(The Athletic) NCAA's main priority for 2023: Get help from Congress

Gophers_4life

Banned
Joined
Jun 27, 2018
Messages
15,846
Reaction score
3,986
Points
113
https://theathletic.com/4086860/2023/01/12/ncaa-convention-congress-federal-nil-law/

No one ever said it’d be easy to work with Congress. But it may be the only way forward, according to Baylor president Linda Livingstone, who chairs the NCAA Board of Governors, the organization’s highest governing body. Livingstone spent a great deal of time at the NCAA’s annual convention on Thursday detailing the need for Congressional help as the association faces myriad attacks from outside entities. Multiple lawsuits aimed at the economic structure of college athletics are working their way through the courts in a legal environment that appears more supportive of athletes’ rights than ever before. The National Labor Relations Board is proceeding with an unfair labor practice charge filed against USC, the Pac-12 and the NCAA in a push to categorize athletes as employees.

Livingstone repeatedly said that the NCAA needs Congress to protect the categorization of athletes so that they cannot be classified as employees.

“We feel like there’s a great sense of urgency,” Livingstone said. “It’s related in some ways to some of the potential state laws that are out there that the state legislators are looking at. It’s related to some things that could be coming out of some of the federal agencies. So, we absolutely believe that it’s urgent, it’s essential and it’s something that we really need to lean into and make progress on in this legislative session.”

She characterized the threat the NCAA is facing as “imminent.”

“Several states are right now considering legislation that would mandate a vastly changed relationship between school and its students,” Livingstone said. “Congress is really the only entity that can affirm student-athletes’ unique status. We have to ensure that Congress understands what’s at stake and motivate them to act. Second, we need a safe harbor for a certain degree of antitrust complaints. We’re not looking for nor do we actually need broad antitrust exemption; we do need the ability to make common-sense rules without limitless threats of litigation.”
 




no problem. just have to come up with a bill that can get passed by a Republican-controlled House and a Democrat-controlled Senate. should be easy.

which is my sarcastic way of saying it ain't happening - at least not for the next two years.

Yep, never going to happen. Both sides seem to want a professional league, for different reasons.

Might have to hope for a SCOTUS intervention to save the student athlete model but a certain somebody that really likes beer has stated that’s on shaky ground. I wonder if that’s a majority opinion.
 


I’d have to say if you get the government involved it’ll get more messy.
It's the only way that the NCAA survives. They are on bad legal footing so they need to re-write the law. That's what they mean by 'congressional help'. They need a law exempting student athletes from existing labor law.
 
Last edited:

Yep, never going to happen. Both sides seem to want a professional league, for different reasons.

Might have to hope for a SCOTUS intervention to save the student athlete model but a certain somebody that really likes beer has stated that’s on shaky ground. I wonder if that’s a majority opinion.
Plenty of students, who are students, are employees of the university and receive a paycheck and a W2.

For example: teaching assistants.

Why not athletes?
 

Plenty of students, who are students, are employees of the university and receive a paycheck and a W2.

For example: teaching assistants.

Why not athletes?



How would you propose the wage spiral and collateral damage be contained when teams start bidding on players. A pro model is the only outcome, for better or worse. What happens between now and then is anyone’s guess. Probably a mess.
 

The more you add government to any equation, the more problems you will create.
The people on Medicare, Social Security, Crop Insurance, Flood insurance, etc would beg to differ with you.
 



How would you propose the wage spiral and collateral damage be contained when teams start bidding on players. A pro model is the only outcome, for better or worse. What happens between now and then is anyone’s guess. Probably a mess.
As long as (P5/FBS/whatever) student-athletes form a collective bargaining unit, then things like salary caps are viable. That's one of the key ones, which you clearly alluded to.
 

The more you add government to any equation, the more problems you will create.
In this case, however, you're talking about 50 (state) governments who aren't coordinated.

Isn't it better to get at least coordinated under a single set of rules?
 

What the NCAA really wants and it was mentioned in The Athletic, is to be granted safety from legal suits by being granted the same anti-trust privileges that big league baseball has.
That would put the NCAA back to where they were before the SCOTUS ruling that upset their little privileged, insular apple cart.
 

The people on Medicare, Social Security, Crop Insurance, Flood insurance, etc would beg to differ with you.
And anyone flying on airplanes, driving a car, drinking water, investing in stocks, or having savings in the bank
 



What the NCAA really wants and it was mentioned in The Athletic, is to be granted safety from legal suits by being granted the same anti-trust privileges that big league baseball has.
That would put the NCAA back to where they were before the SCOTUS ruling that upset their little privileged, insular apple cart.
It's tough to make rules if you're being threatened with lawsuits in a random handful of states?
 

the whole point of National legislation is that it would apply to all 50 states and supersede any state legislation.

at this point, there is in reality no enforcement of NIL and no real national rules to enforce.

in theory, if some insane rich guy from Wisconsin wanted to pay every player on the Badgers a million dollars, he could do it. Or offer every player at MN a million dollars to transfer to WI.

not to mention all of the other tampering issues that are being reported.

the only way to rein this in - IMHO - would be National Legislation setting specific rules and penalties for NIL, along with an enforcement mechanism within or outside of the current NCAA structure.

barring that, as I said, there is nothing right now to stop IA or WI boosters from offering every Gopher player a big sack of cash to transfer.
 




Top Bottom