With college sports having a big impact on some states’ entire economies, it should be no surprise that more state legislatures are getting involved in stacking the recruiting deck in their favor.
According to Yahoo Sports’ Dan Wetzel, Missouri House Bill 417 recently passed which makes any Missouri student-athlete that signs a letter of intent with an in-state school to be eligible to receive NIL deals a full 6-10 months before enrolling.
While the bill also codified NIL across the state and offered protection against the NCAA’s interference, the pre-enrollment eligibility for NIL deals is a unique spin on the law that is aimed at enticing student-athletes to stay within the borders of the Show Me State.
Missouri representative Kurtis Gregory, a former Missouri Tigers offensive lineman, defended the move as one aimed at assisting Missouri businesses through improvements to the Missouri football program.
“How is this different from anything else we do?” Gregory mused
“[Missouri] Coach [Eli] Drinkwitz has said repeatedly one of the keys for the program is that we have to recruit the best players in Missouri.”
A new Missouri law allows Missouri high school stars to begin receiving NIL money when they sign with an instate school. If they sign with an out of state school, they have to wait until they enroll.https://t.co/wdOeaSPfOR
— Dan Wetzel (@DanWetzel) August 18, 2023
Gregory also used his own recruiting to point out that inducements exist in more subtle ways than just money.
“When I was being recruited, Kansas sat down and showed me what their new practice facility was going to look like my sophomore year,” Gregory said. “That’s an inducement. At Kansas State, they knew I wanted to be a farmer so they were telling me they have one of the top agricultural programs in the country. That’s an inducement.
“How is NIL any different than all of that? I’d argue it isn’t.”
This may be the first such bill of its kind to be passed but it may not be the last.