Senators announce push to reform college athletics

A trio of Senators announced the latest push to reform college athletics and prioritize the athletes’ health, education and economic rights Thursday.

The College Athletes Protection & Compensation Act comes two years after college athletes were allowed to make a profit in their positions and secure deals using their name, image and likeness (NIL). The legislation will set national standards for NIL deals, establish a medical trust fund to provide care to injured athletes, prioritize athletes’ educational outcomes, and safeguard athletes’ health and wellness.

The legislation will also establish the College Athletics Corporation (CAC), which will serve as the hub, rulemaker, investigator and enforcer on best practices with regard to the rights and protections of college athletes.

The proposed bill was introduced Thursday by a bipartisan trio of Sens. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Cory Booker (D-N.J.), and Jerry Moran (R-Kan.). 

The bill’s framework will also require schools and universities to publicly report revenues and expenditures of each athletics program, the average number of hours their athletes spent on college athletic events and academic outcomes and majors for athletes. Those will be displayed publicly in a CAC-run database.

Athletes will also be required to take financial literacy and lifestyle development courses that will include lessons in personal budgeting, debt, credit, interest rates, contracts, tax and other issues relating to their endorsements and income.

Athletic associations, such as the NCAA, must provide male and female athletes access to the same facilities and services during national tournaments, according to the bill. 

“For far too long the NCAA and powerful special interests have held sway, putting athletes second to dollars,” Blumenthal said in a statement. “Athletes deserve national NIL standards, a Medical Trust Fund, scholarship safeguards, protection against mistreatment and abuse, and more,” he added. 

The proposed bill aligns with the NCAA’s NIL rules, which allow athletes to profit off their names, images, and likenesses through sponsorship and endorsement deals that align with the laws of the state that their schools are in. 

The NCAA had for decades banned such deals, only changing its policy after a Supreme Court decision in June 2021 upheld a lower court’s ruling that the NCAA’s limiting of athlete compensation violated antitrust laws.

As a result, various college athletes, such as former Ohio State football’s C.J. Stroud and Louisiana State basketball’s Angel Reese, are able to cash in on endorsement deals with companies including Starry, Express, and Mercedes-Benz. 

“Being a college athlete was one of the greatest gifts of my life – it opened doors of opportunity and offered lessons I carry with me to this day,” Booker said in a statement, saying the bill “represents a major step forward” for the future of college athletics. 

“This bipartisan proposal represents a major step forward, and I’m grateful for the partnership with Senators Blumenthal and Moran,” Booker added. “It would make college athletics fairer, safer, and more just, and empower more young people to succeed in sports and beyond.”