Georgia Governor Nathan Deal signed into law House Bill 3, dubbed the “Todd Gurley Bill.” The Bill provides criminal penalties up to a misdemeanor of a high and aggravated nature and a $5,000.00 fine and states:

No person shall enter into or solicit directly or through an agent a transaction with a student-athlete if such person has knowledge that the transaction would likely be cause for the student-athlete to permanently or temporarily lose athletic scholarship eligibility, the ability to participate on an intercollegiate athletic team, or the ability to participate in one or more intercollegiate sporting competitions as sanctioned by a national association for the promotion and regulation of intercollegiate athletics, by an athletic conference or other sanctioning body, or by the institution of postsecondary education itself as a reasonable self-imposed disciplinary action taken by such institution to mitigate sanctions likely to be imposed by such organizations as a result of such transaction or as a violation of such institution’s own rules.

In addition to criminal penalties, “[e]ach public and private institution of postsecondary education” in the State of Georgia “shall have a right of action” against a person violating this law. The institution may seek damages including, but not limited to, loss of scholarships, loss of televisions revenue, loss of bowl revenue, and legal and other fees associated with the investigation of the activity and the representation of the institution, court costs, costs of litigation, and reasonable attorney’s fees. The institution may also request injunctive relief.

For any questions, feel free to contact Christian Dennie at cdennie@bgsfirm.com.