II. Key Takeaways

1. The Power 5 and NCAA have hired the most powerful lobbyists in DC to manipulate Congress into passing legislation targeted to control the labor force in Power 5 football and men’s basketball. Power 5/NCAA-friendly legislation would end the athletes’ rights movement.

2. The Power 5/NCAA lobbying campaign began in earnest in 2019. It is built around three extraordinary federal protections and immunities: (1) elimination of states from the college sports regulatory field through preemption, (2) broad antitrust immunity that would place the Power 5 and NCAA above our nation’s free competition laws, and (3) a prohibition on athletes being employees of their university.

3. Eight lobbying firms and dozens of lobbyists are currently working on behalf of Power 5 and NCAA interests.

4. The Power 5’s and NCAA’s lobbying strategy is sophisticated and well-integrated into its legal and public relations strategies.

5. Power 5 and NCAA lobbyists successfully defined the terms and language of the congressional debate from its conceptualization in 2019 and through the first four Senate hearings in 2020. The witness lists at these hearings were dominated by Power 5 and NCAA insiders. (see the “Congress” Tab in the Explore menu)

6. Athletes do not have a lobbying presence in Washington. Through eleven congressional hearings over the last four years, only one Power 5 football or men’s/women’s basketball player has testified.

7. Power 5 and NCAA lobbyists have obscured the true purpose of their engagement in Congress—to control the labor force in Power 5 football and men’s basketball—with claims that women and nonrevenue sports and athletes across all three Divisions are under existential threat without protective legislation.

8. The Power 5 and NCAA have paid millions of dollars to lobbyists. Based on current spending rates, the NCAA and Power 5 spend $660,000 each quarter, $220,000 each month, $55,000 each week, and $7,300 daily on lobbyists.

9. The Power 5’s and NCAA’s lobbying expenses are paid from revenues generated from the labor of Power 5 football and men’s basketball players. Athletes in these two sports are disproportionately African American. Quite literally, these athletes are funding the lobbying campaign targeted at eliminating their fundamental rights as Americans.

10. The nature of the Power 5’s and NCAA’s lobbying campaign suggests they are playing the long game in Congress. The most potent regulatory threats to the Power 5 and NCAA (NLRB action, Johnson, House) are remote. It is unlikely they will be resolved before the 2024 elections.

11. Before 2021, the Power 5 and NCAA conducted their lobbying activities secretly through their professional lobbyists. After the Alston decision and Interim NIL Policy in the summer of 2021, the Power 5 and NCAA began a coordinated direct and public lobbying campaign targeting NCAA stakeholders and the public, not Congress.

12. The Power 5’s and NCAA’s current lobbying activity may be inconsistent with IRS rules,  antitrust laws, and the National Labor Relations Act.