    [House Hearing, 119 Congress]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]

                    MOVING THE GOALPOSTS: HOW NIL IS
                       RESHAPING COLLEGE ATHLETICS
    =======================================================================

                                    HEARING

                                   BEFORE THE

                   SUBCOMMITTEE ON COMMERCE, MANUFACTURING,
                                    AND TRADE

                                     OF THE

                        COMMITTEE ON ENERGY AND COMMERCE
                            HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                        ONE HUNDRED NINETEENTH CONGRESS

                                 FIRST SESSION

                                   __________

                                 MARCH 4, 2025

                                   __________

                                Serial No. 119-8

    [GRAPHIC NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]

         Published for the use of the Committee on Energy and Commerce
                            govinfo.gov/committee/house-energy
                            energycommerce.house.gov

                                   __________

                           U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE
    59-901 PDF                  WASHINGTON : 2026
    =======================================================================

                        COMMITTEE ON ENERGY AND COMMERCE

                            BRETT GUTHRIE, Kentucky
                                     Chairman
    ROBERT E. LATTA, Ohio                FRANK PALLONE, Jr., New Jersey
    H. MORGAN GRIFFITH, Virginia           Ranking Member
    GUS M. BILIRAKIS, Florida            DIANA DeGETTE, Colorado
    RICHARD HUDSON, North Carolina       JAN SCHAKOWSKY, Illinois
    EARL L. ``BUDDY'' CARTER, Georgia    DORIS O. MATSUI, California
    GARY J. PALMER, Alabama              KATHY CASTOR, Florida
    NEAL P. DUNN, Florida                PAUL TONKO, New York
    DAN CRENSHAW, Texas                  YVETTE D. CLARKE, New York
    JOHN JOYCE, Pennsylvania, Vice       RAUL RUIZ, California
        Chairman                         SCOTT H. PETERS, California
    RANDY K. WEBER, Sr., Texas           DEBBIE DINGELL, Michigan
    RICK W. ALLEN, Georgia               MARC A. VEASEY, Texas
    TROY BALDERSON, Ohio                 ROBIN L. KELLY, Illinois
    RUSS FULCHER, Idaho                  NANETTE DIAZ BARRAGAN, California
    AUGUST PFLUGER, Texas                DARREN SOTO, Florida
    DIANA HARSHBARGER, Tennessee         KIM SCHRIER, Washington
    MARIANNETTE MILLER-MEEKS, Iowa       LORI TRAHAN, Massachusetts
    KAT CAMMACK, Florida                 LIZZIE FLETCHER, Texas
    JAY OBERNOLTE, California            ALEXANDRIA OCASIO-CORTEZ, New York
    JOHN JAMES, Michigan                 JAKE AUCHINCLOSS, Massachusetts
    CLIFF BENTZ, Oregon                  TROY A. CARTER, Louisiana
    ERIN HOUCHIN, Indiana                ROBERT MENENDEZ, New Jersey
    RUSSELL FRY, South Carolina          KEVIN MULLIN, California
    LAUREL M. LEE, Florida               GREG LANDSMAN, Ohio
    NICHOLAS A. LANGWORTHY, New York     JENNIFER L. McCLELLAN, Virginia
    THOMAS H. KEAN, Jr., New Jersey
    MICHAEL A. RULLI, Ohio
    GABE EVANS, Colorado
    CRAIG A. GOLDMAN, Texas
    JULIE FEDORCHAK, North Dakota
                                     ------

                               Professional Staff

                         MEGAN JACKSON, Staff Director
                    SOPHIE KHANAHMADI, Deputy Staff Director
                   TIFFANY GUARASCIO, Minority Staff Director
               Subcommittee on Commerce, Manufacturing, and Trade

                           GUS M. BILIRAKIS, Florida
                                     Chairman
    RUSS FULCHER, Idaho, Vice Chairman   JAN SCHAKOWSKY, Illinois
    DIANA HARSHBARGER, Tennessee           Ranking Member
    KAT CAMMACK, Florida                 KATHY CASTOR, Florida
    JAY OBERNOLTE, California            DARREN SOTO, Florida
    JOHN JAMES, Michigan                 LORI TRAHAN, Massachusetts
    CLIFF BENTZ, Oregon                  KEVIN MULLIN, California
    ERIN HOUCHIN, Indiana                YVETTE D. CLARKE, New York
    RUSSELL FRY, South Carolina          DEBBIE DINGELL, Michigan
    LAUREL M. LEE, Florida               MARC A. VEASEY, Texas
    THOMAS H. KEAN, Jr., New Jersey      ROBIN L. KELLY, Illinois
    GABE EVANS, Colorado                 KIM SCHRIER, Washington
    CRAIG A. GOLDMAN, Texas              FRANK PALLONE, Jr., New Jersey (ex
    BRETT GUTHRIE, Kentucky (ex              officio)
        officio)
                                 C O N T E N T S

                                  ----------
                                                                       Page
    Hon. Gus M. Bilirakis, a Representative in Congress from the
      State of Florida, opening statement............................     2
        Prepared statement...........................................     4
    Hon. Jan Schakowsky, a Representative in Congress from the State
      of Illinois, opening statement.................................     6
        Prepared statement...........................................     7
    Hon. Robin L. Kelly, a Representative in Congress from the State
      of Illinois, prepared statement................................    11
    Hon. Brett Guthrie, a Representative in Congress from the
      Commonwealth of Kentucky, opening statement....................    13
        Prepared statement...........................................    15
    Hon. Frank Pallone, Jr., a Representative in Congress from the
      State of New Jersey, opening statement.........................    17
        Prepared statement...........................................    18
    Hon. Lori Trahan, a Representative in Congress from the
      Commonwealth of Massachusetts, prepared statement..............    20
    Hon. Debbie Dingell, a Representative in Congress from the State
      of Michigan, prepared statement................................    22

                                   Witnesses

    Emily Cole, All-American Track Athlete, Duke University..........    24
        Prepared statement...........................................    27
        Submitted questions for the record \1\.......................   129
    Justin Falcinelli, Vice President, College Football Players
      Association....................................................    30
        Prepared statement...........................................    32
        Answers to submitted questions...............................   131
    Anthony Egbo, Jr., Director, Wildcat Club, Abilene Christian
      University.....................................................    40
        Prepared statement...........................................    42
        Answers to submitted questions...............................   132
    Josh Whitman, Director of Athletics, University of Illinois......    47
        Prepared statement...........................................    49
        Answers to submitted questions...............................   134
    Shane Beamer, Head Football Coach, University of South Carolina..    59
        Prepared statement...........................................    61
        Answers to submitted questions...............................   137

                               Submitted Material

    Inclusion of the following was approved by unanimous consent.
    List of documents submitted for the record.......................   107
    Letter of February 28, 2025, from Ksenia Maiorova, Esq., and Amy
      Maldonado, Esq., to Mr. Bilirakis and Subcommittee on Commerce,
      Manufacturing, and Trade members...............................   108
    Letter of March 3, 2025, from Stephanie Kempe, Director of
      Athletics, University of Nevada, to Mr. Bilirakis..............   113
    Article of December 29, 2024, ``The Peach Bowl is more than just
      a football game,'' by Percy Vaughn, Atlanta Journal and
      Constitution...................................................   115

    ----------

    \1\ Ms. Cole did not answer submitted questions for the record by the
    time of publication. Replies received after publication will be
    retained in committee files and made available at https://
    docs.house.gov/Committee/Calendar/ByEvent.aspx?EventID=117989.
    Letter of January 31, 2025, from Donette Leighton, Chief
      Executive Officer, Women's Sports Foundation, et al., to Hon.
      Claudia Wilken, U.S. District Court, Northern District of
      California.....................................................   116
    Letter of January 29, 2025, from Charlotte North to Hon. Claudia
      Wilken, U.S. District Court, Northern District of California
      1A\2\
    Objection to Settlement Agreement in Re: College Athlete NIL
      Litigation, U.S. District Court, Northern District of
      California, Oakland Division, January 31, 2025 1A\2\
    Letter of March 3, 2025, from Tina Tan, President, Infectious
      Diseases Society of America, to Mr. Guthrie and Mr. Pallone....   120
    Objection to Settlement Agreement in Re: Collegiate Athlete NIL
      Litigation, U.S. District Court, Northern District of
      California, Oakland Division, August 9, 2024 \2\
    Report, ``NCAA External Gender Equity Review, Phase I: Basketball
      Championships,'' by Kaplan Hecker & Fink, LLP, August 2, 2021
      1A\2\
    Report, ``NCAA External Gender Equity Review, Phase II,'' by
      Kaplan Hecker & Fink, LLP, October 25, 2022 1A\2\
    Expert Report of Barbara Osborne in Re: College Athlete NIL
      Litigation, U.S. District Court, Northern District of
      California, Oakland Division, April 28, 2023 1A\2\
    Article of March 3, 2025, ``Hiring freezes, fewer grad students:
      Funding uncertainty hits colleges,'' by Susan Syrluga,
      Washington Post................................................   124
    Letter of January 28, 2025, from Michele Roberts, et al., to Hon.
      Claudia Wilken, U.S. District Court, Northern District of
      California 1A\2\
    Post on X by Robert Griffin III, February 17, 2025...............   128

    ----------

    \2\ The information has been retained in committee files and is
    included in the Documents for the Record at https://docs.house.gov/
    meetings/IF/IF17/20250304/117989/HHRG-119-IF17-20250304-SD003.pdf.

