Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on Thursday signed a measure that will allow Florida colleges and universities to help steer endorsement deals toward student-athletes.
The House and Senate unanimously approved the bill (HB 7B) during a special legislative session last week.
The bill repeals a prohibition in Florida’s athlete-pay law that prohibited colleges and universities from causing “compensation to be directed” to athletes.
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“In 2020, we took a commonsense approach to ensure that student-athletes could control their name, image and likeness and be paid fairly for it,” said Governor Ron DeSantis. “Now that the NCAA has taken necessary steps to ensure fairness for student-athletes, we can focus on making sure that those athletes are supported and protected under the law.”
Supporters say the change will help Florida schools be more competitive in recruiting against counterparts in other states that do not have such a restriction.
“I recognize the importance of the recruiting process and the fact that our current law would put us behind other states for recruiting some top-quality athletes to our schools,” Senate President Kathleen Passidomo, R-Naples, said Thursday in an interview with The News Service of Florida.
The measure also is designed to bolster financial-literacy requirements, including a requirement that schools conduct “entrepreneurship workshops” for athletes before graduation.
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