The NCAA recently launched its latest campaign video, "The Now Era," highlighting the ways the Association is putting student-athletes first. The new spot aired on Selection Sunday and will be shown throughout March Madness.
Evolving from last year's "Changes" campaign, "The Now Era" reflects the progressing landscape of college sports and the ways the NCAA has continued to increase its support of student-athletes.
With modernized rules for revenue sharing and name, image and likeness activities, colleges can deliver unprecedented financial benefits directly to student-athletes while expanding the scope and benefits of guaranteed protections. The NCAA is committed to supporting student-athletes to foster a new era of college sports while preserving the competitive and academic environment.
"We're excited to convey the spirit of college sports through animation and offer fans a fresh visual experience," said Gina Lehe, vice president of communications at the NCAA. "This approach allows us to celebrate the emotion and excitement of college sports in a way that's both creatively bold and aligned with today's environment."
The new video calls attention to the steps the NCAA has taken to create a support system for student-athletes to thrive:
- Growing scholarships, now totaling more than $4 billion annually.
- Establishing Division I core guarantees with scholarship protections, health care coverage and mental health services.
- Revenue-sharing benefits enabling each Division I school to direct approximately $20 million in financial benefits to student-athletes in addition to scholarships.
- Modernizing rules allowing college athletes to benefit from their name, image and likeness.
- Committing to multimillion-dollar investments in women's sports, including the Division I Women's Basketball Championship and other women's championships, highlighted by the debut of the National Collegiate Women's Wrestling Championships this year and championships in acrobatics and tumbling and stunt next year.
"The Now Era" follows last week's release of "Draw the Line," which brings awareness to the harassment and hurdles that student-athletes face due to sports betting.
For more information on the ways the NCAA supports student-athletes, visit ncaa.org/change.
