WASHINGTON, D.C. — Two U.S. Senators are calling for new guidelines to be set regarding NIL and college student-athletes.
On Tuesday, U.S. Senators Joe Manchin (D-WV) and Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) introduced the Protecting Athletes, Schools, and Sports (PASS) Act of 2023.
The PASS Act aims to “protect student-athletes, maintain fair competition and compensation, strengthen transparency, and preserve the time-honored tradition of college sports,” as written in a release put out by Manchin.
“As a former college athlete, I know how important sports are to gaining valuable life skills and opening doors of opportunity,” said Manchin. “However, in recent years, we have faced a rapidly evolving NIL landscape without guidelines to navigate it, which jeopardizes the health of the players and the educational mission of colleges and universities.”
“This legislation will finally provide clarity and create a national uniformed standard for Name, Image, and Likeness,” Manchin said Wednesday.
In 2021, the U.S. Supreme Court decided on National Collegiate Athletics Association v. Alston, a bipartisan piece of legislation that set standards relating to Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL). That summer, the NCAA Division I Board of Directors announced an “interim” policy which suspended NIL compensation rules until federal legislation was enacted.
“Student athletes should be able to take advantage of NIL promotional activities without impacting their ability to play collegiate sports,” Coach Tuberville said. “But we need to ensure the integrity of our higher education system, remain focused on education, and keep the playing field level.”
Here’s information on what the PASS Act would do, as detailed in a release sent out by Senator Manchin:
Protect student-athletes by:
Requiring collectives and boosters to be affiliated with a college or school.
Establishing a national standard for NIL.
Preserving Title IX and ensuring that nothing in the PASS Act affects the rights of any student-athletes or any programs funded through Title IX.
Protect higher education institutions by:
Ensuring that schools, conferences, and associations are not liable for their efforts to comply with the PASS Act.
Prohibiting NIL agreements that involve alcohol, drugs, or conflict with existing school and conference licenses.
Requiring student-athletes to ask permission to make use of existing intellectual property (IP).
Preserve the future of college sports by prohibiting inducements.
Improve transparency of NIL activities by:
Requiring agents and collectives to register with a regulating body.
Establishing a public-facing website to publish anonymized NIL data.
Requiring all NIL contracts to be disclosed within 30 days.
Moderate the Transfer Portal by:
Requiring student-athletes to complete their first three years of academic eligibility before allowing them to transfer without penalty, subject to a few exceptions.
Ensure the health and safety of student-athletes by:
Guaranteeing health insurance for sports-related injuries for uninsured student-athletes for 8 years following graduation from a 4-year institution.
Requiring institutions generating more than $20 million and $50 million in athletics revenue to pay out-of-pocket expenses for two and four years, respectively.
Requiring institutions to honor the original scholarship commitment made to a student-athlete.
Implementing a Uniform Standard Contract for student-athlete use for NIL deals.
Enhancing curriculum on financial literacy, NIL rights, and related legal and regulatory issues.
Strengthen enforcement and oversight by directing the NCAA to oversee and investigate NIL activities and report violations to the Federal Trade Commission.
Manchin and Tuberville said they had heard from multiple university presidents and leaders of major conferences including the SEC and Big 12 on possible changes that could be applied to NIL.
NCAA President Charlie Baker provided comment on the PASS Act introduced by Manchin, and former Auburn head football coach Tommy Tuberville as well.
“The NCAA is transforming how it serves student-athletes by mandating Division I schools offer enhanced health, wellness and academic protections and is moving ahead to support student-athletes as they monetize their NIL rights, but there are some challenges facing college sports that only Congress can address. The NCAA is encouraged by the significant, student-athlete centric reforms included in the Protecting Athletes, Schools, and Sports Act of 2023 (“PASS Act”), introduced today in the United States Senate,” Baker said.
“This important legislation is a major step in the right direction to ensure the health and safety of student-athletes, includes key measures to increase consumer protections and transparency in the NIL market, and aims to protect women’s and Olympic sports. There is clearly growing bipartisan interest in taking legislative action to create a stable, sustainable, and equitable foundation for future generations of student-athletes and we are committed to working with all stakeholders to get this done,” said Baker.
Senator Manchin held a presser Wednesday to talk about the PASS ACT. He told listeners this is not an attempt to prevent college athletes from profiting on their name, image, and likeness.
“We’re not prohibiting that young athlete from being able to use their talents in a marketing situation,” Manchin said.
But from an educational standpoint, the Senator believes there has to be some commitment coming back to the university from the student-athletes.
“A lot of the colleges pride themselves on how many athletes they graduate, and to get a degree, and right now that has fallen off tremendously,” Manchin claimed.
With the fall sports season approaching fast, Senator Manchin was asked how soon he thinks this bill will be discussed and considered on Capitol Hill.
“I think within weeks, you’ll be hearing of some high-end meetings happening in Washington,” he said.
Senator Manchin called the bill “commonsense legislation” worthy of a vote from both political sides.
“Our bipartisan legislation strikes a balance between protecting the rights of student-athletes and maintaining the integrity of college sports. I urge my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to consider this commonsense legislation as a way to level the playing field in college athletics,” Manchin said.