Feds considering legislation to oversee NIL

[rabbitTown]

Forgive me if this has been posted here before...

House subcommittee considering federal regulatory body to oversee NIL rights for college athletes

Two NIL hearings on Capitol Hill have resulted in movement on what the NCAA has long sought: federal legislation of NIL

www.cbssports.com

In a nutshell:
Beyond creating a federal regulatory body to address NIL, the suggested legislation would:

• Protect athletes' rights to earn NIL compensation and sign with agents. (The NCAA allows for a limited scope of NIL benefits and currently allows athletes to have agents for NIL marketing purposes only.)
• Ban "pay-for-play" by prohibiting boosters, collectives and other third parties from "offering inducements to attend or transfer" to specific institutions.
• Require registration within 30 days for agents, boosters and collectives when NIL deals are signed.

but this statement stuck me...
"It is Congress' responsibility to establish a clear set of rules so our young people are protected, opportunities for them are promoted, and amateur sports of all kinds are preserved. Our goal is to ensure that NIL deals are transparent and fair, while protecting the integrity of college athletics," said Bilirakis. "I am intent on following a deliberative process that is open to more recommendations so we strike the delicate balance of preserving the ability of college athletes to profit from their own NIL while maintaining the amateur status of all college athletes. I am confident we can create a system that is fair, transparent, and beneficial for all."

1) Why would congress try to make the federal government bigger, to pointedly remove states rights? (I don't want this to be a political argument, but it's a small-government Republican from Florida leading this legislation)
2) The athletes aren't in any jeopardy. They sued as adults to get the rights to collect NIL as any other student could, there are inherent pitfalls to that system. The entities that might actually be hurt are the universities and the fans... we know better than most!!
3) Why must NIL deals be 'fair'... and to whom? What about capitalism? Is any college athlete making anything close to what Lamar Jackson or Lebron James is making on salary/endorsements? Is anyone checking if their deals are fair?
4) The integrity of college athletics has already been undermined by the NCAA and their unequal pursuit and application of punishment.
5) "maintaining amateur status"!?? that ship has sailed

Make no mistake, there are scared university administrators, coaches, and boosters behind this legislation. It isn't about the kids.

 

[Cefiro]

The NCAA dropped the ball in reigning in NIL and is now hoping congress can bail them out. It’s clear that NIL is out of control and like the Wild West.

Are you arguing the opposite? Do you think players should just go to the collective that offers the most?

NIL was originally suppose to be players getting money for autographs, tshirts, endorsements, etc. Not collectives.

 

[JuniorBrady23]

Pay for play is already illegal per NCAA rules and most state laws including Kentucky. People still want us to just pay players.

 

[rabbitTown]

The NCAA dropped the ball in reigning in NIL and is now hoping congress can bail them out. It’s clear that NIL is out of control and like the Wild West.

Are you arguing the opposite? Do you think players should just go to the collective that offers the most?

NIL was originally suppose to be players getting money for autographs, tshirts, endorsements, etc. Not collectives.

In 2019 the Supreme Court required the NCAA to allow students to obtain other non-cash scholarships, internships and other support beyond the full cost-of-attendance. As any other college student could for their elite marketable skills.
Passing any legislation to give the NCAA leverage to 'contain' NIL will only be challenged in court and ultimately reversed.

 

[WildcatfaninOhio]

I wouldn’t want the federal government to oversee watching a dog I liked. Hell, they can’t oversee their own budget without getting us all eyeball deep in debt. I’m pretty sure they can only screw things up far worse they already are.

 

[rabbitTown]

Pay for play is already illegal per NCAA rules and most state laws including Kentucky. People still want us to just pay players.

Paying for players is where it is for most and where it will end... as it should be.
Our founding economic principles are capitalism, free-market, and promoting competition.

 

[rabbitTown]

Pay for play is already illegal per NCAA rules and most state laws including Kentucky. People still want us to just pay players.

Furthermore.... I am not sure about 'most states'.
Regarding our efforts to recruit HD, I wanted to see if we are on the same playing field...
Kansas has no legislated NIL governance (they do have an internal policy barring pay for play, lol). They (and many others) are free to coordinate with third-party collectives (much like state university alumni associations operate).
(Oregon has went so far as to make it so that third-party NIL contracts do not have to be shared with the university [total plausible deniability of pay for play]).
The Kentucky legislature has put UK basketball/football at the disadvantage.... with Section 2.01 - A person or entity shall not give or promise compensation for the use of the name, image, or likeness of a current or prospective student-athlete to recruit or induce the athlete to enroll at any Kentucky institution (added in Jan 2022).

