Congress Takes Another Swing at Stabilizing Chaos Created by NIL

When all else fails, try and try again. Two key senators – Republican Ted Cruz of Texas and Democrat Maria Cantwell of Washington — along with other sponsors will introduce a new bill in the latest congressional attempt to stabilize the chaos created by the NCAA’s name, image, and likeness and transfer portal policies. The bipartisan bill would regulate payments to players, limit them to one “free” transfer over their collegiate careers, and restrict movement by coaches during the season.“This is a stability bill, not just an NIL bill,” Mr. Cruz told the Associated Press. Mr. Cruz, the chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee, and Ms. Cantwell, the committee’s ranking member, said they are hopeful of getting the 60 votes needed to clear the Senate.Ms. Cantwell said she and Mr. Cruz teamed up on the legislation “because he and I really do believe the college sports system is in a bit of chaos.”The bill appears to be a compromise of a pair of recent legislative proposals that have gone nowhere over the past several months while schools shell out $30 million in payments to student athletes to build competitive football teams.Contrary to the current climate in which players seem to be changing teams every year in search of a larger NIL contract, the bill would limit players to one unrestricted transfer over the course of their college careers. The proposal also supports a five-year eligibility window that the NCAA is looking to enact.“Unlimited transfers have turned college athletics into a year-round free agency, destroying roster continuity and school identity. Student-athletes should not have to deal with predatory agents and fake NIL deals,” Senate Republicans on the committee posted Wednesday.The bill, called the Protect College Sports Act, is a necessary framework, Ms. Cantwell said, to help grapple with rising costs of paying players and an out-of-control transfer portal that has threatened small sports, many involving women, that funnel the U.S. Olympic pipeline.“Why did we do it?” Ms. Cantwell said. “Because when you’ve got thousands of athletes being cut, hundreds of programs being cut, the risk to the whole infrastructure was too high to not try to get better.”The proposed legislation contains two elements the NCAA has supported: a limited antitrust exemption and a clause that would preempt much of the patchwork of state laws currently regulating NIL.Some observers suggested the bill doesn’t go far enough. “I applaud your efforts with this bill,” a college football follower posted on X. “But it would be a slam dunk for many of us if you would include a (collective bargaining agreement) provision and negotiate directly with the athletes.”“It’s giving the NCAA everything it wants, but for affirmatively stating that college athletes aren’t employees,” wrote an attorney who represents athletes and coaches, Darryl Heitner, who has previously noted that since 2020 Congress has failed to pass more than 40 laws to reform college sports. “Cantwell sold out athletes by signing onto this. If it passes, it will be up to the courts to blow this up, primarily by classifying college athletes as employees.”In addition, the bill seeks to regulate coaching movement. A so-called “Lane Kiffin” provision restricts a coach from accepting a new position until the season is complete. Mr. Kiffin accepted the head coaching position at Louisiana State University last fall in the midst of preparing the Ole Miss Rebels for the College Football Playoffs.“It’s not fair or right to poach a coach in the middle of the season while the team’s still competing,” Mr. Cruz said. “There’s a reason the NFL has a rule that you can’t do that. Obviously, NFL teams hire coaches away from each other, but they don’t do so in the middle of the season.”Technically, Mr. Kiffin didn’t leave at midseason and wanted to coach the Rebels throughout the playoffs, but was denied the opportunity by Ole Miss. As one poster noted on X, “You can’t not let a coach leave for their new job until after the season when the season doesn’t end until the end of January and the transfer portal is only open January 2-16th.”The bill also attempts to impact media rights by allowing conferences to pool their TV rights, a move proponents have said could add billions to the athletic ecosystem. The SEC and the Big Ten aren’t necessarily on board with the notion.“If you do nothing, then obviously, all these other women’s and Olympic sports and less revenue-driven activities are going to suffer,” Ms. Cantwell said. “I’ve heard directly from my institutions, they say they’re counting on this. Not creating this stability now would be a missed opportunity.”The SCORE Act was backed by the SEC, but garnered little support from Democrats. The bill was on the House schedule last week before being abruptly pulled off when the Congressional Black Caucus and NAACP came out against it during its call for a boycott of Southern schools by black athletes over voting rights issues.Even if it passed the House, it had no chance of being approved by the Senate. “The Congressional Black Caucus and I have the same objective,” Ms. Cantwell said, “Stop the SEC SCORE Act.”Democrats were reluctant to support the SCORE Act because it prohibited college athletes from being classified as employees of their schools. The new bill reportedly takes what Ms. Cantwell called a “neutral” stance on the issue of employment.“Senator Cruz and I have been very concerned about producing a bill that’s not just about the one percent of athletes, who go on and have a professional career,” Ms. Cantwell said. “We took care of the entire ecosystem and have opportunities for athletes to continue to have that collegiate experience.”

Congress Takes Another Swing at Stabilizing Chaos Created by NIL

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