(NewsNation) — More people are calling for federal legislation that would establish national name, image, and likeness compensation standards for college athletes.
The NCAA lifted its ban on NIL compensation in 2021. Since then, at least 28 states have passed their own individual laws regarding it, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures, creating confusion.
NCAA President Charlie Baker said earlier this summer he wants a federal law to regulate the way college athletes can be compensated for endorsement deals and is hopeful such a bill can move through the House of Representatives and Senate this fall.
“I think it was a big mistake by the NCAA not to do a framework around NIL when they had the opportunity to,” Baker said during the Future of College Athletics Summit. “And I think there were too many people in college sports who thought no rules would work really well for them. And what everybody’s discovered is no rules, no transparency, no accountability, no framework, doesn’t work well for anybody.”
Southeastern Conference Commissioner Greg Sankey said in July that only Congress can truly set a national standard for NIL compensation in college athletics. It isn’t a partisan issue, he added.
Some lawmakers have been working on such legislation. However, Forbes reports that in previous years, nearly a dozen bills have been introduced at the federal level dealing with NIL, but all have failed to pass out of committee.
Still, there are several pieces of legislation dealing with this issue that are being discussed.
Back in May, Rep. Mike Carey, a Republican, and Democratic Rep. Greg Landsman, both from Ohio, introduced the Student-Athlete Level Playing Field Act to standardize NIL.
It stops “universities from restricting student-athletes from entering into NIL deals, protects the recruitment process by prohibiting inducements, and ensures student-athletes aren’t considered employees of universities,” according to a news release. This bill also makes it so any deals valued at more than $500 are disclosed to the Federal Trade Commission.
Recently, Senators Cory Booker, D-N.J.; Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn.; and Jerry Moran, R-Kan., announced they are working on a draft bill to establish NIL standards through the creation of the College Athletics Corporation, an oversight entity meant to “set, administer and enforce rules and standards to protect athletes who enter into endorsement contract,” according to a news release.
“Being a college athlete was one of the greatest gifts of my life – it opened doors of opportunity and offered lessons I carry with me to this day,” Booker said in a statement. “But it also opened my eyes to some deep, systemic injustices in the system – a system that, to this day, continues to put profits over athletes.”
Democratic Sen. Chris Murphy of Connecticut and Massachusetts’ Rep. Lori Trahan reintroduced legislation in July that would establish an unrestricted federal right for college athletes to pursue their name, image and likeness, which Murphy said is “overdue.”
One provision of the legislation would allow international college athletes to use their NIL without violating their visa status, while another requires universities and conferences to get a group license from athletes in order to use their NIL for promotional purposes, Forbes wrote.
Another bill, from Senators Joe Manchin, a West Virginia Democrat, and Tommy Tuberville, a Republican from Alabama, requires not only a national standard for NIL but would also require agents and collectives to register with a regulating body and implement a Uniform Standard Contract for student-athlete use for NIL deals.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.