California Gov. Gavin Newsom vetoes NIL transparency bill

California Gov. Gavin Newsom vetoed a bill that would require third-party NIL collectives to provide deal information to institutions.

Bill SB906 landed on Newsom’s desk earlier this month after unanimously passing the California Senate and legislature. The legislation would have required collectives to submit details for NIL deals worth $5,000 or more to the school the athlete attends. Specifically, collectives would provide the amount of compensation and value of service to the athlete, the name of the athletic team, the athlete’s gender and the amount of compensation provided to all athletes at the school each year by sport and gender.

State Sen. Nancy Skinner introduced SB906 five years after she introduced the Fair Pay to Play Act, which triggered states across the country to enact similar legislation and played a key role in ushering in the NIL Era.

Skinner wanted SB906 to provide details on “NIL’s impact on gender equity in college sports.” The state senator could reintroduce the bill next year.

“College sports are in a period of transition, as many schools are changing athletic conferences and relevant issues are currently pending in the courts,” Newsom wrote in a statement released Monday. “As governor, I want to ensure California’s colleges continue to be competitive with other states. Further changes to this dynamic should be done nationally.”

The bill would have called for data from California institutions to be publicly available via anonymous aggregated data. The legislation would also require schools to provide anonymous aggregated data on revenue sharing with athletes.

More than 80% of dollars flowing in the NIL space are generated by collectives. These organizations have become imperative to fielding a top roster in both football and men’s basketball, yet all operate differently. A top NIL collective operates at a high level, working closely with an athletic department while boasting one of the top budgets.

Major dollars are being spent on football rosters. For example, sources have confirmed to On3, and new athletic director Ross Bjork has spoken publicly about how Ohio State has spent $20 million on this year’s football roster. USC is reportedly spending $10 to $12 million this year.