What is the NIL bill that Texas governor Greg Abbott signed? All you need to know

NIL deals have made a significant impact on college sports in recent years, revolutionizing the landscape of collegiate athletics by allowing student-athletes to receive compensation for their name, image, and likeness. Previously, these athletes were unable to benefit financially without losing their collegiate eligibility.

Texas governor Greg Abbott recently signed House Bill 2804, which will prevent schools from being punished by the NCAA for NIL violations. According to Jeremy Crabtree of On3 Sports, the legislation states:

"An athletic association, an athletic conference, or any other group or organization with authority over an intercollegiate athletic program at an institution to which this section applies may not enforce a contract term, a rule, a regulation, a standard, or any other requirement that prohibits the institution from participating in intercollegiate athletics or otherwise penalizes the institution or the institution’s intercollegiate athletic program for performing, participating in, or allowing an activity required or authorized by this section."

Furthermore, the bill will reportedly open the door for college boosters to fund name, image, and likeness deals going forward. It is unclear how this will play out, however, as Crabtree added:

"The bill technically allows for the ability for third-party 501(c)(3) organizations, independent of athletic departments, to provide NIL compensation to athletes and provide priority status or other perks to donors. However, on Friday the IRS warned that NIL collectives could soon no longer be deemed public charities."

The NCAA has yet to comment on the bill. It is unclear if other states will follow suit in order to increase their name, image, and likeness spending power.

Which states haven't signed NIL bill?

There are currently 18 states without name, image, and likeness legislation in place. One of these states, Alabama, had previously passed an NIL bill, however, it was repealed within less than a year of going into effect.

The remaining 17 states that have never passed name, image, and likeness legislation are Alaska, Deleware, Hawaii, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, North Dakota, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Utah, Vermont, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, and Wyoming.

Whether any of these states are currently considering the adoption of name, image, and likeness legislation is uncertain. However, if the 32 states with existing legislation gain a recruiting advantage, it is likely that the rest of the nation will follow suit.