          MOVING THE GOALPOSTS: HOW NIL IS RESHAPING COLLEGE ATHLETICS

                                  ----------

                             TUESDAY, MARCH 4, 2025

                      House of Representatives,
    Subcommittee on Commerce, Manufacturing, and Trade,
                              Committee on Energy and Commerce,
                                                        Washington, DC.
        The subcommittee met, pursuant to call, at 10:18 a.m., in
    the John D. Dingell Room 2123, Rayburn House Office Building,
    Hon. Gus Bilirakis (chairman of the subcommittee) presiding.
        Members present: Representatives Bilirakis, Fulcher,
    Harshbarger, Obernolte, Bentz, Houchin, Fry, Lee, Kean, Evans,
    Goldman, Guthrie (ex officio), Schakowsky (subcommittee ranking
    member), Castor, Soto, Trahan, Clarke, Dingell, Veasey, Kelly,
    Schrier, and Pallone (ex officio).
        Also present: Representatives Carter of Georgia, Joyce, and
    Pfluger.
        Staff present: Ansley Boylan, Director of Operations;
    Jessica Donlon, General Counsel; Kristin Fritsch, Professional
    Staff Member, Health; Sydney Greene, Director of Finance and
    Logistics; Natalie Hellman, Professional Staff Member,
    Commerce, Manufacturing, and Trade; Megan Jackson, Staff
    Director; Daniel Kelly, Press Secretary; Sophie Khanahmadi,
    Deputy Staff Director; Alex Khlopin, Clerk, Commerce,
    Manufacturing, and Trade; Joel Miller, Chief Counsel; Brannon
    Rains, Professional Staff Member, Commerce, Manufacturing, and
    Trade; Evangelos Razis, Profesional Staff Member, Commerce,
    Manufacturing, and Trade; Chris Sarley, Member Services/
    Stakeholder Director; Emma Schultheis, Clerk, Health; Kaley
    Stidham, Press Assistant; Matt VanHyfte, Communications
    Director; Hannah Anton, Minority Policy Analyst; Shana Beavin,
    Minority Professional Staff Member; Keegan Cardman, Minority
    Staff Assistant; Waverly Gordon, Minority Deputy Staff Director
    and General Counsel; Tiffany Guarascio, Minority Staff
    Director; Lisa Hone, Minority Chief Counsel, Commerce,
    Manufacturing, and Trade; Mackenzie Kuhl, Minority Digital
    Manager; Phoebe Rouge, Minority FTC Detailee; and Hannah
    Treger, Minority Intern.
        Mr. Bilirakis. The committee will come to order. The
    chairman recognizes himself for a 5-minute opening statement.

    OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. GUS M. BILIRAKIS, A REPRESENTATIVE IN
                   CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF FLORIDA

        Good morning, everyone, and thank you to our witnesses for
    being here. We really do appreciate it very much.
        I am really excited to hold this hearing today on the
    evolving landscape of name, image, and likeness, commonly known
    as NIL, and its impact on college athletics.
        In just a few years, college athletics has fundamentally
    reshaped the lives of student-athletes who can now benefit from
    their NIL.
        Before 2021, athletes were barred from profiting off of
    their own NIL, but in response to legal challenges and a
    Supreme Court decision, the NCAA ended those restrictions,
    finally giving our student-athletes their much-deserved ability
    to earn compensation for their brand and their God-given
    talent.
        However, the absence of a preemptive uniform standard has
    led to the Wild West--most would agree with that--a Wild West
    environment where, sadly, our student-athletes are put in
    vulnerable positions where they can easily be exploited by
    those who do not have their best interests in mind.
        I have heard awful stories of student-athletes signing
    deals without having been given full explanations for how their
    deal would impact their long-term finances and livelihood.
        This lack of structure has also allowed NIL collectives,
    who are often affiliated with universities but operating
    independently, to turn NIL into a pay-for-play system. Instead
    of being used for legitimate business purposes, NIL deals are
    frequently given out as recruiting inducements with little
    transparency or oversight. We have to fix that, folks.
        I am also concerned about the transfer portal. All of us
    want to make sure student-athletes have the freedom to make the
    best collegiate and educational decisions--after all, that is
    why we go to college, to get a good education--but educational
    decisions for themselves and for their future.
        But this current system is not workable, as athletes are
    entering the portal at an unprecedented rate, sometimes
    multiple times in their careers, with a hope, but not a
    guarantee, for something better.
        I am sure we have all heard the stories of student-athletes
    being encouraged to transfer schools based on promises of NIL
    money that never materializes. Others transfer expecting better
    playing time only to find themselves in a worse situation.
        This revolving-door system has created instability for both
    athletes and the programs they leave behind, with many student-
    athletes ending up without a clear academic or athletic path.
        We often focus on NIL and the business side of college
    athletics, but we must remember that these are still student-
    athletes, young men and women who are supposed to be receiving
    an education that prepares them for a life beyond sports.
        Yet too many are making life-altering financial and
    academic decisions without the proper guidance. Some are
    signing NIL deals without understanding tax and legal
    implications.
        And you can't blame them. Most of these--while they are 18-
    year-olds in some cases, but some are even younger, so they are
    going to need some guidance, folks.
        Others are transferring from school to school without
    receiving the academic support they need to graduate.
        If we are serious about protecting student-athletes--and I
    hope we are--we need to ensure that they have the resources and
    education necessary to navigate this new era successfully. That
    is why I am so glad to have Emily and Anthony with us here
    today.
        Thank you for sharing your stories as student-athletes and
    how you were able to traverse this complex environment. We
    really appreciate it. It gives all student-athletes the chance
    to learn and better themselves.
        That brings me to a point I really want to drive home. We
    are working on this issue not to put one school over another--
    although I am a Florida Gator, and I would like to see another
    national championship sometime soon--but again, not one school
    over another. We have got to protect the small schools as well.
    We have Division I, but we have to look out for the medium-size
    and small schools as well.
        So, no, we are doing this for the student-athletes, and
    that is what we are doing it for. We must protect these
    student-athletes, folks. We have a responsibility to do so.
    Unfortunately, they haven't been protected in the past, so
    Congress has to intervene with preemption, in my opinion.
        So I will say it again: We are doing this for the student-
    athletes, for the young men and women who advance to college,
    so they can continue playing the sport they love and use that
    experience to help them succeed throughout their lives. It
    could be a wonderful experience.
        So it is crucial we establish a preemptive standard, as I
    said, that protects student-athletes but also doesn't endanger
    the many sports programs that we don't see on ESPN or that
    bring in millions of dollars.
        I know I am over, aren't I? Yes. Well, let me just finish
    here. And I will give you the opportunity, Ranking Member, to
    go over if you would like.
        Again, folks, we must protect the student-athletes and we
    must protect the Olympic sports and the nonrevenue sports as
    well.
        So this is too important of an issue to get wrong. I think
    you know that. So I look forward to a thoughtful discussion and
    working towards solutions that support both student-athletes
    and the long-term future of college sports.
        [The prepared statement of Mr. Bilirakis follows:]
        [GRAPHICS NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]

        Mr. Bilirakis. With that, I yield back, and I will
    recognize the ranking member, the ranking member of the
    subcommittee, my good friend Ms. Schakowsky, for 5 minutes for
    her opening statement.

     OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. JAN SCHAKOWSKY, A REPRESENTATIVE IN
                  CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF ILLINOIS

        Ms. Schakowsky. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
        I certainly agree that we want to make sure that the health
    and safety of our athletes is always protected. That has been
    my view and action ever since we have been talking about
    student-athletes. And that is important. And so I want to work
    with you on that.
        But I want to say there is actually a bigger issue right
    now. We find that there are other items, which include the fact
    that the Trump administration has cut the research funding for
    our universities, for our places that have to conduct the
    things for the athletes.
        And that is even more important, because if there is not
    money for the institutions to have, then there is not going to
    be able to be student-athletes. And that is why this is not
    enough. We have to do much more.
        And with that, I want to call on Congresswoman Robin Kelly
    to talk further about this larger problem that we are facing.
        [The prepared statement of Ms. Schakowsky follows:]
        [GRAPHICS NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]

        Ms. Schakowsky. And I yield to Robin Kelly.
        Ms. Kelly. Thank you, Chair Bilirakis and Ranking Member
    Schakowsky, and thanks to all the witnesses for their
    participation.
        One thing I hope we can all agree on is that college
    athletes deserve a system that protects their well-being and
    interests.
        However, while the rapid evolution of college athletes
    benefiting from their name, image, and likeness rights may feel
    chaotic to the NCAA, the conferences, and the universities, it
    has provided enormous benefits to college athletes.
        By contrast, universities are now navigating a truly
    unpredictable environment when it comes to funding for vital
    academic and research programs. I am deeply concerned about the
    potential impact of proposed cuts to funding for the NIH. That
    is one of the real crises that this committee should be focused
    on.
        Last month, the Trump administration issued an Executive
    order that would drastically lower the agency's funding for
    major research institutions across the country. The policy,
    currently blocked by a Federal court, would limit NIH research
    funding for indirect costs to 15 percent, which is far below
    what most universities receive and what they need to support
    their programs across the entire country, including
    historically Black colleges, minority-serving institutions, as
    well as Hispanic-serving institutions, small universities, and
    large Division I schools.
        The misconception that NIH funds only benefit top-tier
    universities overlooks the critical support these funds provide
    to a wide range of institutions in both Republican and
    Democratic districts. For example, HBCUs, MSIs, and HSIs
    received hundreds of millions of dollars in 2024 to support
    vital medical research.
        These funds are essential for maintaining research
    buildings and labs, covering administrative costs, purchasing
    supplies and equipment, and paying support staff.
        NIH grants are a lifeline for many universities, ensuring
    that research and education can thrive in institutions of all
    sizes and backgrounds. The reduction in NIH funding is a
    financial earthquake and would directly affect college athletes
    as well.
        Research in sports medicine, head injury prevention, and
    athletic performance relies on Federal funding, much of which
    comes from the NIH. If this funding is reduced or eliminated,
    it will only create more challenges for college athletes and
    hinder the development of critical programs that protect their
    health and safety.
        Of course, the impact extends far beyond athletic injuries.
    NIH funding of clinical trials and other medical research is
    vital in ensuring that all populations are represented in our
    Nation's biomedical research.
        For medical breakthroughs to occur and be truly effective,
    they must include diverse participants reflecting a range of
    racial, ethnic, and gender identities. Therefore, the need for
    inclusive research is not only a matter of fairness but of
    public health.
        We simply cannot afford to have the well-being of our
    students--whether in the classroom, in a research lab, or on
    the field--be compromised by unnecessary funding cuts by the
    Trump administration. We must continue to support our
    universities, including their research initiatives, to ensure
    that they remain centers of excellence for all students.
        I have an article from The Washington Post that I would ask
    unanimous consent to enter into the record titled ``Hiring
    freezes, fewer grads: Funding uncertainty hits colleges.''
        I urge my colleagues to remain mindful of the larger
    funding issues that could jeopardize the future of both
    education and research in this country.
        [The prepared statement of Ms. Kelly follows:]
        [GRAPHICS NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]

        Ms. Kelly. Thank you, and I yield back to Ranking Member
    Schakowsky.
        Ms. Schakowsky. I yield back.
        Mr. Bilirakis. OK. Thank you very much. And I look forward
    to working on some of these healthcare issues in the healthcare
    subcommittee and the full committee as well.
        Now I recognize Chairman Guthrie for 5 minutes for his
    opening statement.

     OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. BRETT GUTHRIE, A REPRESENTATIVE IN
               CONGRESS FROM THE COMMONWEALTH OF KENTUCKY

        Mr. Guthrie. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Thanks for yielding. I
    appreciate it.
        It is nice sitting next to my loyal Gamecock here, and he
    is proud to have his team represented here at this hearing
    today.
        I really appreciate you being here and bringing the
    opportunity to be here. I know it can be a long trip and can
    sometimes be intimidating sitting at the witness stand. It
    means a lot that you are here to represent your sports.
        Today, college athletics is a multibillion-dollar industry
    fueled by the dedication and talent of student-athletes. Some
    of you here today know how hard you worked to get where you
    are.
        For decades, student-athletes were prohibited from earning
    money from their own name, image, and likeness, even though
    sports brought significant revenue to universities,
    conferences, and the NCAA.
        That changed in 2021 as the NCAA, undergoing mounting
    pressure from State laws, lawsuits, and Supreme Court ruling,
    lifted its restrictions. As a result, student-athletes could
    finally profit from their own name, image, and likeness, and
    rightfully so.
        This is a long overdue step finally allowing student-
    athletes the opportunity to benefit financially from their
    talent, hard work, and public personas.
        But the rapid rollout of NIL has introduced new
    complexities and challenges. The absence of a uniform national
    framework has allowed a patchwork of State laws and
    institutional policies to grow, creating disparities and
    confusion among student-athletes and universities alike.
        So far, 33 States and the District of Columbia have passed
    NIL laws, oftentimes focusing on creating a competitive
    advantage for their States and State universities instead of
    prioritizing good policy.
        As this subcommittee knows well, a patchwork of State laws
    leads to uncertainty, inconsistency, and confusion.
        One of the more concerning developments is the rise of what
    we have now, the pay-for-play system. Third-party groups have
    blurred and in some cases fully wiped away the lines between
    legitimate NIL opportunities and outright recruiting
    inducements.
        Without clear rules or transparent practices, some student-
    athletes are being misled by bad actors and are pressured into
    signing unfair contracts that may not serve their best
    interests.
        Adding to this transformation, the preliminary NCAA
    settlement could permanently alter a financial model of college
    athletics. It finalized a $2.8 billion deal in back damages
    that will be distributed to current and former student-athletes
    while institutions, beginning in the next school year, will be
    allowed to share revenue directly with student-athletes, a move
    that will fundamentally change the way college sports operate.
        While the NCAA settlement could bring much-needed structure
    and stability to the current landscape, it may not be
    sufficient to address the opportunities and challenges posed by
    NIL.
        As we examine this issue, our goal is to consider the
    implications of the NCAA settlement, assess the current state
    of NIL policies, and explore legislative solutions that serve
    student-athletes, educational institutions, and conferences
    they compete in.
        Like many of you, my family and I have cherished memories
    of cheering our favorite teams on campus. Go, Hilltoppers! We
    watch young athletes grow into leaders both on and off the
    field.
        I know my colleagues agree with me that we must preserve
    the spirit and virtue of collegiate athletics and ensure
    nonrevenue-generating programs are protected.
        I am grateful that our witnesses are willing to be here
    today--I know you volunteered to be here today--to help us
    better understand the opportunities and the challenges that NIL
    presents. I look forward to an informative discussion on how
    our committee can help shape a sustainable and transparent NIL
    system.
        I appreciate you all being here.
        And I will just say I talked with my friend end of last
    year. The way you guys were playing at the end of the year, if
    you all had gotten in the playoffs, you might have gone a long
    way. You really put that team together in an impressive way.
    And those of us who are from other SEC schools, fans, it is
    always good to have everybody successful, so along with my good
    friend here.
        [The prepared statement of Mr. Guthrie follows:]
        [GRAPHICS NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]

        Mr. Guthrie. So I will yield back.
        Mr. Bilirakis. Thank you very much. The chairman yields
    back.
        And now I will recognize the ranking member of the full
    committee, Mr. Pallone, for his 5 minutes.

    OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. FRANK PALLONE, Jr., A REPRESENTATIVE
                IN CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF NEW JERSEY

        Mr. Pallone. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
        Last Congress at two hearings on college athletics we heard
    widespread agreement from witnesses that finally allowing
    college athletes to profit from their name, image, and likeness
    is a good thing and represents a long-overdue change in college
    sports.
        But today if we want to focus on the real crisis impacting
    our colleges and universities, we should be focusing on the
    financial disaster that they are facing at the hand of
    President Trump and his complicit Republican Congress.
        Trump has cut funding from the National Institutes of
    Health to our colleges and universitie and froze their ability
    to access current grant funding and apply for future funding.
        Colleges and universities are now scrambling to figure out
    how they are going to proceed with their research programs, and
    the cuts threaten their ability to conduct critical clinical
    trials for cancer, heart disease, children's health, and a lot
    more.
        And this is a major crisis, yet Republicans are ignoring it
    and would rather talk about college sports. And talk about
    misplaced priorities.
        I would now like to yield 2 minutes each to 2 of our
    Democratic Representatives.
        [The prepared statement of Mr. Pallone follows:]
        [GRAPHIC NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]

        Mr. Pallone. First, 2 minutes to Representative Trahan.
        Mrs. Trahan. I thank the ranking member for yielding.
        As a former DI college volleyball player, the topic of
    today's hearing hits home.
        But I want to begin by echoing the ranking member's
    concerns about the biggest threats facing colleges and
    universities today. After all, I wasn't just an athlete at
    Georgetown, I was a student.
        I was the first in my family to graduate from college, and
    I saw the transformative impact of higher ed, and I am deeply
    troubled that the actions by the Trump administration will
    jeopardize higher education and strip future generations of the
    opportunity we as athletes were afforded.
        As this committee has heard in previous hearings, athletes
    must be centered in any debates that will affect the future of
    college sports. Since I came to Congress, my work in this area
    has been guided by that simple principle: putting athletes
    first.
        However, I am concerned that the majority will put forward
    legislation that will roll back progress and restrict athletes,
    limiting their financial opportunity, denying them health and
    safety benefits, and failing to close the rampant Title IX
    loopholes robbing thousands of women across the country from
    athletic opportunities.
        Instead, I implore my Republican colleagues to work with me
    on the legislative proposals I have put forward.
        When I wrote the Fair Play for Women Act, I did so with the
    knowledge that schools were systemically taking advantage of
    Title IX loopholes that deprive women athletes of roster spots.
        When I introduced the College Athletic Economic Freedom Act
    to establish a Federal right for athletes to pursue NIL
    opportunities, I had in mind countless stories of athletes
    unable to fly their parents in to watch them play or going to
    bed hungry, all because they couldn't make money off their own
    name and their schedules were too demanding to get a second
    job.
        As this committee and our colleagues in the Senate look to
    pass Federal standards on NIL, revenue sharing, or athletes'
    employment rights, we must meet this moment and prioritize the
    athletes as opposed to enshrining the power structures that
    have limited their opportunities for decades. Otherwise, we
    risk jeopardizing the tremendous gains in recent years with
    one-sided proposals that provide much less than our Nation's
    athletes deserve.
        [The prepared statement of Mrs. Trahan follows:]
        [GRAPHIC NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]

        Mrs. Trahan. Thank you, Ranking Member. I yield back.
        Mr. Pallone. Thank you.
        And I yield now to the biggest champion for the University
    of Michigan, Mrs. Dingell.
        Mrs. Dingell. Go, Blue!
        Thank you, Ranking Member Pallone.
        Before I dive in, I want to echo the ranking member's
    earlier comments.
        National Institutes of Health funding is vital. I have
    heard from countless researchers in my district who are
    terrified about what this means for the future of biomedical
    research in the United States.
        This action by the Trump administration threatens to undo
    the progress our Nation's premier research universities have
    made and will stump future scientific breakthroughs.
        I am hopeful my colleagues will join us to fight for
    colleges and universities to receive adequate funding from NIH
    to support their vital research missions.
        But since this hearing is on the NIL, I want to turn to
    college sports.
        College sports are the lifeblood of so many communities
    across the country. As someone who represents a significant
    college athletic population at schools big and small, I am
    committed to crafting Federal legislation that ensures all
    college athletes are heard, protected, and prioritized.
        I am lucky to have both the University of Michigan and
    Eastern Michigan University, two very different schools we have
    got to protect for their phenomenal college athletic programs
    and their expertise.
        I want to thank the chair for holding this hearing. With
    everything happening in college sports since the last time we
    convened on this topic, I think it is important to start these
    conversations early this Congress.
        I look forward to working with Chair Bilirakis, Ranking
    Member Schakowsky, my colleague Mrs. Trahan, and other members
    of this committee on Federal legislation that both protects and
    empowers college athletes.
        This isn't just about the top athletes on the top 40
    football and basketball teams. We need to get this right for
    more than 500,000 college athletes nationwide.
        [The prepared statement of Mrs. Dingell follows:]
        [GRAPHIC NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]

        Mrs. Dingell. And with that, I yield back.
        Mr. Bilirakis. Gentlelady yields back.
        And now I am going to introduce our witnesses.
        I really appreciate you all being here. I know that it
    could be intimidating, and sometimes you give your views in
    public and become a little controversial. You are here
    representing yourselves more than your university. But I get a
    lot of opinions from athletes and coaches, but they don't want
    to come and testify. So I just give you so much credit for
    doing this.
        So hopefully we will learn. We need to hear from you.
    Rather than us talking, we need to hear from you so we get a
    good bill. We need a good bill, and we have to work in a
    bipartisan fashion to get a good bill.
        So without further ado, I introduce the witnesses.
        Ms. Emily Cole, All-American track athlete, Duke
    University, class of 2024.
        Thank you for being here. We appreciate you so much.
        Mr. Justin Falcinelli. He is a former college athlete,
    Clemson University--so you are representing the ACC--and vice
    president of the College Football Players Association.
        Welcome.
        Mr. Anthony Egbo, a football athlete, Abilene Christian
    University, class of 2024.
        Thanks for being here, Anthony.
        And then we have Mr. Josh Whitman, who is an athletic
    director at the University of Illinois. Go, Illini! And we have
    got an Illinois Member of Congress here, our ranking member, so
    she will be happy about that.
        And then we want to introduce--I am going to yield to
    Representative Fry on this introduction--but a great coach and
    an outstanding individual and comes from a great family.
        So I really appreciate you being here, sir, representing
    yourself, but you are also representing to a certain extent the
    SEC.
        So thank you very much.
        I am going to yield to Representative Fry to introduce our
    guest.
        Mr. Fry. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
        I am honored to introduce the head football coach of the
    South Carolina Gamecocks, Shane Beamer.
        Good to see you, sir.
        Since taking over as head coach of the University of South
    Carolina in December of 2020, Coach Beamer has led the program
    to historic success, securing the most wins through four
    seasons of any coach in the Carolina football history.
        This past season, Coach Beamer was his most successful yet,
    guiding the Gamecocks to nine wins, including a win over
    Clemson University--I am sorry, sir--and earning the SEC Coach
    of the Year honors from both the Associated Press and the USA
    Today.
        You know I had to do this, right?
        As the son of legendary coach Frank Beamer, Shane has been
    immersed in college athletics his entire life--which I think is
    really important to guide us in this discussion today--bringing
    a deep understanding of the game and the evolving landscape of
    college sports.
        This fall he will open up the 2025 season against Virginia
    Tech, his alma mater and the program that his father built,
    where I fully expect that he will put on full display the SEC
    dominance in this nonconference matchup.
        Coach Beamer is uniquely positioned to navigate the
    challenges of NIL and the ever-changing world of college
    athletics, ensuring that his players are prepared for success
    both on and off the field.
        And I will say because all coaches seem to be players'
    coaches, Coach Beamer has made it a hallmark of his coaching
    career to be really focused on the players. And so I think that
    vantage point is really important today.
        I want to thank him for his time today and look forward to
    his testimony.
        With that, Mr. Chairman, I yield back.
        Mr. Bilirakis. Thank you. Gentleman yields back.
        Now I will recognize Ms. Cole.
        You are recognized for 5 minutes for your testimony. Again,
    thank you for being here.

