Dissecting the “College Athletes Bill of Rights” Senate Bill
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A March to a New Madness - Full Dissection of the “College Athletes Bill of Rights” Senate Bill – Part III
Executive Summary
Expansive bill not only creates protections for student-athlete NIL rights, it would create revenue sharing with athletes
Bill also expands federal government's involvement in policy making, monitoring, and enforcement in a variety of areas affecting college sports
Bill sponsored by Senator Booker (D-NJ), Senator Blumenthal (D-CT), Senator Gillibrand (D-NY) and Senator Schatz (D-HI)
Bill would establish a Commission on College Athletics
Revenue sharing model funded from NCAA, conference, and university-based NIL revenue
Universities would be tasked with establishing a medical trust fund for current and former college athletes
The bill, if enacted, would dilute the NCAA’s exclusive authority over college sports
Although the College Athlete Bill of Rights has yet to take root, the bill has many prospective branches. In Part II of our series reviewing this comprehensive proposal, we toured through the bill’s intent to ensure a direct path for college athletes to transfer and compete right away as well as protecting college athletes’ freedom of speech and to institute a revenue sharing model.
In this week’s installment, the financial themes continue to grab our attention with an eye toward student-athlete health and well-being. The bill calls for a medical trust fund to be established for the long-term medical care needs of college athletes -- and funded by NCAA member schools. We also examine the specific health care and well-being themes for which the bill is calling for the establishment of national guidelines.
We also look at the academic-flavored provisions in this bill intended to create a national GPA minimum for college athletes to automatic, inflation-based increases for scholarships. Other proposed changes we explore this week include shifting academic services supporting college athletes outside of the athletics department to legislating life skills programming and annual reporting requirements.
What does this bill do to support college athletes from a medical care and support standpoint?
The bill calls for a medical trust fund to be established to cover the cost of college athletes’ out-of-pocket expenses relating to any sports-related injury and, during the five-year period beginning on the date on which an individual ceases to be a college athlete, the out-of-pocket expenses relating to any sports-related injury or illness suffered by such individual while the individual was a college athlete.
The medical fund would also be the source to cover medical expenses for college athletes and former college athletes diagnosed with certain sports-related conditions, including chronic traumatic encephalopathy, as well as independent medical second opinions for college athletes.
Who would pay for this fund?
The NCAA member schools. Not later than July 31 each year, NCAA member schools shall make contributions to the Fund in the amount to be reasonable to cover the costs of medical treatment as described above for the applicable academic year and taking into account the revenues of the respective athletic departments of such universities.
What other medical benefits and protections for student-athletes would this bill prescribe?
Before exhausting their eligibility, a college athlete shall be offered the opportunity to undergo a physical examination for the purpose of diagnosing any sports-related injury or condition. Further, a college athlete shall have the right to obtain a medical second opinion independent from the medical opinion given by the institution of higher education at which the college athlete is enrolled.
One area for which the NCAA has legislated in the medical treatment world is ensuring physicians and trainers have unchallengeable authority over medical clearance to play decisions. Does this bill impact any aspect of the independence of medical practitioners in college sports?
Yes, the bill states that any sports trainer or medical personnel employed by an institution of higher education be employed by the institution’s health office and operate independently from the athletics department. In other words, athletic trainers and other medical personnel would not be positions hired or overseen by the Athletic Director or his or her designees in the Athletics Department.
Does this bill call for any external management or direction on how NCAA member schools would manage the medical support services of their student-athletes?
Yes, in a big way. Not later than 120 days after the date of the enactment of this bill, the Secretary of Health and Human Services acting through the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and in consultation with the Assistant Secretary of Labor for Occupational Safety and Health, shall establish health, wellness, and safety guidelines for intercollegiate athletic programs.
These agencies would be called on to consult with the NCAA’s Sports Science Institute to consider existing guidelines of relevant nonprofit entities, such as the NCAA, conferences, professional sports leagues, the National Athletic Trainers Association, and college athlete advocacy communities.
What areas impacting the health, safety, and wellness for student-athletes does the bill want these agencies to focus on in developing guidelines?
The guidelines shall address:
cardiac health
concussion and traumatic brain injuries
illegal performance enhancers and substance abuse
mental health
nutrition, sleep, and performance
overuse injuries, periodization, and heat-related illnesses
sexual assault and interpersonal violence
athletics health care administration
weight and pain management
Rhabdomyolysis
sickle cell trait
asthma
other topics as the Secretary determines appropriate
As new health, safety, and wellness guidelines are developed and implemented, how will NCAA member schools be monitored for compliance with the new standards? Will there be any penalties for non-compliance with these guidelines?
At least once per month, the Commission shall conduct an audit of athletic programs to verify compliance with the established guidelines.
An individual found to be primarily responsible for noncompliance with a guideline established under subsection (a)(1), or for threatening or retaliating against any individual or entity that reports such noncompliance, shall be subject to a lifetime ban on involvement with intercollegiate athletics.
An NCAA member school found to be in noncompliance with a guideline established shall be assessed, for each academic year in which the noncompliance occurred, a civil penalty in the amount equal to 30% of the total athletic revenue generated by the institution of higher education.
Does the bill expand the current scholarship protections the NCAA rules already provide for student-athletes?
