Charlie Baker lays out problems with NIL, reveals potential solutions

NCAA president Charlie Baker is still fresh on the job, nearing his three-year mark. A ton of issues surround college athletics right now but none are more topical than Name, Image, and Likeness. NIL talk is everywhere, especially with Congress involved in Washington D.C.

Baker stepped into the ring on Monday, answering questions during the College World Series game between Tennessee and Stanford. When NIL was brought up, Baker revealed that’s been a huge topic when meeting with people early in his tenure.

“A lot of the focus is on Name, Image, and Likeness,” Baker said. “And the fact that it would be really nice if the thing had some transparency and accountability to it. I heard that, by the way, as much from student-athletes and families as I heard about it with schools. We’re certainly going to try to get that done with Congress.”

Baker was in Washington D.C. at the beginning of June, discussing NIL in front of Congress. On3’s Pete Nakos broke down what we learned, with Baker talking a lot about different state laws affecting the NCAA. He was joined in D.C. by the likes of SEC commissioner Greg Sankey and Alabama head coach Nick Saban.

But during his interview during the baseball game, there were some more generic issues presented by Baker. Thankfully, he brought some solutions to the table as well. No use in complaining about a problem if you do not have a potential answer.

“We’re also going to run the traps inside the NCAA’s own process,” Baker said. “I really do think there should be a clearing house. Everybody seems to think there should be some place to go to find out what the deals are.

“I also think there should be some certification process for agents because I’ve had too many kids and too many families tell me a story about neighbor, friend, uncle, cousin repping them. Which, is a problem. There should be some uniform financial standard contract. We have that in every other industry you can think of.”

There is still a long way to go in the NIL battle with the NCAA. Baker says he would like to see a bill passed by Congress before the 2024 election cycle, giving everyone some time.

Until then, Baker will have to deal with the problems head-on, continuing to meet with parents, student-athletes, and conference leaders in the meantime. The problems are real and Baker is at least providing some fixes.