 

[cat_in_the_hat]

Paying for players is where it is for most and where it will end... as it should be.
Our founding economic principles are capitalism, free-market, and promoting competition.

I disagree. There is nothing about sports leagues that are remotely capitalistic. The league is the product. Teams only compete within the context of the league. The Cincinnati Reds, or Bengals, only have value in the context of the league so one team is not trying to put the other team out of business. The league has to do well for teams to do well. The league has to be somewhat competitive to attract fans. The purpose of the NCAA rules is to try and maintain some competitive balance so fans stay interested. It is also there to try and maintain some recognition that these are students. In other words, this isn't a pro league. Pay for play runs counter to the purpose of the league and should not be the final outcome.

 

[Cantwaitfor8]

Pay for play is already illegal per NCAA rules and most state laws including Kentucky. People still want us to just pay players.

That’s what’s happening everywhere. Rules or not makes no difference. I am in favor of paying the guys. Have a CBA and salary caps. Sign deals equal to years in school etc. this, what we have now, is unsustainable.

 

[DreadLox]

but it's a small-government Republican from Florida leading this legislation)

 

[DreadLox]

That’s what’s happening everywhere. Rules or not makes no difference. I am in favor of paying the guys. Have a CBA and salary caps. Sign deals equal to years in school etc. this, what we have now, is unsustainable.

Sounds good to me. And ease the schools out of it. Let schools concentrate on education and let someone else be responsible for the entertainment.

 

[YardCat]

The House and Senate want a cut of the money

 

[Blue_2_the_bone]

If the Feds have their hand in it I guarantee it’s so they get their hands washed along the way. Government only gets bigger so someone else can get a piece of the pie. It doesn’t matter what side of the aisle they’re on. It’s like pro-wrestling. At each others throats for the cameras and then they laugh and smoke cigars when the lights are off.

 

[AGEE11]

What's the best way to fix a giant mess??

Get the guvment involved. What could possible go wrong...

 

[rabbitTown]

I disagree. There is nothing about sports leagues that are remotely capitalistic. The league is the product. Teams only compete within the context of the league. The Cincinnati Reds, or Bengals, only have value in the context of the league so one team is not trying to put the other team out of business. The league has to do well for teams to do well. The league has to be somewhat competitive to attract fans. The purpose of the NCAA rules is to try and maintain some competitive balance so fans stay interested. It is also there to try and maintain some recognition that these are students. In other words, this isn't a pro league. Pay for play runs counter to the purpose of the league and should not be the final outcome.

You started out making a great point regarding leagues as the product... a view I had not considered. It makes sense, but also falls apart (even by your analogies) as one digs deeper.
I will give you that the teams only have value with respect to the league, NBA and NFL much more so than the MLB (due to salary cap)... but the individual players have value outside of the league, by their own elite and desired talents. A league can exclude a player for whatever reason they want, but they can't say how $$ they can make outside the league.... just like their classmates on music or drama scholarships don't have those stipulations put on them. That they are students should have no bearing.
Pay-for-play... is going to happen... whether it is a collective or prospects just knowing (wink-wink) that the players at Alma Mater University are always taken care of very well.
The flip side is that the NCAA needs rules to exist... they have give the appearance of doing something.

 

[cat_in_the_hat]

You started out making a great point regarding leagues as the product... a view I had not considered. It makes sense, but also falls apart (even by your analogies) as one digs deeper.
I will give you that the teams only have value with respect to the league, NBA and NFL much more so than the MLB (due to salary cap)... but the individual players have value outside of the league, by their own elite and desired talents. A league can exclude a player for whatever reason they want, but they can't say how $$ they can make outside the league.... just like their classmates on music or drama scholarships don't have those stipulations put on them. That they are students should have no bearing.
Pay-for-play... is going to happen... whether it is a collective or prospects just knowing (wink-wink) that the players at Alma Mater University are always taken care of very well.
The flip side is that the NCAA needs rules to exist... they have give the appearance of doing something.

I thought you were talking about pay for play. Pay for play can't be justified based on capitalism because those pay structures are not based on capitalism. Salary caps, revenue sharing, etc., pervert pay structures in leagues, but they are necessary to keep a competitive league where fans are interested in what's going on with the league. Players also have value outside the league. That is capitalism. Their NIL is worth something and they should be able to capitalize on that value. What's happening though, is that NIL deals, in some cases, are not based on the value of the players NIL, but based on what they have to pay to entice that player to play for that school. That is a rules violation and should be delt with. Players should not be presented with NIL deals before they sign to play with a school. Players should have to work that out after they have picked a school. The league has the right to create a set of rules that it feels is necessary to try and maintain some semblance of a level playing field. Pay for play may be inevitable, but today it is a rules violation.