As the NCAA grapples with how to provide athletes opportunities to be compensated for their fame, about two-thirds of Americans support college players being permitted to earn money for endorsements.
That’s according to a new poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. Support for the NCAA allowing college athletes to cash in on their names, images and likenesses is especially high among young adults, as well as black Americans and Hispanics, though majorities of white Americans and older adults are also in favor.
NCAA officials and college sports leaders broadly agree, too.
“The opinions of the public in general are very important because they are reflected in the attitudes of universities, who are the ones that actually make the rules,” NCAA President Mark Emmert told AP.
In this April 4, 2019, file photo, NCAA President Mark Emmert answers questions at a news conference at the Final Four college basketball tournament in Minneapolis. Emmert and other college sports leaders say they are concerned about allowing college athletes to enter the free market with no restrictions on how and by whom they can be paid for endorsements. (AP Photo/Matt York, File)How to make this work within the current framework of college athletics while also guarding against corruption in recruiting is what they are trying to sort out.