San Diego-The recent NCAA ruling allowing athletes to profit from their names opened up a new field of college sports, and some local sports figures have begun to make money.

“This will be of great help to athletes, allowing their names to appear and be able to monetize with this name,” said Greg Bell, senior running back at San Diego State University.

According to the new regulations, approximately 460,000 college athletes can claim compensation for their names, images and portraits without affecting their qualifications. It represents a huge shift for the NCAA, which previously banned such agreements and imposed varying degrees of punishment on schools and players-including against former University of Southern California and Helix High School running back Reggie Bush, etc.-to accept what it called “Improper interests” as a student athlete.

SDSU Sports Director John David Wick said that for the first time these athletes can use their time and talents to profit with almost unlimited circumstances, which is a new opportunity for many participants.

“Not all athletes receive full scholarships,” Wick said. “Some people may be partially due, so they may have to use their parents’ money to get a loan, so they will have the opportunity to offset some of these expenses.”

One such opportunity may come from Meetlete, a San Diego-based company that allows fans to start paying for virtual one-on-one video calls through their favorite sports. Their list includes Major League Baseball Hall of Fame member John Smoltz, longtime sports commentator Joe Buck and now Bell.

On the personalized video service Cameo and various social media sites such as Twitter and Instagram, athletes have also received similar offers.

Rob Connley, CEO and co-founder of Meetlete, said: “We have so many athletes reaching out and want to learn about Meetlete so that we can monetize and meet their fans and really be able to see them. The joy of creating when one of their fans has the opportunity to talk to them.”

Cafe Coyote in Old Town also signed with Bell. After more than 30 years of business, they are enjoying the social media promotion surrounding it.

“I think the influential space, especially college athletes-it’s new, and we are really happy to test the waters and see what happens,” said Kylie Murphy, the restaurant’s social media and public relations manager.

The new NCAA rules do not specifically require athletes to report transactions to schools, but some schools are likely to have policies that require some form of disclosure.

“Five to seven years ago, the influence of social media really didn’t exist,” Wick said. “So, the use of NIL is really something that has only been blown up in the past five to seven years. I am very happy that we are moving in this direction and meeting the needs of student athletes.”