In NCAA's renewed Congressional push, bipartisan NIL legislation introduced

The push from the NCAA and Power Five conferences to enact federal legislation around college sports is intensifying. U.S. Representatives Lisa McClain (R-Mich.)and Janelle Bynum (D-Ore.) introduced the “College Student-Athlete Protections and Opportunities through Rights, Transparency and Safety Act” on Tuesday morning, dubbed the College SPORTS Act.

The bipartisan legislation includes many of the provisions the NCAA has repeatedly requested, such as federal preemption of state laws and codification that college athletes are not employees. The bill would also allow athletes to use their scholarships to complete a degree within 10 years, even if they leave school early, and establish agent registration and disclosure requirements.

“I don’t think this is about drawing lines between Democrats and Republicans or the House and Senate,” SEC commissioner Greg Sankey told reporters on Monday. “I think this is an opportunity for our governmental leaders, our political leaders, to come together around solutions to support our Olympic development program, to support college football and every one of our sports that flows off of that, including those that are labeled as non-revenue sports, to provide additional support for women’s sports.”

Meanwhile, a discussion draft has been circulating college athletics. The proposal under the House of Representatives’ Committee on Energy and Commerce would also codify much of what the NCAA has pushed lawmakers to enact in recent years. The House subcommittee is scheduled to discuss the draft at a legislative hearing on Thursday.

“This discussion draft comes at a time of historic transition for college athletics,” the ACC, Big 12, Big Ten, Pac-12 and SEC said in a joint statement on Tuesday morning. “In the absence of federal standards, student-athletes and schools have been forced to navigate a fractured regulatory framework for too long. Following the historic House settlement, this draft legislation represents a very encouraging step toward delivering the national clarity and accountability that college athletics desperately needs. We urge lawmakers to build on this momentum and deliver the national solution that athletes, coaches, and schools deserve.”

The renewed push for federal legislation comes days after the House v. NCAA settlement was approved. Since the NCAA was founded in 1906, institutions have never directly paid athletes. That will now change with the settlement ushering in the revenue-sharing era of college sports.

For the new College Sports Commission entity to be successful in enforcing the settlement, many around college sports believe it needs federal backing. The commission appointed Major League Baseball executive Bryan Seeley as CEO on Friday night.

“For too long, college athletes have generated enormous value for their schools and athletic programs without being allowed to share in the success they help create,” McClain said in a release announcing the College SPORTS Act. “We’re protecting the values that make college athletics great while modernizing the system to reflect today’s reality. This bill preserves the student-athlete model while offering real protections, real opportunity, and real fairness. I appreciate Congresswoman Bynum for partnering with me to get this bipartisan legislation moving forward.”