Former UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones is happy for college athletes and their newfound earning power.
On Thursday, the NCAA started allowing its athletes to profit off their own personas, a 180-deguree turn on a long-held stance when it comes to athlete compensation. Thanks to a ruling from the NCAA Division I Council, athletes can now make money from their name, image and likeness.
Here are the details, via USA TODAY Sports:
Under the new arrangement, college athletes will be allowed to engage in activities, including endorsement deals, leveraging social media for pay, and getting compensated for coaching, making personal appearances and signing autographs.
They will be able to do all of this in an environment that, at least for now, will have far fewer fixed boundaries than the schools had anticipated would be in place in the wake of a vote on a detailed set of rules changes that had been set for January.
Schools in states with laws about athletes’ name, image and likeness (NIL) activity “are responsible for determining whether those activities are consistent with state law,” the association said.
Schools in states without NIL laws will be able to develop their own policies, with the NCAA saying only that the association will be maintaining its “prohibitions on pay-for-play and improper recruiting inducements.”
The ruling represents a seismic shift for college sports, one that Jones celebrated on Twitter.
“NCAA athletes congratulations, happy for you guys. Don’t forget about mama,” Jones tweeted.
NCAA athletes congratulations, happy for you guys. Don’t forget about mama
— BONY (@JonnyBones) July 1, 2021
Jones remains on the sidelines as he sorts out his own financial matters with the UFC. Jones, who turns 34 later this month, hasn’t competed since a narrow win over Dominick Reyes in February 2020. Since then, Jones vacated his 205-pound title in anticipation of a move up to heavyweight, which he’s spent nearly a year transforming himself physically.
A heavyweight title fight with new champion Francis Ngannou seemed like a lock until Jones asked for more money, triggering a public feud with UFC president Dana White. In the wake of failed negotiations, Jones parted ways with First Round Management, which represented him for 12 years. Jones hired former Golden Boy Promotions CEO Richard Schaefer as an advisor in late May.
It’s unclear where things stand with Jones’ attempt at negotiating a new deal with the UFC, but his tweet on the NCAA ruling shows he’s happy to see other athletes win financially.