Two Republican lawmakers filed legislation Wednesday that would give the NCAA, college conferences and member schools federal protection from legal challenges that interfere with their ability to administer college sports.
The Protect the Ball Act, sponsored by Reps. Russell Fry of South Carolina and Barry Moore of Alabama, is intended to provide legal refuge for organizations that run college sports under siege from antitrust lawsuits. Frye and Moore are members of the House Judiciary Committee.
The NCAA and Power Four conferences are considering a settlement that could cost billions of dollars. House v. NCAA seeks damages for college athletes who have been denied the right to make money through sponsorship and endorsement deals since 2016, five years before the NCAA lifted its ban on name, image and likeness compensation.
Almost as problematic for the NCAA are recent lawsuits by states attacking some of the association’s most basic rules related to recruiting incentives and multiple transfers.
The Protect the Ball Act protects the NCAA from lawsuits and allows associations and conferences to regulate things like recruiting, eligibility standards and how college athletes are compensated for their names, images and likenesses.
“NIL rules are constantly changing, highly litigated, and inherently unenforceable, causing confusion and confusion for everyone involved,” Fry said. “We must establish liability shields at the national level to protect our schools, student-athletes and conferences as we navigate this new situation. “This bill is essential to protecting college sports as we know them.”
College sports leaders have been asking Congress for years to help regulate how athletes are paid for NIL. But NCAA President Charlie Baker and others have recently focused on preventing college athletes from being considered employees.
The lawsuit settlement being considered would create a revenue-sharing system for college athletes, but the NCAA and conferences would still need help from federal lawmakers to protect them from future lawsuits and grant special status to college athletes.
“It is essential that we soon reach a uniform rules standard for competition, and I am truly pleased to see our council’s engagement efforts being heard and acted upon,” said Morgyn Wynne, a former Oklahoma State softball player and former commissioner. . Co-Chair of the NCAA Student-Athlete Advisory Committee.
Since 2020, lawmakers in the House and Senate have filed at least seven bills — some simply as discussion drafts — but none have gained traction.
The Protect the Ball Act is a narrow bill intended to support a broader bill that would create national standards for NIL compensation in college sports.
___
AP College Football: https://apnews.com/hub/college-football
