Legislation creates first-ever student athlete rights & protections, levels the competitive playing field for all schools & supports women’s & Olympic sports
WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senators Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, Cory Booker (D-N.J.), and Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) today introduced the Student Athlete Fairness and Enforcement (SAFE) Act to codify athletes’ rights and protections in law, expand revenue for all schools, support women’s and Olympic sports and bring much-needed stability to the college sports system.
The Act, for the first time, gives all athletes Name, Image and Likeness (NIL) rights, establishes uniform health and safety standards, protects scholarships and requires agents to register with a state and abide by clear contract requirements, including a 5 percent cap on fees. The bill provides new opportunities for schools to increase revenues for all sports by amending the Sports Broadcasting Act, and ensures all schools, not just the biggest and the richest, benefit from those increased resources. The legislation stops collectives from engaging in pay for play by requiring that any payments to students are for legitimate use of their NIL. For the millions of fans who care deeply about their college sports teams, the Act requires football and basketball games to be made available for free in schools’ local media market and tackles transfer portal concerns.
“This legislation is a path through the new world of NIL,” said Sen. Cantwell. “This bill will protect athlete rights, preserve women’s and Olympic sports, and help smaller schools compete. It is a fair shake for everyone, instead of the biggest, richest schools.”
“The SAFE Act empowers athletes and strengthens protections for their health, safety, and education,” said Sen. Booker. “In stark contrast to harmful legislation being considered in the House, our bill preserves athletes’ rights to advocate for themselves and ensures meaningful avenues for accountability. Playing college football was one of the great gifts of my life—and it instilled in me a lasting conviction to fight for justice and fairness for athletes today and into the future.”
“The Student Athlete Fairness and Enforcement Act (SAFE Act) provides clear and enforceable rights and protections to college athletes,” said Sen. Blumenthal. “For far too long, college athletes had their basic economic rights denied while the NCAA failed to protect their health, safety, and academic success. Our measure centers athletes’ rights and wellbeing with real reforms while bringing schools the clarity they need and promoting women’s and Olympic sports.”
Over the past 5 years, college athletics has changed significantly after many states passed laws to allow athletes to earn compensation from their NIL, creating a patchwork of rules that upended how schools recruit, train, and retain athletes. The college sports landscape was further changed by the unanimous Supreme Court decision in Alston vs. NCAA in 2021 that paved the way for NIL and the recent Grant House vs. NCAA settlement that allows schools to directly compensate athletes, up to 22 percent of athletics revenue.
These are some of the changes that have fostered the current “wild west” environment and a financial model that is unsustainable for small- to mid-sized schools. For example, in 2023, the average athletic department in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) earned $79 million in revenues and spent $98 million. This legislation addresses revenue challenges facing schools today while at the same time protecting student athletes and non-revenue sports. Last month, Sen. Cantwell released a report showing how skyrocketing media rights payments have exacerbated a massive financial gap between traditional power conferences, especially the new Power 2—the SEC and Big Ten—and everyone else.
The Student Athlete Fairness and Enforcement Act Key Provisions:
- First-ever National Rights and Protections for Student Athletes.Grants student athletes a new federal right to their Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) and replaces the patchwork of state laws with a strong national NIL standard. The Act establishes:
- A 10-year scholarship guarantee.
- For Division 1 schools, 5 years of post-eligibility medical coverage for sports-related injuries.
- Safety standards for heat exertion, brain injury, sickle cell trait and asthma; enforced by independent officers.
- NIL contract requirements that protect student athletes; contracts must include key terms like what the athlete must do under the contract and how much they will be paid.
- Endorsement rights for athletes so schools cannot restrict athlete NIL endorsement deals, except during organized team activities.
- Whistleblower protections for those who report violations.
- An Office of Athlete Ombuds at the NCAA to provide independent information and advice to student athletes and assist them to resolve disputes with schools and conferences.
- Pooling Media Rights to Maximize Revenue.Allows colleges and universities to lawfully negotiate their media rights as a group to increase their value—just like the NFL, NBA and NHL are able to do, without violating antitrust laws. The bill accomplishes this by amending the Sports Broadcasting Act of 1961 to include college sports. Additionally:
- The antitrust exemption begins upon signing of the legislation.