      STATEMENTS OF EMILY COLE, ALL-AMERICAN TRACK ATHLETE, DUKE
      UNIVERSITY 2024; JUSTIN FALCINELLI, VICE PRESIDENT, COLLEGE
      FOOTBALL PLAYERS ASSOCIATION; ANTHONY EGBO, Jr., DIRECTOR,
      WILDCAST CLUB, ABILENE CHRISTIAN UNIVERSITY; JOSH WHITMAN,
       DIRECTOR OF ATHLETICS, UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS; AND SHANE
       BEAMER, HEAD FOOTBALL COACH, UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH CAROLINA

                        STATEMENT OF EMILY COLE

        Ms. Cole. Perfect. Thank you so much. I am honored to be
    here.
        Chairman Guthrie, Ranking Member Pallone, Chairman
    Bilirakis, Ranking Member Schakowsky, and distinguished members
    of the Subcommittee on Commerce, Manufacturing, and Trade,
    thank you for the opportunity to testify before you today on
    the important topic of how name, image, and likeness, NIL, is
    reshaping college athletics. And happy Mardi Gras.
        Some of you might know me as the Duke runner who went viral
    for documenting my weeklong journey getting a knot out of my
    hair after running in the rain. While this moment may have been
    lighthearted, it highlights the immense reach of college
    athletics, reach that was once largely limited to sports like
    men's football and basketball but is now extended to female and
    nonrevenue sports, thanks largely to the power of social media.
        When I arrived at Duke in 2019, I was eager to pursue both
    my academic and athletic goals. But just as my journey was
    beginning, the world came to a standstill. During my freshman
    year, the pandemic hit.
        After spending months at home, unsure if we would have a
    cross country season or even return to campus, I decided to
    take a gap semester to pursue a 2-year-long project.
        That fall I began writing my first book, ``The Players
    Plate: An Unorthodox Guide to Sports Nutrition,'' which was
    inspired by my experience falling into a 2-day coma at 17 years
    old due to overhydration and a lack of sodium.
        Conveniently, its publication aligned with the new NIL
    laws, officially making me the first NCAA athlete to write and
    profit from a book using my NIL.
        At the same time, my athletic career was taking off. I
    qualified for the NCAA championships for the first time, earned
    All-American honors, and qualified to compete in the U.S. Track
    and Field Championships, where I had the opportunity to race
    against my idols.
        These experiences allowed me to build a personal brand
    rooted in my passions and positioned me at the forefront of how
    Olympic and female athletes could benefit from the new NIL
    policies.
        While much of the NIL conversation centered around football
    and basketball, my journey demonstrated how athletes in sports
    without large TV advertising contracts who had long been
    overlooked in these discussions could also leverage their brand
    in impactful ways.
        Today I have over 700,000 followers across platforms, and I
    strive to use my position to inspire young athletes to fuel
    their bodies well, chase their dreams, and build the confidence
    they need to pursue their goals in sport, education, and life.
        While I initially negotiated all my brand deals on my own,
    I quickly realized this was not sustainable amid my academic
    and sport responsibilities. That is when I connected with an
    agency who already had experience with college athletes, and I
    have worked with them ever since.
        I am incredibly grateful for the many ways they have helped
    me navigate this evolving industry. With their support, I have
    secured multiple five-figure deals with brands such as
    Therabody, Dick's Sporting Goods, Marriott Hotels, Gatorade,
    and H&R Block.
        Ensuring that future athletes are protected in these
    partnerships is essential to guaranteeing that they have the
    same positive experience that I did.
        I was also fortunate to be a part of the inaugural NCAA x
    Meta NIL Empower Program, which provides education and
    resources to female athletes on how to build a brand and
    maximize their NIL opportunities.
        Since then, I have continued to serve as a mentor for the
    program, helping ensure the next generation of female athletes
    is equipped with the knowledge and support they need to
    confidently navigate this new era.
        The value of NIL is undeniable, and its impact on college
    athletics his only begun to be understood. Thoughtful
    implementation is key to ensuring that all athletes are
    protected, have equal access to opportunities, and continue to
    receive the education that will serve them long after their
    playing careers.
        It is essential to establish uniform rules for all student-
    athletes as opposed to the current patchwork of State laws. At
    the same time, we must protect Olympic and nonrevenue sports
    from unintended consequences that could threaten their future.
        While NIL has created incredible opportunities, classifying
    college athletes as employees is not the right path forward.
    Doing so could put nonrevenue sports, women's sports, and small
    universities at risk due to financial constraints.
        Instead, we must find solutions that allow athletes to
    benefit from their NIL while preserving the integrity and
    accessibility of college athletics.
        Furthermore, the minimum number of sports required for
    Division I status must remain unchanged. Reducing this
    requirement would lead to widespread cuts in nonrevenue sports,
    eliminating countless scholarships and stripping athletes like
    myself of the opportunity to pursue a college education through
    their sport.
        In May 2024, I graduated from Duke with a degree in
    computer science and a minor in economics. Since then, I have
    continued my brand partnerships while also taking on a part-
    time role as an associate at a venture capital firm where I
    combine my expertise in brand building, health tech, and
    women's sports to drive innovation and investment in these
    spaces.
        I will forever be grateful for all that the new NIL laws
    have made possible for me, and I am excited to see how they
    continue to evolve with the help of Congress.
        Thank you again for allowing me to share my story with you
    all today.
        [The prepared statement of Ms. Cole follows:]
        [GRAPHICS NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]

        Mr. Bilirakis. Thank you very much.
        Now I will recognize Mr. Falcinelli for your 5 minutes of
    testimony.

                     STATEMENT OF JUSTIN FALCINELLI

        Mr. Falcinelli. Thank you, Chairman Bilirakis, Ranking
    Member Schakowsky, and members of the Subcommittee on Commerce,
    Manufacturing, and Trade. I appreciate the opportunity to
    testify here today on behalf of the College Football Players
    Association, or CFBPA.
        My name is Justin Falcinelli, and I am the institution's
    vice president. I joined the CFBPA in the fall of 2021 as its
    first alumni member, and I have spent the past 4 years working
    to build an independent, voluntary, nonpartisan, member-driven
    players association that brings together past, present, and
    future college football players from all levels of play.
        I played college football at Clemson University from 2014
    to 2018. I was a 2-year starter, first-team All-ACC center,
    two-time College Football Playoff national champion, and
    recipient of Clemson's top male scholar-athlete award.
    Additionally, I completed my Master's of Business
    Administration in 2018 in the middle of my final season and
    never lost to South Carolina.
        We are, of course, going to talk about many important
    topics today: NIL, the House Settlement, of which I am a class
    member, revenue sharing, the possibility of athlete employment,
    collectives, collective bargaining, the transfer portal, and
    much, much more.
        As a former athlete who competed at the highest level
    athletically and academically and who has spent the past 4
    years speaking with current college football players and
    helping to educate them on these very topics, I am prepared to
    answer all questions you may have about these important issues.
        In general, at the CFBPA our position is that the problems
    of college football are not so large that they cannot be solved
    by those within the industry--namely, administrators, coaches,
    and players--collectively through players associations.
        A collectively bargained model for college athletics would
    be protected from legal challenges and create the sustainable
    solution needed by all within the industry.
        Most importantly, collective bargaining and enforcement of
    a collective bargaining agreement by the CFBPA would allow us
    to solve the festering health and safety problems which
    continue to plague the sport of college football.
        I am going to focus on two such issues for the remainder of
    my testimony, and I hope the subcommittee will give these
    important issues the weight they deserve in the question-and-
    answer portion of our hearing.
        Issues of compensation and player free agency are
    important, but I would submit that they are not more important
    than the health and safety and welfare of college athletes.
        The NCAA was created over a hundred years ago with the
    primary focus of protecting the health, safety, and welfare of
    college football players after a season in which over 30
    college football players died playing the game. Such a problem,
    among others, in the health and safety realm still exists
    today.
        Despite the NFL only experiencing one player death this
    century, roughly two NCAA football players have died per year
    this century. All but one of these deaths occurred in off-
    season practices. Research shows how simple practice reforms
    would end such deaths in the future.
        The NCAA has largely ignored this issue, and where it has
    put in place safety guidelines, it has abdicated the
    enforcement of those same guidelines. As such, only a truly
    independent players association could bring about real
    enforcement to make players safer in practice.
        Another area I hope we can focus on today is the need for
    independent medical care for college football players
    nationwide.
        Almost every college athlete at almost every institution
    knows somebody or has experienced themselves inadequate medical
    care. Many athletes have been pushed to return to play before
    their body or mind has fully healed by compromised medical
    providers within their athletic departments.
        A 2019 report by the National Athletic Trainers Association
    indicated that 36 percent of athletic trainers reported that
    coaches influenced the hiring and firing process for sports
    medicine staff in their athletic department.
        This is done so a coach can secure a medical staff which
    will yield to their decisions regarding medical care. This
    often means rushing guys back to play or downplaying the
    severity of injuries to players.
        We saw a tangible example of this recently in the court
    case of our adviser, Dr. Scott Lynch. A Pennsylvania jury
    awarded Dr. Lynch $5 million after finding that he had been
    fired as head team doctor for Penn State football in
    retaliation for complaining about head football coach James
    Franklin interfering with medical treatment and return-to-play
    decisions.
        To this day, the NCAA and Big Ten have remained silent on
    the jury verdict and damages against their member institution
    Penn State. You do not often hear these stories, as players do
    not want to risk their playing time, their scholarships, their
    pro careers, or their future coaching careers by speaking out
    against their institutions.
        For the vast majority of college athletes, these are the
    truly pressing issues that affect our ability to compete and
    shape the quality of our lives after competition has ended.
        Given that the NCAA seems uninterested in policing its
    member institutions, it is necessary for new organizations to
    step into the void, negotiate collectively bargained rules, and
    then enforce those rules.
        For coaches and athletic directors who want to do the right
    thing, we want to work with you to empower and protect your
    athletes and negotiate a more equitable and sustainable future
    for college athletics.
        Thank you.
        [The prepared statement of Mr. Falcinelli follows:]
       [GRAPHICS NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]

        Mr. Bilirakis. Thank you. Just in time. Appreciate it very
    much.
        Mr. Egbo, you are recognized for 5 minutes. Welcome.

