U.S. Senators Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Jerry Moran (R-Kan.) and Cory Booker (D-N.J.) on Thursday circulated a discussion draft of federal legislation they say would protect college athletes’ economic, health and educational rights. The bill is called the College Athletes Protection & Compensation Act, and it would preempt state NIL laws.
The bill proposes the formation of the College Athletics Corporation (CAC), a central oversight entity that would set, administer, and enforce rules and standards to protect athletes who enter into endorsement contracts. The CAC would establish rules and investigatory processes to enforce this law. There would be a 15-member board of directors that oversees the CAC, and at least five board members must be current or former college athletes. The CAC would have its own constitution and bylaws. It would also have subpoena power and could use it to compel deposition testimony on behalf of the NCAA if it has “appropriate requests.”
The discussion draft includes, but is not limited to, the following:
- Athletes would be allowed to have representatives, such as agents, and those representatives would need to be certified by the CAC. Schools would not be able to represent athletes in endorsement contract negotiations.
- Schools would be…
