New Mexico NIL bill would allow schools to arrange compensation

On Wednesday, the New Mexico Senate introduced Senate Bill 219, which is titled “College Student Athlete Endorsements.” If passed, the bill would amend the current state law by removing the prohibition that prevents colleges and universities from arranging third-party compensation for the use of an athlete’s name, image and likeness. The bill would also remove the prohibition of NIL deals being used as inducements to recruit prospective athletes.

Rep. Brian Baca, Sen. Mark Moores and Sen. Antonio Maestas sponsored the bill. Baca and Moores are Republicans, while Maestas is a Democrat. Baca and Maestas are the primary sponsors, while Moores is a cosponsor.

New Mexico Senate Bill 219 was sent to the Senate Education Committee.

Additionally, the bill removes prohibitions regarding college athletes’ ability to sign with professional representation. If the bill is passed, professional representation could be affiliated with an institution or its partners.

The bill would remove a clause in the state law that states, “An entity or individual that represents a post-secondary education institution or has represented that post-secondary educational institution in the previous four years shall not represent a student athlete who is attending that post-secondary educational institution in any business agreement.”

New Mexico and New Mexico State are the two NCAA Division I institutions in the state.

States amend NIL legislation

There are 30 states, plus the District of Columbia, where lawmakers have passed NIL legislation or signed an executive order. While many legislators rushed to pass a state law prior to the start of the NCAA’s NIL era on July 1, 2021, lawmakers in many of those same states have since amended, repealed or suspended their respective law.

In 2022, Alabama lawmakers repealed their state law, while those in South Carolina suspended theirs.

Legislators in states such as Illinois, Louisiana and Tennessee amended their respective state laws to provide institutions or NIL collectives with more freedom.

Lawmakers in New Mexico previously passed Senate Bill 94.

In the first year of the NCAA’s NIL era, the state laws that were enacted provided few enforcement mechanisms. On3 was unable to find any reported violations or official inquiries into potential violations.

Notable leaders in college athletics have asked for federal NIL legislation. Those figures include Big Ten Commissioner Kevin Warren and SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey.

With former Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker set to succeed NCAA President Mark Emmert, the NCAA could try to utilize Baker’s political experience to successfully lobby to Congress the need for federal legislation.