The Senate Judiciary Committee is set to hear from the head of the NCAA, a leader of one of the association’s major conferences, and other relevant stakeholders in an Oct. 17 hearing about amateur athletes profiting off their own brands.
The last time the Senate held a hearing on the issue of name, image, and likeness (NIL) was in 2020.
NIL rules have been a prominent subject in the past few years as college athletes have fought to get paid. The NCAA had prohibited its athletes from receiving money from sponsorships and other income streams that professional athletes enjoy, but in 2021, the Supreme Court ruled that this NCAA prohibition was unlawful.
Proposal Would Protect Student-Athletes
In addition to Mr. Baker and Mr. Petitti, witnesses are Trinity Thomas, a University of Florida gymnast; Jill Bodensteiner, vice president and director of athletics for Saint Joseph’s University; Ramogi Huma, executive director of the National College Players Association; Jack Swarbrick, vice president and director of athletics for the University of Notre Dame; and Walker Jones, executive director of The Grove Collective, which supports NIL athletes at the University of Mississippi.
The Senate has already sought to get involved in the issue of NIL as a bipartisan group of senators introduced a bill a few months ago that seeks to protect college athletes.
Sens. Cory Booker (D-N.J.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), and Jerry Moran (R-Kan.) announced on July 20 a bill that would cover issues surrounding athletes’ names, images, and likenesses.
The College Athletes Protection and Compensation Act of 2023 would create the College Athletics Corporation, which would oversee NIL contracts made with college athletes, who would be permitted to have assistance in NIL aspects, including brand management. Higher education institutions wouldn’t be allowed to serve as or influence such representation. It would forbid student-athletes from being disciplined for getting paid benefits from an outside party, with a few exceptions.
The measure would form a Medical Trust Fund to take care of student-athletes’ out-of-pocket medical costs, including major long-term conditions. It would also require colleges and universities to provide assistance to student-athletes until they graduate, even if they are no longer on a team due to a career-ending injury.
The bill would mandate colleges and universities to report their athletics programs’ expenditures and revenues, how well athletes fare in the classroom, and what their majors are. Schools can revoke an athletic scholarship for students who do poorly in the classroom, transfer to another college or university, or fail to meet certain requirements.
Additionally, the legislation would prohibit colleges and universities from retaliating against student-athletes for entering the NBA, NFL, NHL, MLB, or any other professional sports league draft.
Moreover, student-athletes would have to learn financial literacy.
Support for Student-Athlete Compensation
In a statement, the NCAA told The Epoch Times it appreciates Congress’s getting involved in the NIL issue.“The NCAA fully supports student-athletes profiting from their name, image and likeness rights, and we are working with Congress to implement nationwide protections to improve outcomes for all 500,000 college athletes,” it stated.
“There is clearly bipartisan support for these measures, and the Association looks forward to cooperating with stakeholders to advance student-athletes’ interests,” the NCAA continued. “We are pleased to see the legislative outline includes many of the elevated membership standards put in place by NCAA members earlier this year and reflects our continued priority of student-athlete well-being.”
In a statement, Mr. Moran lauded the rich history of his home state’s collegiate athletic programs—including the University of Kansas men’s basketball team winning its fourth NCAA tournament championship in 2022—but expressed the need for student-athletes to benefit.
“Kansas has an unparalleled history of college athletics that includes several premier programs attracting student-athletes from all over the nation and the world,” Mr. Moran said.
“It is no secret that college athletics have grown into an increasingly profitable, billion-dollar industry; however the rules surrounding athlete compensation have not been modernized.”
Mr. Moran said the legislation would “empower student-athletes while maintaining the integrity of college sports that we all know and love” and that college athletes should be allowed to profit off their own brands.
Mr. Blumenthal said that college athletes “need a level playing field with guarantees of economic opportunities, educational outcomes, and essential health care.”
Mr. Booker, who was on Stanford University’s football team, said the bill would make “college athletics fairer, safer, and more just, and empower more young people to succeed in sports and beyond.”
This isn’t the first time this year the Senate has gotten involved in the world of sports.
Mr. Blumenthal chaired a Senate subcommittee hearing on July 11 about the PGA Tour–LIV Golf merger, the latter of which is funded by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF).
During the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, Mr. Blumenthal, the subcommittee’s chairman, criticized the PGA Tour for caving to the PIF. He claimed that the PGA Tour “surrendered” to the Saudis because of the kingdom’s vast amounts of money.
