California state senator introduces NIL bill targeting collectives, Title IX transparency

A state senator in California introduced legislation Tuesday that would require donor-funded NIL collectives to share deal information with institutions to bring transparency about gender equity to the space.

Sen. Nancy Skinner has played a pivotal role in the fight for college athletes’ rights. The Democrat from Berkeley introduced the Fair Pay to Play Act in February 2019, which was later enacted and made California the first state to give athletes the right to monetize their name, image and likeness.

Skinner has now introduced Senate Bill 906, which would require collectives and other entities that execute NIL deals to provide information to institutions that the athlete attends. On the list of required information would be the amount of compensation and value of services provided, the athletic team the athlete plays on, the athlete’s gender and the total amount of compensation and value of times provided to the athlete each year by sport and gender.

“SB 906 is a basic transparency measure,” Skinner said in a statement. “While it won’t require all college athletes to receive the same amount of NIL money, SB 906 will provide the public and policymakers with important information about what’s actually happening in the NIL marketplace. If SB 906 reveals that college-backed NIL efforts are truly shortchanging female athletes and worsening gender inequity, then colleges and policymakers will have the information necessary to level the playing field.”

Legislation introduced to ‘raise awareness’ about NIL gender

The introduction of SB 906 comes after 32 current and former female student-athletes filed a sex discrimination class-action lawsuit against the University of Oregon in December, alleging the university deprives women of equal treatment and benefits, equal athletic aid and equal opportunities to participate in varsity college athletics in violation of Title IX. The lawsuit is believed to be the first Title IX complaint addressing athletes’ ability to monetize their brands through NIL.

Collectives are not required to publicize their dealmaking, however, most dollars are typically funneled to football and men’s and women’s basketball. The top collectives are operating on budgets over eight figures. If the legislation is passed, each California college or university that helps support its college athletes to make or maintain NIL deals must disclose the value of that support for each sport and by gender.

“With the growth of collectives and other strategies employed by college sports boosters, these efforts may be primarily benefitting men and once again shortchanging women athletes,” Skinner said. “SB 906 will shine a light on NIL and give us a better understanding of whether NIL is contributing to gender inequity in college sports.”