In a significant move aimed at safeguarding the interests of college athletes, the NCAA Division I Council has approved new rules to help athletes avoid unscrupulous agents and unfavorable terms in name, image, and likeness (NIL) contracts.

Beginning in August, the NCAA will provide standardized contract recommendations for NIL deals to athletes, ensuring they have a clearer understanding of the terms involved. In addition, the association plans to establish a voluntary registry of trustworthy agents, based largely on feedback from athletes who have worked with them in the past.

The motivation behind these rules, according to MAC commissioner and Division I Council vice chair Jon Steinbrecher, is to assist student-athletes in protecting themselves while exercising their NIL rights. The council voted on these new regulations during the NCAA's annual convention this week.

Furthermore, the council formally proposed rules to facilitate deals between athletes and NIL collectives, potentially giving athletic departments and on-campus teams more control over roster management. However, deals with recruits or transfers prior to enrollment will still be prohibited to maintain fairness.

The council is expected to vote on the proposed changes after receiving feedback from school leaders, before the start of the next academic year.

While these changes mark a significant shift in NIL policy, keeping schools more involved in endorsement activities, they may become outdated if the NCAA adopts even more progressive changes in the future. NCAA president Charlie Baker recently proposed a policy shift that would allow schools to directly pay athletes for promoting their universities through NIL agreements.

Baker's proposal aims to stimulate further discussion, and the NCAA Division I board of directors is set to decide this week whether to officially explore those changes. If approved, these could be implemented as early as fall 2024.

Council members believe that the rules enacted this week will help eliminate bad actors in the NIL marketplace. As of now, there is no comprehensive public data available to gauge how much athletes earn from their deals. By sharing aggregate and anonymous data among NCAA members, schools and athletes can have a more realistic understanding of what to expect while negotiating contracts with companies and NIL collectives.

Although the standardized contract templates are not yet finalized, they are expected to include recommendations for terms such as limiting contract durations to an athlete's college career and preventing agents from taking excessively high percentages of proceeds.

Morgyn Wynne, an Oklahoma State softball player and Division I Council member, emphasized the necessity of the rules adopted on Wednesday to help athletes navigate their endorsement options. Wynne expressed full support for the student-athlete protections provided by the new regulations.

In addition to the changes in NIL regulations, the council also approved stricter penalties for individuals who violate NCAA rules. Moving forward, suspended coaches will be required to stay away from their teams on non-game days as well, and schools hiring coaches with show-cause penalties could face consequences. Moreover, the NCAA plans to create a public database of individuals with a history of Level 1 or Level 2 violations.

NCAA president Charlie Baker is expected to address his proposed changes and major issues in college sports in his first annual state-of-the-union style address to the convention on Wednesday night.