Power 5 conferences release statement on bipartisan NIL bill draft

Since Charlie Baker took over as NCAA president in March, the former Massachusetts governor has made multiple trips to Washington, D.C., lobbying Congress for NIL guardrails.

He has received help from conference commissioners and athletic directors along the way. The Power 5 conferences have not publicly been in unison with the efforts.

That changed Friday afternoon, as members of the Power 5, also named the “Autonomy Five Conferences,” issued a statement “applauding” the bipartisan NIL bill draft released by U.S. Sens. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Cory Booker (D-N.J.) and Jerry Moran (R-KS). The legislation would preempt “most if not all” state laws, while also establishing a database and “affording the association a degree of legal protection.”

With Congress preparing to head on August break in a week, Friday’s statement sends a clear message the Power 5 is very much paying attention to all happenings in D.C.

“As members of the Autonomy Five Conferences, the ACC, Big Ten, Big 12, Pac-12, and SEC applaud Senators Blumenthal, Booker, and Moran for their thoughtful work on legislation to protect and benefit student-athletes,” the conferences wrote in a statement provided by Firehouse Strategies. “Given the ever-changing landscape of college athletics, developing a federal standard that will preserve college athletics and serve as a uniform name, image, and likeness (NIL) standard for athletes and institutions across the country is now essential. We are pleased to see that momentum continues building in both the Senate and the House to address this issue.

“Our conferences welcome additional efforts in the future, and we look forward to engaging with lawmakers on both sides of the aisle to continue making progress on bipartisan legislation in Congress.”

Titled the “College Athletes Protection and Compensation Act of 2023,” the discussion draft provides lifetime scholarships and long-term medical coverage. It doesn’t address the issue of athletes being classified as employees of their institutions, which has popped up in some NIL bills.

In a call with media members on Thursday, Blumenthal, Booker and Moran shared another Republican Senator has joined their efforts. Both sides made notable concessions compared to previous bills released by the camps. Blumenthal and Booker previously released the “College Athletes Bill of Rights” in August 2022. Moran introduced the “Amateur Athletes Protection and Compensation Act of 2021” in February 2021.

“We are aiming at bipartisan consensus here and what we regard as the most necessary and pressing needs and challenges,” Blumenthal said. “And we believe that this consensus will gain the bipartisan majority that we need to pass this legislation and do it soon.

“We feel a sense of urgency on the issues where we agree wholeheartedly. We can deal with other issues going forward and amend this bill. One of the reasons why we made it a discussion draft is to see whether other issues need to be addressed. So, I don’t think we’ve foreclosed anything, but I don’t expect we will necessarily open it in a major way. Legislating is the art of the possible and that’s where we’re going.”