                     STATEMENT OF ANTHONY EGBO, Jr.

        Mr. Egbo. Good morning, Chairman, Ranking Member, and
    distinguished subcommittee members. My name is Anthony Egbo,
    Jr. I am a former football student-athlete at Abilene Christian
    University.
        I came through the front doors of ACU's football facility
    on my own accord as a 5-7, 145-pound defensive back walk-on
    hopeful. Half a decade later, my life has completely changed. I
    am still short, but that hope eventually turned into a full-
    ride scholarship, becoming a 2-year starter, team captain, FCS
    Defensive Scholar of the Year, two degrees, including my MBA,
    multiple job offers, and a robust network portfolio.
        During my time as a student-athlete, I had the opportunity
    to immerse myself in student-athlete advocacy, serving as an
    officer, vice president, president of my institution's student-
    athlete advisory committee, eventually serving as a Division I
    representative for the Western Athletic Conference, all of
    which culminated in me being voted by my peers as the vice
    chair of the NCAA Division I National Student-Athlete Advisory
    Committee.
        My story is one of opportunity, the kind that defines
    college athletics for hundreds of thousands of student-athletes
    like me.
        I know this hearing is about NIL, so I would like to
    briefly share how I benefited from my name, image, and
    likeness.
        I have had multiple NIL agreements with businesses in and
    around my community. One of my favorites was actually a deal
    with a local bakery who made the Egbo Sandwich. It was a
    sandwich named after me. And yes, it had egg in it. It was
    marketed throughout my senior year and in all my games.
        My biggest deal, though, was with First Financial Bank. I
    became their national brand ambassador, appearing in
    commercials, photo shoots, even appearing in stakeholder
    meetings.
        The professional development and compensation I earned from
    those deals embodies everything NIL is supposed to be about.
        NIL is a beautiful tool. But, unfortunately, the reality
    right now is that NIL is the Wild West. With more than 30 State
    NIL laws in litigation, different States and schools within
    those States are operating on different playing fields. To put
    it simply, everyone is not playing by the same rule book.
        As the vice chair of Division I SAAC, I have had the
    opportunity to talk to a wide range of student-athletes from
    different Division I schools across the country.
        If I could sum up two main priorities I heard over and over
    again in my conversations, it would be this.
        First, student-athletes want uniform NIL rules and clarity.
    Without a clear and consistent set of rules, a lot of student-
    athletes are fending for themselves. I have heard of student-
    athletes getting taken advantage of due to large gray areas
    from the lack of clear and enforceable rules.
        Uniform rules and clarity are needed to ensure that NIL
    fulfills its intended purposes and it is not harmful to the
    ones it was created to benefit.
        Secondly, student-athletes want to remain student-athletes,
    not employees. Employment has a serious potential to evaporate
    opportunity and access to college sports outside of the top 5
    percent of programs.
        In my conversations, I have not talked to a student-athlete
    who is anti getting paid, but they overwhelmingly say they do
    not want to be employees of their schools.
        I am not here to testify because I was an All-American,
    big-time SEC football player. I am here because I am the
    opposite. I am here before you today to represent guys like me,
    the women who compete at schools like mine, those who play in
    nonrevenue-generating sports, those who compete at historically
    Black colleges and universities, those who play Olympic sports,
    and those who are at places that are offering athletics at a
    deficit to the university. This is the majority. This is really
    what most Division I sports programs are made up of.
        I am hopeful that we can work together to ensure college
    sports are fair and continue to open the door to opportunities
    for countless young people like me.
        I am hopeful and actively working on the ways that we can
    enhance the student-athlete voice and decision-making influence
    inside the structure that we are familiar with. I am hopeful
    that opportunities continue to flourish for the student-
    athletes of the future.
        Thank you again for the opportunity to testify. I am
    incredibly appreciative of your commitment to shaping policies
    that will positively impact the next generation of student-
    athletes, and I look forward to the future with optimism.
        [The prepared statement of Mr. Egbo follows:]
        [GRAPHICS NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]

        Mr. Bilirakis. Let me just say this. Very well done. And we
    really appreciate your contribution. And I would like to meet
    with you maybe some other time so we can expand on these
    issues. So we really appreciate your input. Thank you.
        All right. Next we have the athletic director from the
    University of Illinois.
        You are recognized for 5 minutes, sir.

                       STATEMENT OF JOSH WHITMAN

        Mr. Whitman. Good morning, Chairman Bilirakis, Ranking
    Member Schakowsky, other distinguished members of the
    committee. Thank you very much for the opportunity to be with
    you today.
        My name is Josh Whitman. I recently began my tenth year as
    the director of athletics at my alma mater, the University of
    Illinois, which is a founding member of both the Big Ten
    Conference and the NCAA.
        At Illinois, I am responsible for all facets of an
    athletics program that supports nearly 500 student-athletes
    competing in 21 varsity sports.
        As an undergraduate business student at Illinois, I was an
    academic All-American football player, and played four seasons
    in the NFL.
        After attending law school, I clerked on the United States
    Court of Appeals and worked briefly here as an attorney in
    Washington, DC.
        Before returning to Illinois, I spent almost 6 years as the
    athletics director at two Division III institutions.
        For the last 20 years, I have dedicated my career to
    working at the intersection of school and sport. For thousands
    of student-athletes, sports opened doors to a life-changing
    experience in education. I am a proud product of this system,
    and I am driven to continue making these same experiences
    available to today's student-athletes.
        Today, college sports is experiencing a period of intense
    change that is unlike anything in its history. Efforts underway
    to reform and modernize college athletics are in many ways
    overdue, as the NCAA has not always moved with needed urgency.
        Nonetheless, progress made in the last 20 years is
    indisputable. Division I schools now administer the Student-
    Athlete Opportunity Fund, which provides millions of dollars in
    direct support to student-athletes and their families. In
    addition, schools can now grant nearly $6,000 annually to
    student-athletes as incentives for academic progress and
    graduation.
        And in 2021, NCAA rules changed to allow student-athletes
    to monetize use of their own name, image, and likeness, with
    hundreds of millions of dollars now flowing through the system
    and into the hands of our student-athletes.
        For almost a decade, Autonomy 4 institutions have offered
    additional protections for student-athletes, protections that
    recently became mandated across all of Division I. Schools
    cannot reduce or cancel scholarships based on injury or
    performance, and institutions must fund athletics-related
    medical care for at least 2 years following conclusion of a
    student-athlete's collegiate career.
        But the biggest changes are yet to come. In April, we are
    hoping for final judicial approval of what would be a historic
    settlement: three class-action lawsuits, commonly referred to
    as the House Settlement.
        Under its terms, schools will have the option to distribute
    more than $20 million annually to student-athletes, resulting
    in tens of billions of dollars flowing directly to student-
    athletes over the next decade.
        The challenge we face today is the environment in which
    these changes are occurring, highlighted by increasingly active
    State legislatures and outside entities advancing their own
    agendas. We now have an expanding patchwork of State laws that
    are frequently being adopted to create competitive advantage
    for their hometown institutions.
        At the same time, the efforts to recast student-athletes as
    institutional employees would be catastrophic for the vast
    majority of the NCAA's membership, likely resulting in lost
    opportunities for thousands of student-athletes.
        To preserve the American collegiate sports model that has
    benefited millions of students, families, and communities for
    generations, we need help from Congress to pass comprehensive
    bipartisan legislation (1) that codifies various benefits and
    protections for student-athletes; (2) that establishes a
    national NIL and revenue-sharing framework largely in line with
    what is contemplated by the House Settlement; (3) that preempts
    State laws that have increasingly become weaponized to provide
    competitive advantages to hometown institutions; (4) that
    provides a limited antitrust safe harbor that will allow us
    needed flexibility to create a reasonable and enforceable
    regulatory framework governing such things that are as basic as
    eligibility rules; and (5) that clarifies that the relationship
    between student-athletes and their institutions is not that of
    an employer and an employee.
        When meeting in the past, Congress has helped advance the
    interests of the college athletics enterprise, an institution
    that is uniquely and proudly American. We again need your help
    to provide us the tools needed to modernize our ecosystem while
    at the same time protecting our student-athletes and the
    pillars that are central to our model.
        I am eager to continue working with you to achieve these
    noble objectives.
        Thank you. Look forward to answering your questions.
        [The prepared statement of Mr. Whitman follows:]
       [GRAPHICS NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]

        Mr. Bilirakis. Thank you very much. Excellent testimony. I
    appreciate it very much.
        And now I will recognize Coach Beamer.
        Congratulations on a great season, Coach, and thanks for
    being here. Appreciate it.
        Mr. Beamer. Thank you very much.
        Mr. Bilirakis. You are recognized for 5 minutes.

