California will allow college athletes to be paid in 2023

On Monday, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a bill that not only allows college athletes in California to be paid for the use of their name and image but to also sign endorsement deals.

Many USC professors and students are in support of the new bill and believe college athletes should be rewarded for their endless hours of hard work and dedication to the game.

“It’s a good thing because I think student-athletes have been taken advantage of,” said Liorah Goldsmith, a junior studying journalism at USC and Annenberg Media contributor.

Starting in 2023, bylaws will change to allow student-athletes to be recognized and paid for the use of their image and likeness, something universities have received the sole benefit of for years

The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is strongly opposed to paying student-athletes, calling the new bill unconstitutional.

“Unfortunately, this new law already is creating confusion for current and future student-athletes, coaches, administrators and campuses, and not just in California,” the NCAA said in a statement.

Zach Banner - a former USC football player, and current Pittsburgh Steeler - tweeted that his scholarship check was for $1600 when he attended USC from 2013-2016. Banner continued the tweet by stating that a 600 sq ft apartment in South Central Los Angeles costs $1200 a month, plus $200 for utilities on “a good month.”

He concludes the tweet by stating, “Tim Tebow does not represent all of us past/present/future players. He represents the kids whose families could send him cash.”

Susie Cognetta, currently a student-athlete academic advisor, is a former USC women’s soccer player who received an athletic scholarship. She supports the bill and believes student-athletes should receive endorsements and pay.

“I don’t see why they shouldn’t get paid because the school is making money off of them,” Cognetta said.

Before Newsom signed the bill, the NCAA issued a letter to Newsom threatening to ban California schools from NCAA competitions including the March Madness basketball tournament. The NCAA said that they believed would have an unfair advantage in the recruiting process should the bill come to pass.

While the NCAA “considers next steps in California” after the bill’s passage, legislators from South Carolina, New York and Colorado have already announced plans to draft similar bills allowing student-athletes in their states to receive compensation.

Correction made Oct. 3: A previous version of this story misspelled names such as Tim Tebow and Pittsburgh Steelers. They’ve been corrected to the proper spelling. We also clarified that Liorah Goldsmith is a contributor to Annenberg Media. In the previous version, Zach Banner’s quote was accompanied by analysis. We took down the analysis of his statement and let his quote and tweet thread share his position on the issue. We also corrected our headline to clarify that the student-athletes are not paid by the state.