By James Littleton ‘20

The great debate of whether college athletes should be earning money may be nearing a conclusion. Under Governor Gavin Newsom, California lawmakers have approved a bill that would allow players in the state to profit off their name, image and likeness. The King himself, Lebron James, played a major role in bringing this bill to life.

This is a pivotal and monumental moment to all NCAA athletes who believe they should earn some type of payment. Quite frankly, it seems the NCAA takes advantage of athletes who work hard and produce high funds for their institutions and the NCAA but receive none of the spoils.

I know if I was a student athlete in the NCAA, I would be quite upset if I am truly helping and earning money for both the institution and the NCAA.

The NCAA is not happy in the slightest; they’ve always been against this idea. Their defense is that these athletes are earning four-year degrees and should be focusing their time on their education and not a pay-for-play system.

I really think this is just the tip of the iceberg for this topic. In little time, I predict almost all states will begin to hop on California’s back and develop similar bills of their own. California has received exquisite public and political support for it, and most states will see and mostly likely copy them.