- The Act creates a Committee within the NCAA to help maximize revenue for all schools and conferences.
- It charges the Committee with determining fair distribution of media rights to ensure that schools can maintain scholarship and roster slots at 2023-2024 levels for women’s and Olympic sports. Each school shall receive more media rights revenue than they received in the 2024-2025 academic year.
- New Broadcast Revenue to Bolster Olympic and Women’s Sports.Schools will receive more revenue from their pooled media rights.
- Schools must use the increased media rights revenues to retain the same number of scholarships and roster spots for non-revenue generating and women’s sports as provided during the 2023-24 academic year.
- The Committee will represent Division 1 schools broadly and will not be controlled by the biggest conferences. Members of the Committee will be chosen by university presidents and include members across the college sports ecosystem. It will not be subject to NCAA’s weighted voting rules.
- Market Level Broadcast Access for Football and Basketball Rights.The legislation requires, just like the NFL, that content be made available for each college athletic competition for football and basketball on a non-exclusive basis for not less than one local outlet.
- Local content is not behind a pay wall.
- Streaming Media Utilization Rights.Requires broadcast networks, streaming media platforms, or other distributors who control streaming media rights to reconvey those rights back to schools if the entity does not use or materially underutilizes the streaming media rights.
- This will strengthen digital distribution rights for athletic competitions other than football and basketball.
- Allows non-revenue generating sports to grow through narrowcasting.
- Cracks Down on Bad Actor Agents.Puts strong penalties in place against bad actors taking advantage of the new NIL world. The Act will:
- Require agents to register with a state and certify to the NCAA that they are registered before they can lawfully represent a student athlete.
- Cap agent fees at 5 percent.
- Prohibit agents from making fraudulent statements in their registration.
- Prohibit agents from misrepresenting NIL deals to entice student athletes to enroll or transfer. Give athletes a private right of action to enforce their NIL rights and bring cases in court against bad actor agents.
- Brings Certainty to the Transfer Portal. Sets a national standard for student athlete transfers.
- Student athletes can transfer twice without having to sit out for a year.
- Student athletes can transfer without having to sit out for a year if their sport is cut or materially reduced.
- Shines a Light on Collectives.Requires transparency for NIL deals between collectives and student athletes.
- Collective NIL deals must be for a valid business purpose related to the promotion or endorsement of actual goods and services and the compensation must be at rates and terms commensurate with what other individuals would be paid.
- Collectives must report to the NCAA their basic business information, what sport programs they arrange NIL deals for, and their associated schools.
- These provisions are enforceable by the FTC and state attorneys general.
- Preserves theGrant House vs. NCAA Settlement 22 Percent Revenue Share Cap. The legislation does not touch the 22 percent revenue share cap.
- Other legislation would bust the settlement cap—this bill would leave it in place.
- The Act respects the agreement between the NCAA and the student athletes regarding the revenue share cap.
- 10. Provides for Strong Enforcement.Establishes new tools for the FTC and state attorneys general.
- Under the Act, the FTC can sue in court and get first-time civil penalties for violations of athletes NIL rights; and can sue agents and collectives.
- The Act grants state attorneys general authority to enforce this federal law in court including against agents and collectives.
- The Act gives athletes a private right of action to enforce their NIL rights and bring cases in court against bad actor agents.
Sen. Cantwell has been deeply involved in the effort to fix college sports. In August, she wrote to the presidents and chancellors of more than 350 Division I universities and their governing bodies, warning that the SCORE Act – currently before the House of Representatives – would further cement current inequities in college athletics and consolidate power with the SEC and Big Ten. On July 15, Sen. Cantwell and Rep. Michael Baumgartner (R, WA-05) sent a letter strongly opposing the bill. Last month Sen. Cantwell released a report showing how skyrocketing media rights payments have exacerbated a massive financial gap between traditional power conferences, especially the new Power 2—the SEC and Big Ten—and everyone else.
