Schools in Georgia have legal cover to immediately begin paying their athletes directly, according to an executive order signed by the state's governor Tuesday morning.
Gov. Brian Kemp signed an order that prohibits the NCAA or athletic conferences from punishing any university or college in Georgia for "offering compensation, or compensating an intercollegiate student-athlete for the use of such student-athlete's NIL."
NCAA rules currently prohibit schools from directly paying athletes for the rights to use their name, image and likeness. The association agreed to drop its restriction on schools paying for NIL deals as part of a pending antitrust settlement, but that agreement has not been finalized. If the settlement is approved in its current form, those new rules are expected to go into effect at the start of the next academic year. The order in Georgia is effective immediately.
The Georgia order is similar to a law passed in July by the Virginia Legislature, which gave schools in that state the protection to directly pay their athletes via NIL deals without facing NCAA penalties.
Athletic directors at Virginia and Virginia Tech declined to share any plans for paying athletes directly at the time the bill was signed and have not made any public announcements about taking advantage of the ability to pay players since the law went into effect July 1.
Sources told ESPN that neither Georgia nor Georgia Tech -- the two power conference schools in the state -- have plans to start paying their players immediately. Instead, the executive order gives them the option to pay players if other schools around the country start to do so.
"We extend our sincere gratitude to Governor Brian Kemp for his leadership today," Georgia athletic director Josh Brooks and Georgia Tech athletic director J Batt said in a shared statement to ESPN on Tuesday. "In the absence of nationwide name, image and likeness regulation, this executive order helps our institutions with the necessary tools to fully support our student-athletes in their pursuit of NIL opportunities, remain competitive with our peers and secure the long-term success of our athletics programs."
The NCAA did not respond immediately to a request for comment.
Other states have considered legislation to help their schools facilitate payment to players. Missouri, for example, has a law that allows schools to direct money to a third party, which in turn pays athletes to appear in marketing material for the school.
The pending antitrust settlement, if approved, would also cap the amount of money that U.S. schools can give directly to athletes. The cap is expected to be slightly higher than $20 million in its first year and increase annually.
Under their current laws, schools in Virginia and Georgia could start paying athletes immediately without any limit on the amount of money they provide. If they do so, the NCAA will have to challenge the new executive order in court if it wants to stop them.
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