.png)
USA TODAY
Two members of the U.S. House of Representatives are introducing
a bipartisan bill on
Thursday to address the ongoing fight over college athletes’ ability to make
money from their name, image and likeness.
The
measure from Reps. Anthony
Gonzalez, R-Ohio, and Emanuel Cleaver, D-Mo., would enhance athletes’ opportunities
in ways that would make some NCAA schools unhappy while stabilizing the
name-image-and-likeness (NIL) issue for college sports officials in ways that
may not please athlete advocates.
“There are things that everybody's
going to see that they like and some things that they wish were different,”
Gonzalez, who played wide receiver at Ohio State and in the NFL, told USA TODAY
Sports. “But I think that's the sign of a good bill. And, frankly, that's the
hallmark of a bipartisan bill. It's never everything that any one individual,
or one group, wants. It's always a collaboration.”
According to a copy of the bill provided to USA TODAY Sports,
its “rules of construction” – or guidance related to the legislators’ intent –
state that none of the bill’s provisions can provide the basis for an antitrust
lawsuit. They also state that athletes who make endorsement deals will not be
considered school employees.
