The House v. NCAA settlement brought revenue-sharing to college athletics but there was concerns on how sustainable this new model would be. Would lawsuits stop? Will the newly created College Sports Commission (CSC) really be able to enforce the newly established NIL rules? More help from Congress was always going to be needed.
That help could be on the way. There is a meeting scheduled with members of the U.S. House to introduce a sports bill called the SCORE Act this week.
Yahoo Sports’ Ross Dellenger reports this bill is “on track to progress further than any all-encompassing athlete compensation legislation”.
“The Act, an amended version obtained by Yahoo Sports, codifies the settlement, grants liability protection, preempts state NIL laws & includes anti-employment clause,” Dellenger wrote on social media. “It brings regulation to agents & requires schools provide athlete degree completion, post-grad healthcare, etc.”
There are some hurdles to clear for this bill to get passed, but this appears to be a big step in the right direction. The power conference commissioners, and most of their members seem committed to making this new structure work, but the need for help from the government has been stressed for years by the leaders in college athletics. That help could be on the way.
This bill would give the NCAA and CSC the enforcement power to require athletes to disclose NIL deals and would also allow enforcement of the one-time transfer rule. There would be additional rules regarding agent involvement.
Following everything that has gone on with the NCAA and the settlement has been overwhelming. However, getting to this stage where schools could pay players directly in the 2025-26 school year was a massive first step. This is the next big step. Getting this settlement codified by Congress will give college sports leaders the stability they have been looking for since NIL arrived in 2021.
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