Along with creating a national law for NIL deals, the Pass Act would also require schools to provide health coverage for sports-related injuries for eight years after athletes finish their college eligibility. Athletic departments that generate more than $20 million annually would also be required to cover out-of-pocket medical costs for two years after an athlete's playing career. Athletic departments that generate more than $50 million annually would have to cover four years of out-of-pocket expenses.
The bill also seeks to create a certification process for agents that work with college athletes, a public database for anonymized NIL data, and a uniform contract for athletes to use in NIL, deals. Those items have been on the wish list of NCAA president Charlie Baker since he took on his new position in March.
Baker has said he wants Congress to create "consumer protections" for athletes as part of a new law.
The bill would make it illegal for states to pass individual laws that allow college athletes to receive a direct share of the billions of dollars of revenue they help to generate. This past year, a state representative in California proposed a bill that would allow for revenue sharing on teams that produce a significant amount of money for their schools. The bill was paused this summer.
The senators also suggest making it against federal law for a college athlete to transfer without sitting out a year until he or she has used at least three years of their college eligibility — except for extreme circumstances, such as the death of a family member.
Coaches and athletic directors have complained during the past year that the combination of NIL money and a relatively new NCAA rule that allows players to transfer without penalty has made it difficult to maintain a steady roster.
