Federal NIL legislation coming?

[CL82]

Manchin in Tuberville have sponsored and NIL legislation Bill

Specifically, the PASS Act would:

• Protect student-athletes by:
  1. Requiring collectives and boosters to be affiliated with a college or school.
  2. Establishing a national standard for NIL.
  3. Preserving Title IX and ensuring that nothing in the PASS Act affects the rights of any student-athletes or any programs funded through Title IX.
• Protect higher education institutions by:
  1. Ensuring that schools, conferences, and associations are not liable for their efforts to comply with the PASS Act.
  2. Prohibiting NIL agreements that involve alcohol, drugs, or conflict with existing school and conference licenses.
  3. Requiring student-athletes to ask permission to make use of existing intellectual property (IP).
• Preserve the future of college sports by prohibiting inducements.
• Improve transparency of NIL activities by:
  1. Requiring agents and collectives to register with a regulating body.
  2. Establishing a public-facing website to publish anonymized NIL data.
  3. Requiring all NIL contracts to be disclosed within 30 days.
• Moderate the Transfer Portal by:
  1. Requiring student-athletes to complete their first three years of academic eligibility before allowing them to transfer without penalty, subject to a few exceptions.
• Ensure the health and safety of student-athletes by:
  1. Guaranteeing health insurance for sports-related injuries for uninsured student-athletes for 8 years following graduation from a 4-year institution.
  2. Requiring institutions generating more than $20 million and $50 million in athletics revenue to pay out-of-pocket expenses for two and four years, respectively.
  3. Requiring institutions to honor the original scholarship commitment made to a student-athlete.
  4. Implementing a Uniform Standard Contract for student-athlete use for NIL deals.
  5. Enhancing curriculum on financial literacy, NIL rights, and related legal and regulatory issues.
• Strengthen enforcement and oversight by directing the NCAA to oversee and investigate NIL activities and report violations to the Federal Trade Commission.

Yikes. First, requiring NIL to be linked to the institution is de facto allowing institutions with adequate funds to be able to pay their players directly.

Requiring institutions that make over 20,000,00 to pay their student athletes undefined "out-of-pocket expenses" is essentially creating a two-tier system in which the haves get to directly compensate their players legally.

Likewise, requiring that for your institutions provide eight years of health insurance coverage for their players is just another burden to price out the smaller schools.

I do like the notion of the limitation on the free transfer rules to allowing free transfers only after a student has three years of attendance at a college. It would be nice to get back to more continuity in rosters, though Connecticut has done well in the transfer portal era.

To paraphrase Ronald Reagan, the 12 scariest words in the English language are "I am from the federal government and I am here to help."

 

[SPK145]

Yikes. First, requiring NIL to be linked to the institution is de facto allowing institutions with adequate funds to be able to pay their players directly.

Requiring institutions that make over 20,000,00 to pay their student athletes undefined "out-of-pocket expenses" is essentially creating a two-tier system in which the haves get to directly compensate their players legally.

Likewise, requiring that for your institutions provide eight years of health insurance coverage for their players is just another burden to price out the smaller schools.

I do like the notion of the limitation on the free transfer rules to allowing free transfers only after a student has three years of attendance at a college. It would be nice to get back to more continuity in rosters, though Connecticut has done well in the transfer portal era.

To paraphrase Ronald Reagan, the 12 scariest words in the English language are "I am from the federal government and I am here to help."

I like your comments except for the transfer limitations.

The federal government should stay in their lane, they have no business getting involved here.

 

[papacheesy2]

The health insurance part sounds like a great idea, actually. How many players have lingering health problems for the rest of their lives related to injuries incurred while playing in college? What if that injury prevents them from going pro and they can't afford to pay for their health expenses out of pocket?

 

[CL82]

The health insurance part sounds like a great idea, actually. How many players have lingering health problems for the rest of their lives related to injuries incurred while playing in college? What if that injury prevents them from going pro and they can't afford to pay for their health expenses out of pocket?

Programs can do that, I believe, for students now. That used to be a thing back in the day when kids were considering about going pro, but decided to stay and play an extra year in college. Making it a generalized benefit for every player, however, Makes athletics more expensive and will result in smaller schools offering less sports. The big football schools won't care and will just absorb the expense.

I think the intent behind it is a good one, but as often happens with a lot of well intended federal legislation, the unforeseen consequence will impact those least able to afford it.

 

[SHUSource]

The health insurance part sounds like a great idea, actually. How many players have lingering health problems for the rest of their lives related to injuries incurred while playing in college? What if that injury prevents them from going pro and they can't afford to pay for their health expenses out of pocket?

I wouldn't expect them to spring for a comprehensive health insurance; I'm sure it'll only be the bare minimum of coverage, enough to check the box. I'm not expecting any of these universities to spend money on players they've already exploited, used up, and who no longer can do anything for the program when they already don't want to compensate them when they are worth something to them.

 

[NYShoreGuy]

I like your comments except for the transfer limitations.

The federal government should stay in their lane, they have no business getting involved here.

No portal first 3 years

 

[SPK145]

The health insurance part sounds like a great idea, actually. How many players have lingering health problems for the rest of their lives related to injuries incurred while playing in college? What if that injury prevents them from going pro and they can't afford to pay for their health expenses out of pocket?

How about they should be college graduates and they get a job? If not, they go back to school and get their degree?

 

[lloyde dobler]

I’ve always been surprised those advocating for more rights for college athletes haven‘t focused more on health.

I’m not thinking in terms of football and basketball players, either. No matter the sport you play, as a DI athlete, you are basically signing away your body for four years, most often for a partial scholarship. How about the baseball player who graduates with a torn labrum, the field hockey player with back damage or the soccer player with a degenerating knee?

Athletes can be treated like kings and queens in training rooms when they are students, but as soon as they graduate, they are cut off… even if they still have chronic injuries from their time at the school, and not as a full scholarship athlete, either.

I don’t know what the solution is, but I do know that’s stuff you don’t see in the self-serving NCAA commercials every March.