Legal Implications of the Proposed 'College Athletes Bill of Rights'

On December 17, 2020, Senators Corey Booker (D-NJ), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), and Brian Schatz (D-HI) introduced Senate Bill 5062, the College Athletes’ Bill of Rights (the “Act”). The 63-page Act seeks to expand the rights of college athletes by guaranteeing monetary compensation, enforceable health and safety standards, lifetime educational scholarships, revenue sharing, and name image and likeness rights. Commenting on the Act, Senator Booker, a former college athlete, stated that “the College Athletes Bill of Rights will set a new baseline standard to expand protections and opportunities for all college athletes by providing fair and equitable compensation, ensure comprehensive health and safety standards, and improve education outcomes for college athletes. College athletes deserve better, they deserve justice, and they deserve to share in what they help create.”

The Act, if passed, would take majority of the responsibility of overseeing college athletics away from the National Collegiate Athletic Association (the “NCAA”), and place the responsibility on a nine-member Commission on College Athletics (the “Commission”) appointed by the President. The Commission would include at least five former college athletes. The Act also requires other members of the Commission to have expertise in among other topics, Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 (“Title IX”) compliance, sports and publicity law, constitutional law and freedom of speech issues, and sports economics. The Commission would be tasked with regulating athlete endorsement contracts, certifying athlete agents, monitoring Title IX compliance, and establishing health, wellness, and safety standards for college athletes.