Oregon college athletes could get paid for jerseys, video games under proposal

College and university athletes in Oregon could soon receive compensation for the use of their name, image or likeness in video games, on jerseys and on trading cards after the Oregon Senate unanimously passed a bill Wednesday.

Senate Bill 1505 requires anyone producing those items for profit to provide royalties to each student-athlete whose name, image or likeness is used.

It now heads to the House; it has not yet been scheduled for a first hearing there.

The bill builds on work from the 2021 session that allowed students to be compensated for the use of their name, image or likeness. However, supporters of the effort said that bill only benefited star athletes, ones that could garner commercials or endorsement deals.

SB 1505, rather, is intended to benefit all athletes on a team and cut them in on the multi-billion dollar college athletics industry. Proponents say this is not only fair, but is in-line with how team sports actually function.

"The everyday athlete, who makes it possible for great athletes ... they deserve some recognition, too," bill sponsor Senate President Peter Courtney, D-Salem, said in a speech supporting the bill.

Courtney said only Pennsylvania has passed a similar law. The National Conference of State Legislatures reports 28 states have passed laws allowing collegiate athletes to receive compensation of some nature.

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Those against paying collegiate athletes have argued that the scholarships athletes earn are compensation enough for playing. This was the long-held position of the NCAA — which would punish players for receiving benefits connected to athletics.

But the NCAA changed its rules after the Supreme Court ruled against it in an antitrust case last year. On July 1, 2021, those rules and a number of state laws (including Oregon's) went into effect, opening the door for so-called "NIL" deals.

"A very small percentage of (athletes) move on past college into professional athletics. And yet, many times, they make millions and millions of dollars for the institutions for which they play," Senate Republican Leader Tim Knopp, R-Bend, said. "They should be compensated in some way beyond their scholarships."

Reporter Connor Radnovich covers the Oregon Legislature and state government. Contact him at cradnovich@statesmanjournal.com or 503-399-6864, or follow him on Twitter at @CDRadnovich.

This article originally appeared on Salem Statesman Journal: Oregon college athletes could get paid for jerseys, video games