Times are changing in the world of college sports.
As some college football and college basketball players earn millions of dollars per year, many are wondering where the sports are really going. Will we one day reach a point where these athletes are on firm, multi-year contracts like the pros? Will a salary cap be enforced? Could we even have trades?
As individual states battle to set up their in-state schools in the best position possible, one U.S. state has announced a new bill, that will allow their student-athletes to get away with not paying any taxes.
The Mississippi House officially passed a no tax on NIL money bill, helping Ole Miss and Miss. State athletes.
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College athletes in Mississippi could see their NIL income, which can be in the seven figures, be tax-free as early as next year.
"The Mississippi House passed a bill to exclude NIL earnings from the state's income tax, which will be eliminated for all Mississippians in about a decade. The provision, said Rep. Trey Lamar, R-Senatobia, would make Mississippi an attractive destination for top athletes and give college coaches another recruiting perk," the Clarion Ledger reported.
It's a huge move.
"NIL is taking the country and coming by storm," Lamar said. "Other states are doing it, and I believe it's time that Mississippi starts doing this as well."
Some states, like Florida, Texas and Tennessee, have eliminated income tax altogether.
Not everyone agrees with the move, though.
"Why would they not be taxed like any other employee?" Rep. Dan Eubanks, R-Walls asked Lamar in the House. "Is the only incentive for us doing this because other states are doing it? I just don't know why they're being treated different than anyone else in the world."
The state of Mississippi could be leaving millions of dollars on the table in taxes going uncollected, but the college football programs will benefit, that's for sure.