Student Athlete Fairness and Enforcement Act
The Student Athlete Fairness and Enforcement Act is a comprehensive bill intended to reshape how student athletes are treated in relation to name, image, and likeness (NIL) rights, endorsements, transfers, health and safety, scholarships, and oversight. Introduced in the Senate by Cantwell, Booker, and Blumenthal, and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, the bill would create a nationally uniform framework governing NIL opportunities, endorsement contracts, athlete agents, and athlete protections. It seeks to empower student athletes to earn compensation for their NIL, set standards for safety and medical independence, and provide enforcement mechanisms (including a private right of action) to address violations. The text provided outlines many core provisions up to health and safety and related reforms, with additional Title sections listed but not fully shown in the excerpt. In short, the bill aims to give student athletes clearer rights to monetize their NIL, impose reporting and ethical standards on NIL activities and agents, protect athletes who choose to pursue professional drafts or transfer, and strengthen health, safety, and anti-discrimination protections, along with new oversight and enforcement tools.
Key Points
- 1NIL rights, protections, and rules (Title I)
- 2- Protects a student athlete’s ability to market and earn from their name, image, and likeness and sets conditions for endorsements, group uses, and consent.
- 3- Prohibits discriminatory limitations on opportunities based on NIL activities and requires notification of endorsement rules to athletes.
- 4NIL reporting requirements (Sec. 102)
- 5- Athletes must report terms of endorsed deals (covered compensation) within a set timeframe.
- 6- Institutions must file annual reports on program revenues/expenses, hours spent, academic outcomes, and endorsement values; associations must post aggregate reports; NIL collectives have annual reporting duties.
- 7Endorsement contracts and athlete agent reforms (Secs. 103-105)
- 8- Endorsement contracts must be in writing and disclose key terms (parties, services, compensation, and contract duration limited to athlete eligibility).
- 9- Noncompliant endorsements can be void at the athlete’s option; privacy protections limit disclosure of contract terms.
- 10- Introduces stricter rules for athlete agents: registration with a state, a 5% compensation cap for endorsement deals, and prohibitions on certain abusive practices; requires athletic associations to maintain a public registry of registered agents and provide links to FTC resources.
- 11- Creates a private right of action allowing current or former student athletes to sue for violations, with remedies including damages and attorneys’ fees; restricts pre-dispute arbitration/joint-action waivers in athlete disputes.
- 12Transfer and professional draft protections (Title II)
- 13- Allows student athletes to transfer between institutions twice without losing eligibility, with additional transfers available by mutual agreement or due to program changes.
- 14- Shields athletes from punishment by institutions for entering a professional draft if they aren’t receiving compensation and plan to resume college competition afterward.
- 15Health, safety, and support protections (Title III)
- 16- Establishes health and safety standards for student athletes, citing established concussion, heat illness, exertional rhabdomyolysis, sickle cell trait, and asthma guidelines (from NCAA/other bodies) and requires independent medical decisions.
- 17- Reforms ensure medical professionals have autonomous authority over return-to-play decisions, limiting nonmedical personnel (e.g., coaches) from overriding medical judgments.
- 18- Requires health care benefits for D1 athletes covering out-of-pocket costs, second opinions, and catastrophic coverage; mandates post-eligibility medical coverage for five years, plus a fund/program to support post-eligibility insurance and catastrophic expenses.
- 19The bill also contemplates additional provisions (Titles IV–X) covering scholarships, nondiscrimination at tournaments, international student visas, revenue support for college sports, a college athlete ombudsperson, media rights, and enforcement/oversight, though full text details for those sections are not included in the provided excerpt.