SYRACUSE, N.Y. (NCC News) – After years of chatter, the NCAA has finally allowed student athletes to profit off their name, image, and likeness. July 1 marked the first day of the official rule change. Many student athletes across the country were ecstatic with the change.
The Syracuse Athletics Department released a statement on how they plan on assisting its student athletes in the growth of their personal brands. They are in the works of creating a boot camp for all student athletes beginning this fall, which will help them with their entrepreneurial, financial, and accounting skills.
Josh Black, a Syracuse football player, says this new era of college athletics has the potential to be like the Wild, Wild West.
“These companies are going to reach out to these athletes and try to take advantage of them by offering very low deals,” Black said. “They can basically get a bunch of free advertisement for a fraction of the cost.”
Black, who is entering his sixth year in the program, is very excited about the new rules and the opportunities that are in front of him. He does acknowledge that there are problems that may arise.
“We have to file our taxes and keep track of everything like that,” Black said. “For one, I don’t think a lot of these athletes know how to do it. Secondly, they never thought about doing it right now and it creates another slippery slope.”
Over the holiday weekend, he took advantage of the new rules by partnering with local establishments.
“Recently, I just made a deal with Wings Over,” Black said. “I am in cahoots with a lot of smaller restaurants around here or local businesses. I just got with Limp Lizard BBQ and XO Taco.”
