National College Players Association and NFL Players Association to Explore Marketing and Licensing of College Athletes

For Immediate Release
October 28, 2019

Media Contacts:
David Cooper | NFL Players Inc./MVP PR
david@mvppr.com | 917-716-8566

Ramogi Huma | NCPA
rhuma@ncpanow.org | 951-898-0985

National College Players Association and NFL Players Association to Explore Marketing and Licensing of College Athletes

Under the NFLPA’s subsidiary, REP Worldwide, the NCPA will seek ways to prepare for group licensing of college athletes in all sports as legislation takes effect

The NFL Players Association (NFLPA) and the National College Players Association (NCPA) are pleased to announce a collaborative effort to explore how college athletes from all sports can finally receive fair compensation for use of their name, image and likeness. Under REP Worldwide, the group licensing subsidiary of NFL Players, Inc., we will look to advance and market the group licensing rights of college athletes of all sports.

To date, college athletes’ group licensing and broadcast rights have been sold by schools, conferences, and the NCAA. These organizations take all revenues and profit derived off the athletes’ work without even acknowledging that athletes deserve a fair share. Under this new partnership, the NFLPA and the NCPA will explore opportunities for merchandise, gaming and other officially licensed products. We will also review how recent developments impact television broadcast revenues in pursuit of fairness.

College athlete group licensing will be possible in 2023 thanks to the California Fair Pay to Play Act, which was co-sponsored by the NCPA. The law grants college athletes the ability to secure professional and legal representation, and to receive compensation for use of their name, image, and likeness starting in 2023.

Currently, REP Worldwide represents and has signed partners for the Women’s National Basketball Players Association (WNBPA), United States Women’s National Team Players Association (USWNTPA), Major League Soccer Players Association (MLSPA) and United States Rugby Players Association (USRPA).

“I am grateful that college athletes will finally have representation that cares only about fairness for the athletes. We are on the right side of history and invite the NCAA’s commercial partners to join us. It’s time to embrace a new beginning. America should be a place where all citizens can benefit from free enterprise and equal rights are guaranteed,” stated former UCLA football player and NCPA Executive Director Ramogi Huma.

“REP Worldwide was created to offer all athletes the same world class service that NFL players have when companies want to partner with athletes to market their likeness, image and personalities," said NFLPA Executive Director and NFL Players, Inc. Chairman DeMaurice Smith. “We are proud to partner with the NCPA to offer this service to students who are also athletes. For the first time, a legislature has indicated that these students have rights just like everyone else and we support this continuing movement towards fairness.”

“Our business is built on the foundation that athletes in all sports have rights beyond their work,” said NFL Players Inc. President Ahmad Nassar. “By entering into this partnership, our work with the NCPA will ensure that athletes are supported in a meaningful way.”

The NCPA also plans to design an injured athletes fund derived from generated revenues, because colleges too often leave their current and former players to pay out-of-pocket sports related medical bills. The fund would also assist former players who suffer with cognitive disability associated with contact sports and yet have been ignored by NCAA sports.

This collaboration will ensure group licensing representation is available to every college athlete whose state passes a law to allow it. California is the only state that has adopted this law to date, but lawmakers from at least 10 other states have taken steps to introduce similar legislation, including Florida, Minnesota, Nebraska, New York, Pennsylvania, and South Carolina, with Florida and Pennsylvania lawmakers considering legislation that would be effective as of 2020. The NCPA is doing all it can to ensure lawmakers from all states adopt model legislation posted on its web site. In addition, the NCPA is calling on parents of recruits to contact their lawmakers and urge them to support this effort.

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About the NFL Players Association:

The National Football League Players Association is the union for professional football players in the National Football League. Established in 1956, the NFLPA has a long history of assuring proper recognition and representation of players’ interests. The NFLPA has shown that it will do whatever is necessary to assure that the rights of players are protected—including ceasing to be a union, if necessary, as it did in 1989. In 1993, the NFLPA again was officially recognized as the union representing the players, and negotiated a landmark Collective Bargaining Agreement with the NFL. The current CBA will govern the sport through 2020. Learn more at www.nflpa.com.

REP Worldwide

Built on a foundation of the NFLPA’s 25-plus years operating a successful sports group licensing program that generates off-field revenue to supplement NFL players’ on-field earnings, REP Worldwide provides group licensing services for athlete-driven sports properties. The NFLPA is the majority shareholder of REP Worldwide and works in collaboration with its founding partners, the U.S. Women’s National Team Players Association and the Women’s National Basketball Players Association. Visit www.repeveryplayer.com for additional information.

About NC Players Association

The NCPA is a nonprofit advocacy group comprised of over 20,000 current and former college athletes nationwide. It seeks key player protections such as health and safety standards, sports-related medical expenses, improved graduation rates, and economic justice. The NCPA has been at the forefront of the college athletes’ rights movements, and has spearheaded a number of legislative actions on the local, state, and federal levels.