Committee advances NIL bill after University seeks state funding for program

The House Committee on Finance voted Feb. 25 to move forward HB2384, HD2, a bill that would create a state-level structure for name, image and likeness (NIL) activities for student-athletes at the University of Hawaii.

University athletic leaders told the committee the bill creates a governance structure for NIL and asked the legislature for funding tied to competitiveness and athlete retention. Matt Elliott, athletics director at the University of Hawaii, said the bill "creates a structure and a process for NIL to function in our state" and asked the committee to support funding requests that include $10,000,000 for athletics operations and $5,000,000 specifically for NIL programming (SEG 128-136; SEG 303-311).

Coach Timmy Chang, head coach of the University of Hawaii football team, described recruiting pressures in the current NIL environment, saying players now live in a market where they can be "shopped around," referenced the transfer portal and provided examples of offers that make retention difficult (SEG 365-406). Chang said the program's priority is to recruit and retain Hawaii players and to build a culture that encourages players to stay.

Witnesses gave financial context: the university reported spending about $3,000,000 on NIL activities this year through private fundraising and said it had previously raised roughly $4,000,000 in philanthropic support; Elliott said UH believes that establishing a state-funded foundation for NIL would help scale private-sector fundraising and stabilize programs for football, volleyball, basketball and baseball (SEG 321-333).

Committee members pressed for benchmarks and comparisons. Elliott and Chang cited peer-state investments — for example, New Mexico recently committed $23,000,000 across institutions — to illustrate the competitive environment (SEG 481-488). The committee also discussed sample NIL compensation ranges presented by witnesses to illustrate market variability.

The chair noted the financing and timing language in the bill remains to be resolved and said the measure was advanced largely as drafted pending those decisions. The committee's recommendation to pass HB2384 was adopted during decision making later in the agenda (SEG 2521-2573).