Regulating the Wild West of NIL

Last month, U.S. Senators Booker, Moran, and Blumenthal published a discussion of draft of legislation that would create a regime to govern name, image, and likeness (NIL) deals college athletes enter with third parties.

But there is so much more to it. Colleges and its athletic departments will serve a key role in facilitating awareness among its student athletes of their rights under what's now titled the College Athletes Protection and Compensation Act (CAPCA).

Here, I analyze the draft and try to offer what this means for colleges, athletic departments, student athletes, agents, and third parties.

Links to other coverage and the draft:

• Student Athletes Get Scammed in NIL Deals, Bloomberg Law Podcast (for context giving rise to this discussion)
• Press release from Sen. Booker’s Office
• Steve Henson, Senators release draft of bill addressing NIL reform in college sports, Los Angeles Times (July 20, 2023)
• Olafimihan Oshin, Senators announce push to reform college athletics, The Hill (July 20, 2023)
• CAPCA Discussion Draft (as of July 2023)
• The 1-page summary from Senators Blumenthal, Moran, and Booker
• Nicole Auerbach, Draft of new bipartisan NIL bill calls for central oversight entity to enforce rules, The Athletic (July 20, 2023)