Keystone Today

One of the hottest topics of debate in recent months has been college athletes' ability to profit off of their name, image, and likeness -- something that, until recently, was against National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) rules.

A recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling has paved the way for college athletes to finally be able to profit from their success in collegiate sports. This includes things like endorsements and video games, but it also extends to other activities, such as authoring a book or making money playing music. 

Gov. Tom Wolf took to Twitter to praise the bill put forth to him by the Pennsylvania Legislature, saying, “Pennsylvania student athletes can now earn money from endorsements and sponsorship opportunities using their name, image and likeness. This is huge for our college athletes. I was proud to sign this bill into law.”

Senate Bill 381 allows college athletes in Pennsylvania to make a profit. It says that the compensation that the players receive should be consistent with current market value. It also stipulates that any company that makes jerseys, video games, trading cards, or other memorabilia must make royalty payments to the players whose name, image or likeness were used in those products, according to reporting by the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

Previously, college athletes were not able to do anything that might result in profit having any connection with their sport. The rights to these profits belonged to the NCAA. The floodgates are opening for athletes across the country, as a Supreme Court ruling now prohibits the NCAA from preventing college athletes from making money.