Eight days after the Ohio Senate unanimously passed a bill introduced a month ago that would allow college athletes in the state to make money off of their name, image and likeness, the Ohio House of Representatives voted, 57-36, to pass an amended bill on Thursday.
Now, because of an amendment introduced by representative Jena Powell, the legislation will be sent back to the Senate which will vote on the amended bill, which is no longer solely about name, image and likeness.
The amendment, which was approved in a 54-40 vote, requires youth athletes to compete in sports based on their sex assigned at birth. It would bar transgender girls from participating on female teams in sports, instead having them play on male or co-ed teams.
Additionally, the representatives voted to remove the emergency clause. Now, if the bill passes, 90 days would have to pass between when governor Mike DeWine signs the bill and when it would become effective.
Ohio State released a statement on Thursday night in response to the amended bill passing.
“Ohio State supports a clean name, image and likeness bill, like the bill passed by the Ohio Senate, which will support all student-athletes across Ohio,” school spokesman Ben Johnson said.
If the bill eventually passes, all Ohio athletes would be allowed to profit from their name, image and likeness when it goes into effect. The bill, introduced at the Covelli Center on May 24 by state senator Niraj Antani, gives athletes the ability to have agents or representatives, does not allow schools to dictate deals that fall within the rules, bans earning compensation for marijuana, alcohol and tobacco or casinos and has a mandatory 15-day waiting period between when athletes have to inform a university of their intention to sign a contract and when the contract can be entered into.
Ohio, if the bill is ultimately signed, would join Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, New Mexico and Texas to become the seventh state to pass name, image and likeness legislation set to begin on July 1. Day and Smith twice showed up at the Ohio Statehouse to advocate for the passage of the bill. Day highlighted his belief that Ohio schools would be at a “competitive disadvantage” if it isn’t implemented by the first day of next month. However, unless the emergency clause is put back into the bill or the NCAA makes a rule change, it’s unlikely that this bill would be effective on July 1.
The states that don’t pass name, image and likeness legislation by July 1 might not be left out, though. NCAA president Mark Emmert, per The Athletic’s Nicole Auerbach, sent a memo to administrators at schools in all three divisions to say the organization “would develop interim solutions so that student-athletes, no matter which state they’re enrolled in would be able to take advantage of NIL opportunities.”
