Washington D.C.— Today, the House Small Business Committee held a hearing examining National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) rule changes allowing college athletes to profit off their own names, images, and likenesses (NIL). During the hearing, Ranking Member Nydia M. Velázquez (D-NY) highlighted how these changes could increase gender inequity and predatory agent practices in college sports.
“College athletes from underserved communities – even with modest deals – could finally begin building savings and generational wealth. Many players suddenly had a way to cover rent and living costs. But in recent years, the launch and growth of the multimillion-dollar collegiate athletic market has raised questions about the way that our society treats our college athletes,” said Ranking Member Velázquez. “Stakeholders from across the political spectrum have voiced concerns about gender inequity, predatory agent practices, and the patchwork of confusing regulations.”
NCAA rule changes around NIL have opened a multimillion-dollar market of contracts and deals for players, though the scopes and sizes of these deals vary widely among genders and types of sports. Though women college athletes receive a substantial portion of NIL compensation, stakeholders have raised concerns that the NIL market could divert money away from athletic departments, which are subject to Title IX, leading to increased gender inequity in college sports.
Witnesses also testified on exploitative practices by unscrupulous player agents and their impact on college athletes who may be unaware of their value under NIL.
“There also needs to be greater monitoring of agents and attorneys in the NIL space and greater transparency about their commission on deals. That goes for collectives that are not always transparent with how they are handling donor money,” said Madeline Salamone, Vice President of the College Football Players Association. “There continue to be concerns related to tax exempt status of some of the collectives formed as non-profits.”
During the hearing, lawmakers discussed policy solutions to promote gender equity, fair competition among college athletics departments, and how to best protect the rights and wellbeing of college athletes amid the rapidly changing NIL landscape.
