Should there be a national standard for student athlete promotional activities and pay?
The bill will create a national standard for the usage of Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) for the NCAA to follow regarding student-athlete promotional activities where they get paid. This bill will prevent student-athletes from being paid to promote anything that might cause reputational risks to the school, such as alcohol, drugs, or conflicts with existing schools and conference licenses. This bill would also prevent states from passing laws that allow student-athletes to receive a direct share of the revenue they help generate for the school. It would also require schools to provide health insurance for sports-related injuries to uninsured student-athletes for 8 years following graduation. The transfer portal would change to only allow transfers after completing three years without being subject to penalty.
Sponsor: Sen. Manchin, Joe, III (Democrat, West Virginia)
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How do you feel?
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Opponents say
• "Any bill should be subject to great scrutiny. The establishment of a third party governing body overseeing college sports concerns me. WE should be controlling our affairs. Yes, we need federal legislative or court protection, but WE need the ability to execute whatever reasonable plan that WE adopt." Source: American Conference Commissioner Mike Aresco, ESPN
• "You can’t have a lot of rules, a lot of constraints, you just can’t - because it’s probably not going to work. You’re going to get sued. Congress is going to be reluctant to support you if have all sorts of rules [limiting] NIL … I don’t think you have to micromanage it." Source: American Conference Commissioner Mike Aresco, ON3
Proponents say
• "The Big 12 Conference commends Senator Joe Manchin and Senator Tommy Tuberville for their collaboration to introduce legislation that establishes a national standard to govern student-athletes’ use of their name, image and likeness and other important issues. Their understanding of the challenges facing intercollegiate athletics provides an essential framework to preserve the integrity of fair competition. We remain committed to working with lawmakers in the House and Senate to arrive at a legislative solution that preserves college athletics and provides a uniform NIL standard. " Source: The Big 12 Conference
• "The important legislation is a major step in the right direction to ensure the health and safety of student-athletes, includes key measures to increase consumer protections and transparency in the NIL market, and aims to protect women’s and Olympic sports." Source: NCAA president Charlie Baker, ESPN
• "We love and celebrate collegiate athletics, but the landscape has changed dramatically as schools and student athletes are now forced to navigate a patchwork of inconsistent regulations regarding Name, Image and Likeness. This is not sustainable. That is why I am so glad for Sen. Manchin’s leadership and encourage Congress to provide the necessary direction at the federal level to create a pathway for establishing a common set of ground rules related to NIL, as well setting guard rails around the transfer portal." Source: West Virginia University President Gordon Gee, Press Release
- Manchin, Tuberville introduce legislation to address name, image and likeness in college sports (Press Release)
- Pass Act aims to protect athletes, ‘integrity’ of college sports (ESPN)
- NCAA President Charlie Baker Continues to Push for NIL Legislation With Lawmakers (Sports Illustrated)
- Sen. Joe Manchin’s Open Secrets Page
