to have signed this into law, adding Connecticut to a growing list of states.”
Under the new law, college athletes will be able to engage in paid advertisements, something that is now forbidden by the NCAA.
Student-athletes will be permitted to earn compensation through an endorsement contract or employment, and they can hire the legal or professional representation of an attorney or sports agent without consequence.
More than a dozen other states have already made the change, which is expected to impact recruiting for some of the NCAA’s major sports.
“For Connecticut to ensure that we aren’t losing some of our top-tier players to other states with private contracts that could be half a million or more dollars and to ensure the competitiveness of our state’s institutions, we decided that this was the time to get going on passing this language,” Congressman Josh Elliott said in a statement.
The new legislation takes effect as of Wednesday, Sept. 1, as the NCAA continues to debate whether or not student-athletes should be allowed to profit on their namesakes.
“For decades, student-athletes have been unfairly prevented from being compensated for use of their own image, while other organizations have made billions from the performance of these college students,” Lamont said.
“I’m glad to have signed this bill into law and add Connecticut to the growing list of states that say student-athletes should be able to be compensated for their talents.”
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