In July 2020, the Senate Judiciary Committee convened (https://www.judiciary.senate.gov/meetings/protecting-the-integrity-of-college-athletics) a hearing called "Protecting the Integrity of College Athletics". Led by Senators Blumenthal, Graham and Booker, the Committee announced their intent to create a "College Athletes Bill of Rights" tied to a reform agenda with Names, Images and Likenesses legislation. The Bill of Rights includes:
· Empowers and protects economic rights of athletes;
· Allows athletes to market their NIL individually and in group licenses;
· Ensure athletes can negotiate revenue sharing agreements with athletic associations, conferences and schools;
· Empower and protect an athlete’s rights to an education; enable them beyond their academic and athletic career, guarantee lifetime scholarships;
· Create and empower transparency, and give the athletes the right to hold accountable their schools;
· Create an oversight panel for the regulation of agents and third-party NIL deals, making sure they have a real voice;
· Protect the health and wellbeing of college athletes; unacceptable that there is no standardized injury reporting process (including concussions).
Joining me to talk about this issue is Kendall Spencer (https://www.ted.com/talks/kendall_spencer_what_we_can_learn_from_college_athletes_jan_2018) , former chair of the National Student Athlete Advisory Council (SAAC). Kendall is a recent graduate of Georgetown Law, and hopes to compete in the 2021 Tokyo Olympic games. Kendall and I discuss the increasing activism of college athletes and how they can collectively use their voices to affect change that levels the playing field for athletes.