Maybe. The bill’s language is vague in some respects, but it does call for NCAA schools that provide an individual with an athletic scholarship in an academic year to continue providing it for each subsequent academic year in which the individual is enrolled at the institution and until the individual receives an undergraduate degree from the institution.
Further, this guarantee in the bill states that the scholarship must continue without regard to whether the individual is playing an intercollegiate sport for the institution during any such subsequent year.
Would this bill actually federally legislate a minimum GPA for college athletes to maintain their athletic scholarship?
Yes. The bill states that an institution would not have to guarantee a scholarship should a student-athlete be found by the institution to have committed academic fraud or other misconduct that would ordinarily result in expulsion or if the student-athlete earns a GPA of less than 2.20 on a four-point scale, or the equivalent, for two or more consecutive semesters. These standards disregard several data-informed current NCAA academic standards as well as institutional standards beyond conduct leading to expulsion that would otherwise have been a basis to reduce or a cancel a scholarship.
The bill is silent on whether other non-GPA academic requirements, such as percentage-of-degree thresholds, serious conduct not resulting in expulsion, or other non-athletic and non-medical conditions such as an NCAA amateurism violation impacting eligibility would still be a basis to cancel or reduce a student-athlete’s scholarship.
Interestingly, in the front section of the bill, “college athlete” is defined as an individual who participates in an intercollegiate sport for an institution of higher education. The definition makes no reference to a requirement that the individual needs to be enrolled as a student in the university.
Would the bill call for inflationary increases to scholarship amounts?
Yes. The bill goes on to say that a scholarship awarded shall be in an amount equal to the scholarship provided to the individual for the preceding year, increased by the rate of inflation for the preceding year.
How are student-athletes’ support services in academics such as tutoring and advising impacted by the bill?
Any academic advisor or tutoring services provided to a college athlete by an institution of higher education shall be independent from the athletic department of the institution of higher education. This would change the paradigm for many NCAA schools whose athletics departments include an academic services department to assist student-athletes with advising, tutoring, course registration, and the like.
Is the bill attempting to thwart perceived pressures on college athletes to pick “easier” majors or to turn down internships and other extracurricular opportunities in favor of additional off-season athletics training and skill development?
The bill holds that an individual working or volunteering for an athletic department of an institution of higher education may not influence, or retaliate against a college athlete based on, a college athlete’s selection of any course or academic major. Similarly, those same individuals shall not interfere with, or discourage, any college athlete who wishes to secure employment or internships, participate in student groups or events, or serve as a volunteer, as long as such activities do not interfere with mandatory class time or mandatory team activities.
An NCAA member school (or their employees or volunteers on the school’s behalf) found to be in violation of the above shall be assessed, for each individual harmed by the violation, a civil penalty of $75,000.
Does the bill attempt to regulate how NCAA member schools provide life skills programming?
Yes, the bill calls for each NCAA member institution to offer a financial literacy and life skills development program and requires every college athlete enrolled in the university to attend the program during the college athlete’s first year of engagement in an intercollegiate sport. Each financial literacy and life skills development program offered shall be not less than 15 hours in total duration across sessions; be eligible for postsecondary credit, consistent with the credit allocation guidelines of the university; and include, at a minimum, information regarding the rights of college athletes under this bill; and time management skills, personal budgeting, debt, credit, and interest rates.
Interestingly, the bill also precludes any financial literacy and life skills development program that also includes any marketing, advertising, referral, or solicitation by providers of financial products or services.
This provision may be best served if it seeks, similar to the medical and safety guidelines section, to assess what is already provided by NCAA member schools to gauge current outreach levels and effectiveness before dictating this new approach. Also, whether life skills courses such as financial literacy seminars being given for credit will necessitate satisfying institutional policies related to how credit can be given, classroom hours, and such.
What reporting and accountability obligations on NCAA member institutions does this bill set forth?
Not later than 60 days after the date on which an academic year ends, each NCAA member school shall submit to the Commission a report that includes, for the academic year, the following:
The revenues and expenditures of each athletic program, including booster donations and compensation for athletic program personnel, disclosed under section 5(c)(1)
The average number of hours college athletes enrolled at the institution of higher education spent on athletic activities, including mandatory and voluntary team activities and team travel, disaggregated by athletic program
The academic outcomes for college athletes enrolled at the institution of higher education, disaggregated by athletic program, race and ethnicity, and gender
If an NCAA member school fails to submit a report in a timely manner or intentionally submits an inaccurate report, the institution shall be assessed a civil penalty that is the greater of the amount equal to 15% of the total athletic revenue generated by the university or $200,000.
A national database would be maintained that is publicly accessible and contains the information provided in each annual report.
Conclusion
Even beyond the prospective costs and logistical gymnastics that may be needed to make these provisions a reality, assessing whether current policies (e.g., NCAA, National Athletic Trainers Association) achieve what the proposal seeks to construct is a necessary precursor.
In the final installment next week, we explore the bill’s creation of a federally backed Commission on College Sports -- a move that could curtail the NCAA’s present authority over college sports as well as one of the other heated-issues engulfing college sports -- the unionization of college athletes.
Athletics Veritas is presented for information purposes only and should not be considered advice or counsel on NCAA compliance matters. For guidance on NCAA rules and processes, always consult your university’s athletics compliance office, conference office, and/or the NCAA.
