US Senate Introduces NIL Bill to Create National Public Registry of NCAA Deals

Democrat Senator Joe Manchin and Republican Senator Tommy Tuberville introduced a bipartisan bill Tuesday that would create a number of changes to the name, image and likeness rights in college sports, per Nicole Auerbach of The Athletic.

The "Protecting Athletes, Schools and Sports Act" would create a registry that would serve as a "publicly accessible internet website on which the Federal Trade Commission shall publish and frequently update anonymized and aggregated name, image or likeness data."

It would also ban any state laws regarding revenue sharing, ostensibly a response to a proposed California state bill that called for schools to pay salaries to college athletes that could reach as much as $25,000 per year.

Additionally, it would grant the NCAA the latitude to ban certain NIL deals, such as gambling or alcohol sponsorships. The NCAA would be the enforcing body for such rules, though the Federal Trade Commission would assist in that regard and handle the registry and the registration of agents.

The transfer portal would be dramatically altered, with athletes only able to switch schools without losing a year of eligibility if they had already been at their current school for three academic years. Exceptions for coaches leaving the school or a death in the family would be granted, however.

It's one of the provisions likely to receive the most pushback, dramatically constricting player movement in an era when athletes have been granted more freedom. The idea, as Auerbach noted, would be to eliminate the possibility of player departures motivated by external NIL deals and offerings.

But it's unlikely players or their advocates would look fondly on reverting the current freedoms permitted in the transfer portal.

Finally, health insurance would be guaranteed for "sports-related injuries for uninsured student-athletes for eight years following graduation from a four-year institution," as paid by either the school or a sport-enacted trust.

A federally centralized NIL system has been expected for some time, with the current system in its "Wild West" phase given the varying state laws regarding endorsement deals for college athletes.

Whether this particular proposal will survive the Senate, House of Representatives and a potential veto from President Joe Biden if it reaches his desk, however, remains to be seen.