Congress Could Provide A Way For College Athletes To Get Paid

A new bill in the U.S. House of Representatives would allow college athletes to capitalize off their name, image, and likeness, something that has been vigorously opposed in the past by the NCAA and many university officials. This congressional action was introduced jointly by two former student athletes: Emanuel Cleaver, a Democratic representative from Missouri who played football for Murray State University, and Anthony Gonzalez, a Republican representative from Ohio who was a standout receiver for The Ohio State University football team.

Congressman Cleaver stated that “I want to be unequivocally clear: This is a civil rights issue. For far too long college athletes across the country, many of whom are people of color, have been denied the basic right to control their name, image and likeness.” Added Congressman Gonzalez, “I am proud to introduce bipartisan legislation with Rep. Cleaver today that delivers meaningful reforms and will make a difference in the lives of student athletes of all levels of competition across the country,” 

The introduction of this bill came with the significant backing of congressional colleagues from across the political spectrum, including Colin Allred (D-TX), Rodney Davis (R-IL), Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ), Jeff Duncan (R-SC), Marcia Fudge (D-OH), and Steve Stivers (R-OH). Officially named the Student Athlete Level Playing Field Act, this bipartisan bill would seem to stand a very good chance of becoming law.

This congressional action is only the most recent effort to respond to rising public sentiment against a student-athlete model that allows everyone except the student to profit from their athletic abilities. A variety of actions have been taken as part of a push to share some of the $14 billion in total revenue generated annually by these athletes. For example, class action lawsuits have been brought by former collegiate players regarding the use of their names and likenesses, and at least one university football team attempted to organize themselves in a union.

Among other actions, the Student Athlete Level Playing Field Act would do the following:

1. Grant student athletes the right to capitalize off their own name, image and likeness and engage in agent contracts.
2. Establish one federal standard for this sort of activity, thus pre-empting any existing or prospective state law.
3. Providing congressional oversight through the establishment of a commission that would include student athlete representation.
4. Ensure that student athletes would not be considered employees of universities, thus sparing the athletes from actions that might affect their scholarships or financial aid status.

Although the NCAA was working on its own guidelines to deal with name, image, and likeness standards, it has been reported that federal lawmakers believed those actions would “likely be incomplete.” The official response of the NCAA to the Student Athlete Level Playing Field Act was as follows: “We greatly appreciate U.S. Reps. Gonzalez and Cleaver’s collaboration to sponsor bipartisan legislation to strengthen the college athlete experience. We look forward to working together with both representatives, their co-sponsors and other members of Congress to further establish a legal and legislative environment where our schools can continue to support student-athletes within the context of higher education.”