                       STATEMENT OF SHANE BEAMER

        Mr. Beamer. Appreciate you saying that.
        Good morning. My name is Shane Beamer, and I am the head
    football coach at the University of South Carolina. It is a
    privilege and absolute honor to be here with you this morning
    to speak to you about the future of college sports.
        I am going into my 26th year in coaching, and outside of my
    family, developing college football student-athletes has been
    my life's work.
        As Mr. Fry alluded to, my father was the head football
    coach at Virginia Tech for 29 years. I myself played high
    school football and baseball and went on to play football at
    the collegiate level, competing for a football national
    championship alongside my father.
        The experiences that I have had as both a student-athlete
    and a coach have fundamentally shaped me into the man that I am
    today.
        We are at a critical crossroads in college athletics, and
    quite simply, we need your help. The system is long overdue
    change. The current situation is unsustainable. A national
    bipartisan Federal law will provide equal opportunity for all
    student-athletes to benefit from NIL and create a uniform
    standard to ensure we are all playing by the same rules.
        I believe we can all agree that the college student-athlete
    experience is worth preserving. A college education is
    invaluable, especially given the reality that less than 2
    percent of college student-athletes advance to professional
    sports careers.
        A Federal law codifying the settlement will maintain an
    education-based model for college sports while ensuring the
    opportunity for student-athletes to earn a degree and the tools
    necessary to be successful in life after sports.
        Action by this Congress will also provide much-needed
    stability essential to college sports and expand current
    benefits enjoyed by many student-athletes: free tuition, room
    and board, educational grants, academic support and tutoring,
    medical and mental health support, nutritional support, life
    skills development, superior coaching and training, and
    extended medical coverage.
        If you don't act, college sports will be destroyed by
    never-ending litigation and conflicting State laws. And
    designating student-athletes as employees is not the right
    path, because an employment model will drastically reduce the
    number of sports a school is able to offer.
        In contrast, a Federal law will guarantee the future of
    Olympic sports that help develop future Olympians for our
    country.
        In sum, college sports is at an impasse, and we need your
    help. The stakes are high, and the future of our Nation's
    student-athletes will be decided in the near future.
        Thank you for your time and your consideration of a topic
    that is personally so important to me and hundreds of thousands
    of student-athletes.
        [The prepared statement of Mr. Beamer follows:]
        [GRAPHICS NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]

