In committee
SCORE Act
This bill creates a uniform federal system for college sports, guaranteeing student athletes the right to profit from their name, image, and likeness (NIL) while explicitly preventing them from being classified as school employees. Colleges generating at least $20 million in athletic revenue would be required to provide athletes with mental health services, scholarship protections, degree completion assistance, and at least three years of post-graduation medical care for sports-related injuries. Additionally, the legislation grants athletic associations antitrust protections to enforce spending caps and transfer rules, caps agent fees for school-related deals at 5 percent, and prevents high-earning athletic programs from subsidizing their sports using mandatory student fees.
People affected—Not determinable from the text provided; the bill applies broadly to intercollegiate student athletes, higher education institutions, agents, and athletic associations, but does not specify the exact total population count.
Fiscal magnitude—no CBO estimate published
Reach75provisional · pending reviewrigor: heuristic llm
What this bill touches.
Contractor vs. employee−60Market protections+45Federal vs. state/local+55Corporate concentration−50
Who it helps · who it burdens.
Who it helps
- Student athletesGain the federal right to enter into name, image, and likeness (NIL) agreements and hire agents without school or association bans (Sec. 3(a)-(b)), receive privacy protections for contract details (Sec. 3(c)), obtain healthcare, scholarship protections, academic counseling, and degree completion aid from qualifying schools (Sec. 5(a)), and gain guaranteed representation on athletic association boards (Sec. 6(b)).
- College students paying student feesAt colleges with $50 million or more in annual media rights revenue, students will no longer have their student fees used to support intercollegiate athletics starting in 2028–2029, and will receive annual public accounting of athletic fees at all institutions (Sec. 10(a)-(b)).
- Interstate intercollegiate athletic associationsReceive antitrust immunity to establish and enforce national rules on athlete recruiting, transfers, agent registration, and revenue-sharing pool limits (Sec. 6(a), Sec. 8(a)).
- State attorneys generalAre authorized to bring civil actions in federal or state court to enforce student athlete NIL rights and sports agent disclosure requirements on behalf of state residents (Sec. 3(e), Sec. 4(2)(9)(c)).
Who it burdens
- Colleges with high-revenue athletic programsMust provide expanded mental and physical healthcare (including post-graduation injury coverage for at least 3 years), career and academic support, degree completion aid for up to 7 years, maintain athletic scholarships regardless of injury or performance, and sponsor at least 16 varsity sports teams (Sec. 5(a), (c)).
- Colleges and universitiesMust publicly report on a website the total student fees collected to support athletics and their specific uses (Sec. 10(a)), and schools with $50 million or more in annual media rights revenue are prohibited from using student fees to fund athletics starting in the 2028–2029 academic year (Sec. 10(b)).
- Athlete agentsMust disclose in writing to student athletes whether they are registered with the relevant athletic association, obtain written consent if unregistered before providing assistance (Sec. 4(2)), and face potential 5 percent caps on fees for agreements involving institutions (Sec. 6(a)(8)(C)).
- Interstate intercollegiate athletic associationsMust ensure their governing and decision-making bodies include at least 20 percent current or recent student athletes (equally split by gender across different sports) and at least 30 percent representatives from lower-revenue member schools (Sec. 6(b)), and submit biennial compliance reports to Congress (Sec. 12(b)(1)).
- Federal Trade CommissionMust conduct a study and submit a report to Congress within one year on establishing an independent certification and regulatory program for sports agents representing student athletes (Sec. 12(a)).
- Government Accountability OfficeRequired to conduct five-year recurring compliance investigations and complete a two-year study on the bill's impacts on Olympic sports funding and roster sizes (Sec. 12(b)(2), Sec. 12(c)).
Who opposes it
- Student athletes seeking employee statusAre barred by federal law from being considered employees of their college, athletic conference, or national athletic association based solely on their participation in varsity sports (Sec. 9).