U.S. Congress to hold hearing on NIL issue

Nearly three months after new name, image and likeness rules took effect on July 1, NIL issues return to Washington next week.

The Subcommittee on Consumer Protection and Commerce, which is part of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, will have a hearing titled “A Level Playing Field: College Athletes’ Rights to Their Name, Image and Likeness” in the Rayburn House Office Building next Thursday, Sept. 30 at 10:30 a.m. Rep. Janice Schakowsky (D-Ill.) is the chairwoman of the subcommittee while Rep. Gus Bilirakis (R-Fla.) is the ranking member. Rep. Frank Pallone is the chair of the full Energy and Commerce Committee (D-N.J.).

“Colleges and universities generate billions of dollars from packed stadiums, merchandise sales, and television broadcast deals all based on the success of collegiate athletes,” Rep. Pallone and Rep. Schakowsky said in a press release. “These athletes deserve a system that protects their interests and well-being, including the ability to earn on their name, image, and likeness, while also maintaining the educational mission of college athletics. We look forward to exploring how best to create a fairer playing field for these hard-working athletes that contribute so much to their campuses.”

This is the first hearing on the topic in the U.S. House of Representatives. The U.S. Senate has already had five hearings on NIL.

Rep. Lori Trahan, a former Georgetown volleyball player and member of the Subcommittee on Consumer Protection and Commerce, issued a statement Wednesday regarding the hearing.

“For far too long, college athletes have been forced to scrape by in a system based on the guise of amateurism while executives, conferences, and colleges pocketed billions,” Trahan said. “After finally succumbing to overwhelming public pressure, varying state laws, and a scathing Supreme Court decision, that system has rightly changed.

“While the NCAA’s change of position is better late than never, their decades-long refusal to budge from what was clearly an untenable stance has left everyone in college athletics scrambling. Most alarmingly, athletes now face a patchwork of regulations across state lines. Federal action is necessary to create a standard that preserves college athletes’ right to be compensated for their name, image, and likeness no matter the state they’re in.”

According to Business of College Sports, 27 states have NIL laws in effect either through the traditional method of passing bill or through executive order, and 13 additional states have bills introduced or in the process of being passed.

Changes regarding athlete compensation are taking place across the country, as the Supreme Court’s 9-0 Alston ruling recently dictated that schools cannot bar education-related benefits to players. Just this morning, the SEC announced that each of its 14 member institutions will be permitted to provide education-related benefits and academic-based rewards to its student-athletes.