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I don't think California is going to have to stand by itself or strongarm anyone.  I think there are plenty of states/universities that will likely enact similar law.

There already are -- with varying likelihoods of success -- similar bills at earlier stages in several state legistures. I know that Washington, Maryland, and North Carolina are examples.

Whether those succeed, I can't say, but between the O'Bannon fallout and this, the movement has legs. It's accelerating to the point where some form of win is now inevitable (name and likeness rights, market value, and/or larger revenue sport stipends, etc.). 

It does make me giggle how many fans in opposition to this are pro-free market and anti-regulation when it comes to everything except college athletes.

I wonder if that works both ways--if there's an equally amusing number of people who support this but are anti-free market and pro-regulation in everything else.

 the top of the G5 tends to be better and more entertaining than the bottom of the P5, at least IMO.

This is sort of statistically inevitable, btw.  

Frankly, when it comes to player compensation, the NCAA should probably consider it a win to allow kids to "independently collect whatever market value they have coming." Because that will negligibly (if at all) subtract from administrators salaries (at the NCAA and AD level), and if this goes all the way -- where the market values open AND the schools have to provide their revenue athletes market value stipends from AD revenue -- those administrator salaries are likely to be hit hardest and first. Likewise, many of these NCAA and AD suitcoat workforces are likely to see massive and permanent layoffs. And that isn't even to mention contraction of these AD's profit margins.

I disagree. People in positions of power rarely lose their power when change is made. It will be the other student athletes that get hurt. No AD is going to cut his salary drastically when instead he can get rid of 2 non-revenue sports and blame the Big Bad Football for it. "I had to get Volleyball and Fencing because of this new rule. I had no choice."

For the fans or schools/administrators who make that argument, they come off as either blind or dishonest. These competitive advantages already exist in two types.

• There's the NCAA-legal way (helmet schools have what they have; Washington State, Rutgers and the MAC don't). Ignoring that is blind (and/or dishonest)
• And then there's the NCAA-illegal way (the culture of rampantly paying the players by bagmen). Ignoring that is dishonest (and/or blind)

All this rule change would do is look the current system in the face and admit that it is now all legal at the federal, state, *and* NCAA levels. Well, that, and two other effects:

• the schools cheating most right now would be damaged the most relative to the effect on schools cheating the least right now
• it'd make sure that the role player kids at P5 schools, the ones who start but will never play an NFL down, whose market value (across their whole lives) is never greater than it was from age 18 to 22, can finally collect on that market value, rather than be robbed of it because "our rules say capitalism is for everyone except you."

Oh I'm not disagreeing that a lot of schools cheat the system, I just don't agree that those that are cheating right now would be against this change.

The schools cheating the most right now would be happy to move that pay from under the table, to over the table.  This is an incredibly easy vehicle for them to do so.   And they'd avoid having to pay the bagmen and street agents and "trainers" and "7-on-7 Organizers" their cut.  They could either save some money, or they'd have more money to pay off their players.  The ones with the deepest pockets will be able to funnel the most money to recruits and they'd be delighted to be able to do it above-board. 

Make no mistake about it, the schools that are already paying players, are licking their lips at this opportunity.  

If this moves forward - it's time for the NFL to fund their Minor League.Universities need to come back the basics,fund all the student athletes or none of them.The NFL and Network Greed are behind this upheaval.Let them fund it,this could turn into a real mess.While I'm all for a kid making money off his likeness,they're already getting paid to play.Hate to say it but let the whole stack of cards fold - then they'll find out what is important.

I get that,but Universities can just say enough we're in the business of educating young adults not providing entertainment for the networks.The problem is IMO from a collegiate POV is that most sports in most programs are money losers - this is what is brushed aside.Not a lot of DI programs turn a profit after "ALL" the bills/program expenses are paid for