OXON HILL, Md. — The head of a new regulatory body for college athletics said “if there was a time to stick out your neck, it’s now” while urging schools to sign an agreement sent out nearly two months ago pledging to abide by new rules that govern how to pay players.
Bryan Seeley, the CEO of the 7-month-old College Sports Commission, used his presentation at the NCAA convention Wednesday to thank leaders from four schools who put out a statement backing the agreement, all while urging others to sign on.
“My sense is that the vast majority of schools want to sign this. but I suspect if a school wants this, you’re thinking, ‘Why am I going to stick my neck out?'” if other schools won’t also sign, Seeley said. “If there was a time to stick out your neck, it’s now.”
In late November, the CSC sent NCAA Division I schools its “University Participation Agreement,” an 11-page document that all 68 schools from the four most powerful conferences — the Atlantic Coast, Big 12, Big Ten and Southeastern — need to sign for it to go into effect. It outlines the CSC’s role in monitoring how schools pay out the $20.5 million they’re allowed to spend on players’ name, image and likeness benefits via revenue sharing, per last year’s settlement of the House v. NCAA antitrust lawsuit, and also looks at how the CSC regulates third-party payments to players.
The most contentious part of the agreement, though, was language that forbid schools from suing the agency.