Sen. John Curtis backs national college athletics reform bill during Senate hearing

brown and black Wilson football Photo: Photo by Dave Adamson

WASHINGTON — During a U.S. Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee hearing on the future of college athletics, Senator John Curtis advocated for a new bill that is seeking to regulate and standardize college athletics.

Questioning current University of Utah football player Lance Holtzclaw, Curtis asked whether players would benefit from “one clear national framework for name and likeness, transfers, eligibility, and athlete protections, rather than asking athletes to figure out a different system depending on where they play.”

Holtzclaw answered that a national framework would bring “standardization and regulation” while eliminating confusion and uncertainty for athletes.

Curtis discussed the broader purpose of college athletics with coach Nick Saban. Referencing BYU Head Coach Kalani Sitake’s observation that the best part of coaching is developing leaders, Curtis stressed that college sports should remain focused on preparing young people for success beyond competition.

With an increasingly large amount of money going toward college athletics, and individual athletes who are benefiting from Name, Image, and Likeness contracts, Saban warned, “If we’re going in the direction we are going — making huge investments in football and basketball and paying players increasingly larger amounts — we should stop calling them student-athletes and start calling them students that are athletes. We’re going to end up with professional sports teams sponsored by colleges and universities. That’s what’s going to happen because we’re going to be paying players so much.”

The new bill would grant student athletes a new federal right to earn compensation for their Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) and replaces the patchwork of state laws with a strong national NIL standard. It also sets NIL contract requirements that protect student athletes, including requiring contract to include key terms like what the athlete must do under the contract and how much they will be paid.

Other rules and regulations in the bill include scholarship protections for student-athletes, health and medical coverage, and a requirement that at least one-third of athletic association governing boards or other committees with rulemaking authority to be comprised of current or recent former student athletes.

Curtis also focused on the role college sports plays in the United States’ Olympic athlete pipeline. Notre Dame Athletic Director Pete Bevacqua agreed that federal legislation should include meaningful protections for Olympic sports, saying that without sustained university investment, the United States’ Olympic pipeline could suffer.

“I think [the new bill] could do a stronger, more straightforward, and clearer job of protecting Olympic sports, depending on where the remainder of the bill goes,” said Bevacqua.