II. Key Takeaways from the Congress Materials

1. Rather than comply with America’s foundational free competition and labor laws, or valid state laws, the NCAA and Power 5 seek to operate above those laws to suit their regulatory and financial interests.

2. If the Power 5 and NCAA get what they want from Congress, athletes would have no legal or regulatory pathway to protect their rights as Americans. They would, quite literally, become second-class citizens as a matter of federal law.

3. The Power 5 and NCAA seek these extraordinary federal protections and immunities primarily to control the labor forces in Power 5 football and men’s basketball.

4. In 2019, the Power 5 conceptualized and launched their congressional campaign in a secret meeting that excluded non-Power 5 stakeholders.

5. The Power 5 and NCAA commandeered the burgeoning “NIL” debate through DC’s most powerful lobbyists and the work of the NCAA Board of Governors Federal and State Legislation Working Group.

6. “NIL compensation” has been nothing more than a pretext for the Power 5 and NCAA to justify federal protections and immunities. Much of what the Power 5 and NCAA seek from Congress has nothing to do with NIL.

7. The Power 5 and NCAA strategy has kept the debate on potential athlete benefits as narrow as possible—focusing only on NIL within strict “guardrails”—while disguising sweeping protections and immunities that extend far beyond NIL.

8. The hearings have not informed or educated lawmakers. Power 5 and NCAA lobbyists have carefully scripted the hearings to manipulate Congress members to accept Power 5 and NCAA narratives.

9. The witness lists for ten of the eleven hearings in Congress since February 2020 have favored Power 5 and NCAA interests.

10. Only one Power 5 football, men’s basketball, or women’s basketball player has testified at any of the eleven hearings. The Power 5 and NCAA have systematically excluded these athletes from discussion and decision-making tables.

11. The Power 5 and NCAA have misled Congress and the public to believe there is “consensus” among athletes on the need for protective federal legislation.

12. Throughout the congressional debate, the Power 5, NCAA, and their allies in Congress predicted that a less-regulated NIL market would be the end of college sports as we know them. In fact, since the NCAA’s more permissive Interim NIL Policy went into effect on July 1st, 2021, college sports revenues have skyrocketed.