Peterson: The obvious problem with Iowa's possible Name, Image, Likeness bill for college athletics

Tony Bisignano asked me something after reading last July in the Register that Iowa State’s Solomon Young would use name, image and likeness endorsement money to pay for his mother to see him play for the first time at Hilton Coliseum.

The Democratic state senator from Des Moines wanted to know how he could make that happen. I passed the message along to people who knew the rules, and the response was as I thought: The only way it’d be legal is if the money came from one family member to another.

Young’s family lives in Sacramento, California. Bisignano, a Des Moines south-sider, is not related to Young, but there’s still a way.

Tony, if you’re reading: Convince your legislative buddies to make massive changes to this bill.

The best way to help college athletes like Young is to allow them to profit off their popularity now and not later through a trust as state lawmakers are considering.  

College athletes, at least most of them, won’t be making enough money to cause a gigantic influx into bank accounts, anyway. Some could use the money now.

They’re adults. Let them use what they want to use. If the athlete wants to bank some of it for later, then there’s always a savings account. It should be the college athletes’ decision. It’s their money.

It’s not like this state is full of athletes like Harrison Barnes, who could have made a bundle had he chosen an Iowa college and endorsement opportunities were available upon graduation from Ames High School.

Some of our college athletes have lived in that stratosphere, but most haven’t — and never will.

“I’m OK with college athletes using a percentage of something like a trust fund,” Bisignano said, when I followed up with him Wednesday. “What I don’t want is a college athlete driving around town in a brand-new Cadillac and walking around with $10,000 in their pocket.”

That’s the common-sense approach, and again, the bill floating around our Iowa Capitol right now says that college-athletes “may” be “required to deposit some or all funds received ... into a trust fund, with all applicable state taxation deffered, until the athlete is no longer eligible to participate in the institution’s athletic program.”

I would argue that it’s everyone’s choice what kind of car they purchase, but I get his point. Sudden money. Impulse spending. Cadillac. It’s part of being an adult, I get it. We also try to protect people from maybe learning the hard way.

“They should be able to buy nice clothes, and have enough money in their pockets to attend things they want to attend,” Bisignano said. “What I don’t want is anyone short-loaning them — loaning them $20,000, with the contention that they’d repay them $30,000.”

The bill allows Iowa college athletes to hire agents, representatives or lawyers as long as they’re licensed in the state of Iowa. Hopefully that would curtail bad-faith deals.  

The current bill stipulates student-athletes wear only apparel from companies paying colleges millions of dollars for athletes to wear their stuff. Many athletic departments, like Iowa State and Iowa, use athletics revenue to pay the university for scholarships they offer. It’s not cheap.

It says athletes must stick with the school’s apparel contract “during official team activities,” which means games, practices and university-sponsored gatherings. Athletes can wear anything they want during non-school endorsement opportunities, which is as it should be.

If an athlete attending a Nike school is out somewhere making a few bucks signing autographs for a local business, then it should be fine to do it while rockin’ James Harden Adidas shoes or Eddie Bauer flip-flops.

“It’s a complicated conversation, because basketball players and the football team are usually the money-makers at most schools, especially football,” Tyrese Haliburton said at Big 12 Media Day in October.

“Now (when legislation is passed nationally), when kids are making decisions on where they want to go, they’re going to make a decision more on where they can make the most money. It’s a complicated process.

“In some shape, form or fashion, I think what you’re good at, you should benefit from that.”

Haliburton spoke before his 2020 NBA lottery draft projection reached the proportion it's reaching now. He could be a millionaire someday, but today, he’s just a typical college kid who happens to be very good at basketball.

“I’d probably use it on more stupid clothes, or send some money to my family,” he said. “Only a certain number of players in the country will be able to get universal endorsements.

“I could probably get a Wallaby’s (restaurant in Ames) or something. It would be cool, but it’s a complicated conversation.”

The current language is restrictive. Athletes must abide by school apparel contracts during official team activities. The state puts earnings in a trust fund.

“They make millions off of us,” Young said of Division I schools throughout the country. “I feel like it’d be fair for us to benefit. A lot of us don’t come from the same backgrounds. Some have more, and some have less. It would help us greatly.”

I hope our state leaders won’t go all the way to say college athletes receive their endorsement wages only when they’re done at their school.

Some could use the money now, not after they’ve left college.

Iowa State columnist Randy Peterson has been writing for the Des Moines Register for parts of five decades. Reach him at rpeterson@dmreg.com, 515-284-8132, and on Twitter at @RandyPete. No one covers the Cyclones like the Register. Subscribe today at DesMoinesRegister.com/Deal to make sure you never miss a moment.