        Mr. Bilirakis. Thank you very much, Coach. I appreciate it
    very much. I think we are going to get some consensus this
    year. I really do. And I know that time is of the essence. So I
    appreciate that very much.
        I will recognize myself for 5 minutes of questioning.
        Coach Beamer, the transfer portal has drastically affected
    college athletics, especially football, as you know, of course.
        In your experience, how has the transfer portal impacted
    your team from a planning and competitive standpoint, but also
    your student-athletes' ability to get a robust education? And
    how do you see the new revenue-sharing model changing the
    current transfer portal dynamics?
        Mr. Beamer. Thank you.
        We have certainly benefited from the transfer portal. I
    won't sit here today and say that we haven't. Now, have we lost
    players in the portal that we did not want to lose? Absolutely.
    But we have benefited from the portal, without a doubt. So it
    has been a benefit for us in so many ways.
        There are areas of the portal that certainly can be
    improved. I don't necessarily like what it maybe teaches young
    men and women at this stage of their lives, and I don't like
    some of the impacts that the transfer portal has on their
    academic progress.
        Frankly, so many male and female student-athletes when they
    transfer to another college, they lose academic credits
    potentially going from school to school, which will impact
    their ability to graduate, and ultimately, this is about
    education.
        And since I have been the head football coach since spring
    of 2021, we have 80 young men that have graduated from our
    football program since I became the head coach in December of
    '20 from the spring semester on. So it is still about
    education. There are so many great things about the transfer
    portal, but not if it affects their opportunity to graduate and
    get an education.
        And in regards to the new revenue-sharing model, I think it
    is a fantastic thing, because (1) it will provide opportunities
    for all student-athletes; as well, it will level the playing
    field, if you will, in a lot of ways; and it will allow all
    student-athletes to capitalize on their name, image, and
    likeness through revenue sharing and adding a piece of what
    they deserve because of what they bring to our universities.
        Mr. Bilirakis. Thank you very much. I appreciate it.
        Ms. Cole, you are a prime example of how an athlete at a
    nonrevenue-generating sport can successfully take advantage of
    NIL opportunities.
        When the rules changed in 2021, what challenges did you
    approach when you navigated the NIL landscape? And I know if
    you can elaborate a little bit, because I think you covered it
    to a certain extent in your testimony.
        Ms. Cole. Yes. Absolutely. Thank you so much, Chairman
    Bilirakis.
        So whenever I, like, first started having to navigate the
    new world, the timing, as I mentioned, landed really well with
    my book having just published. And so I did a lot of initial
    negotiations on my own and kind of had my parents look over
    contracts and make sure that there weren't any terms in there
    that I didn't want to have happen.
        But after my platforms grew for over the next year, I ended
    up working with this agency, and they really helped me navigate
    the space, because it was--I mean, everyone that I interacted
    with, whether they were at a huge corporation or with
    universities, a lot of times they were asking me questions
    about the NIL space, because it was all so new and everyone was
    just trying to figure it out as we went.
        So I think that was probably the biggest challenge, was
    just that it was so ill defined that we were all kind of trying
    to figure it out as we went.
        Mr. Bilirakis. You said that an agency, you contacted an
    agency. Was that a collective?
        Ms. Cole. No. So I have an agent that represents me in all
    of my NIL deals, and I got connected to them, and they already
    had experience working with other college athletes.
        So I had a conversation with them and, like, really felt
    that I could trust them and then had a lot of conversations
    with athletes they had represented in the past and felt very
    comfortable working with them to represent me in all of the
    negotiations with companies from my NIL deals.
        Mr. Bilirakis. Thank you very much. Appreciate it.
        Mr. Whitman, I know I don't have a lot of time, but I want
    to ask this question.
        Mr. Whitman, the last thing we want is for nonrevenue-
    generating sports to be affected by the ever-evolving NIL
    landscape.
        How is the University of Illinois anticipating the changes,
    like roster limits and revenue sharing, to ensure these
    programs are protected? So we want to protect the Olympic
    sports, the gymnastics, the wrestling, what have you.
        Please.
        Mr. Whitman. Thank you, Chairman.
        At Illinois we have no plans to eliminate any of our
    varsity sport programs. As I mentioned, we sponsor 21 sports,
    roughly 500 student-athletes.
        In fact, we intend to invest more heavily into the
    experience of our student-athletes. Every one of our sports
    will see increased scholarship opportunities. That is one of
    the byproducts of the new House Settlement, is the chance to
    provide additional scholarships above and beyond what NCAA
    rules currently permit. We intend to take full advantage of
    that chance in each of the 21 sports that we sponsor.
        We also intend to see more widespread use of NIL throughout
    our program, while student-athletes in more sports are
    receiving more NIL opportunities in the new paradigm than they
    do under the current NIL regime.
        It is important at the University of Illinois that we
    continue to advance the interests of all of our sport programs.
    We have a very proud history across the board with our student-
    athletes.
        Last Olympics we were really proud to see six former Illini
    competing on the Olympic stage, brought home two medals. And
    certainly that is a tradition that is unique to American
    college athletics and one that we want to continue to champion
    in Champaign-Urbana.
        Mr. Bilirakis. Thank you very much. I appreciate it.
        And now I will yield to the ranking member of the
    subcommittee, Ms. Schakowsky, a fellow Illinoian--not me but
    the AD. My chief of staff is from Illinois as well.
        But anyway, I yield back. I yield the time to the ranking
    member.
        You are recognized.
        Ms. Schakowsky. Thank you.
        I wanted to ask a question of Mr. Falcinelli.
        Is that kind of right?
        Mr. Falcinelli. Yes.
        Ms. Schakowsky. OK. The way I said it.
        And very proud to be an alum of the University of Illinois
    as well.
        I wanted to ask you, we are talking about what sports needs
    and how we can make it safer and better. But I wanted to follow
    up on what I asked in the beginning and Congresswoman Kelly
    mentioned as well, the fact that there are cuts in the amount
    of money that is going to universities.
        And I am wondering if you have thought about that and how
    that will impact what we are thinking about today, making sure
    that there is----
        Mr. Falcinelli. Yes. So I know my alma mater, Clemson,
    would be looking at a pretty large hit. Clemson is a pretty
    renowned research university. So they had $25 million in
    funding in 2024 from NIH. So that would be a pretty impactful
    hit to their wallet at the same time that they are dealing with
    the outcomes of the House Settlement.
        And even for little old Clemson, which has $150 million a
    year in athletics revenue, they are trying to reconcile a lot
    right now. And for schools without the good fortune to have
    that sizeable athletics budget, we believe for all levels of
    play that collective bargaining is the answer for them to find
    the solution that is going to best fit their fiscal realities.
        The House Settlement clearly lays out that any collective
    bargaining agreement negotiated with the athletes can ignore
    the rules set forth by the settlement. So to any institutions
    out there that are concerned with all of the NIH cuts as well
    as the impacts of the House Settlement, we ask you to negotiate
    with your athletes and work out the situation that best fits
    you.
        Ms. Schakowsky. Are you concerned, though, that there is
    going to be enough money to really have robust student-athletes
    if money is really taken off of the universities?
        Mr. Falcinelli. Oh, absolutely. And potentially the
    universities could look into using athletic revenues to help
    compensate for some of these losses in research funding. And
    that is something you would be able to negotiate through
    collective bargaining.
        Athletes understand and often take part in majors that are
    doing this research. It would be important to them to be able
    to continue to do so, and I am sure we would love to see that
    on the negotiating table.
        Ms. Schakowsky. What do you think is the most important
    thing that is important for student-athletes in terms of
    reform?
        Mr. Falcinelli. Yes, as I said in my testimony, something
    near and dear to me is health and safety. Athletes are often
    afraid to speak out on the issue because they are beholden to
    the will of their coaches, their university, and can risk their
    playing time, their pro careers, their scholarships, their
    medical care, their potential future in the sport if they want
    to go on to coach. Your most likely avenue to do so is at the
    institution you played at.
        And so in these issues, where trainers are pushing players
    back to play too soon or being dishonest about the severity of
    your injury, you have no one to turn to to advocate for you to
    help push the team doctor to get you the MRI that you need to
    diagnose your injury. Players are without representation.
        And this is why we so strongly believe in the need for
    independent players associations where players can have a rep
    who is not subject to the extreme pressures of college
    athletics, who is there solely for their best interest, that
    can represent them and enforce the rules that are negotiated in
    a CBA and hold institutions accountable.
        Ms. Schakowsky. Well, I think it is very important.
        Are you present on campus in your work?
        Mr. Falcinelli. We are present at institutions around the
    country and are actively doing on-the-ground organizing.
        Ms. Schakowsky. OK. Thank you very much. And I yield back.
        Mr. Bilirakis. The gentlelady yields back.
        I now recognize the chairman of the full committee, Mr.
    Guthrie. And I appreciate you making this a priority.
        Mr. Guthrie. Well, thank you. We need to make it a priority
    because we have got a lot of work to do.
        Mr. Bilirakis. Yes, absolutely.
        Mr. Guthrie. And I appreciate it.
        I guess, getting to my colleague's previous question that
    said will cuts to NIH and overhead going to universities. And I
    think you quoted a number coming from Clemson. I think you all
    prepared for this meeting being an NIH meeting instead of NIL.
    But will that hurt athletics?
        I think that if we are sending money to NIH and the
    overhead is going to universities and somehow getting to
    athletics, if that is what the nature of that question was,
    then we absolutely should be taking a look at this.
        Now, Harvard has a $50 billion endowment, gets 70 percent
    facilities and administration of some of the grants. I mean, we
    should want grants to go to saving childhood cancer,
    childhood--all these other things that are moving forward. And
    hopefully some of the overhead is not going--I hope you didn't
    intend that to say this is going to our athletes in sports,
    because that absolutely shouldn't be.
        So, Mr. Beamer, the answer to the question just before,
    Coach, players being put into precarious positions when they
    are injured. Do you--or do you know of any of your colleagues
    that have ever--I know you love your players--have you ever
    looked at a player--I think you probably sometimes try to
    prevent players from going into the field. Do you know of any
    instance where a coach knowingly puts a player in a bad
    position?
        Mr. Beamer. First of all, thank you for you comments
    earlier as well. And before my dad was the head football coach
    at Virginia Tech, he was a Murray State Racer. So you say ``Go,
    Hilltoppers,'' and I say ``Go, Racers.''
        Mr. Guthrie. I know. We love the Racers too.
        Mr. Beamer. Right back at you.
        No, sir, I do not. I can't speak for other programs that I
    haven't been a part of. But I can say as the head football
    coach at the University of South Carolina, I truly love and
    care for the players that I coach, to the point where I haven't
    let guys go back and play when they have been cleared by a
    trainer in some instances.
        I have never once directed our trainer to put a player out
    there before he is ready to play. When the trainers say he is
    cleared and ready, we put him back out there. And again, I
    can't speak for the schools, but not to my knowledge.
        Mr. Guthrie. Well, thanks.
        So being fans of all conferences, Kentucky has ACC and SEC
    schools and others, as we just mentioned, in the great
    traditions of college football.
        Coach, how do we find the balance between preserving what
    we know college football to be, but also allowing our athletes
    to have the opportunity to earn money with their name, image,
    and likeness?
        Mr. Beamer. Absolutely. I think everyone in here can agree
    that sports bring both sides together and unites both sides as
    well. And I believe that we are all passionate about that as
    well.
        And certainly every player on our team would tell you that
    I am an advocate for them being able to maximize and capitalize
    on every opportunity they have as student-athletes at the
    University of South Carolina.
        We are in the capital city of South Carolina, where we are
    the only show in town in the city of Columbia. So we have a
    great following that presents so many opportunities for all of
    our student-athletes, not just football, but women's basketball
    with Dawn Staley and on and on and on.
        So there are fantastic opportunities for our student-
    athletes to be able to capitalize on their name, image, and
    likeness. But at the same time, education has still got to be
    at the forefront, without a doubt, where all of our student-
    athletes leave the University of South Carolina with a degree.
        I mentioned in my opening statement the number of student-
    athletes that go on to play pro sports. And that is critical
    for us going forward.
        I will use the example of LaNorris Sellers. He is our
    starting quarterback. He will be a Heisman Trophy candidate
    next season. He will have an opportunity to play in the NFL. He
    is currently compensated very well from a name, image, and
    likeness standpoint.
        But on his own, he has already reached out to companies in
    the city of Columbia about doing a summer internship with them,
    unbeknownst to me. But here is a young man that understands
    that football is not going to last forever and wants to do
    everything in his power to take advantage of the educational
    experience in Columbia also.
        Mr. Guthrie. OK. Thank you. Thanks, Coach.
        So, Mr. Egbo, my cousin went to Abilene Christian.
        So what are your thoughts? I know now it is going to be
    revenue shares. Schools are going to help create the
    collective. We are probably going to have to have some
    exemption if they are not going to be employees to say that,
    because obviously if you are getting paid from the gate.
        So what is your view of the employee relationship with the
    university versus being a student at the university?
        Mr. Egbo. Thank you for that question.
        I think it is a question that is really at the heart of a
    lot of student-athletes' minds right now. Being at an
    institution and an FCS football institution like my own--how do
    I say this? It is hard to fathom how that would look at an
    institution like ours.
        Speaking specifically to the coach-player relationship, an
    employer-employee relationship, those that play ball know that
    inherently a coach is a role model, they are a mentor, they are
    somebody that invests. That is not inherently what an employer
    is.
        An employer is more focused on performance. A coach
    inherently is somebody that you look up to, somebody that can
    pour into you, somebody that can help you become the best 35-
    year-old version of yourself.
        And so at the core of it, that is what sports is also
    doing, it is molding young men and women to be future leaders,
    to be the best fathers, husbands, wives, future leaders in this
    country. And I think that is in principle what has an
    opportunity to be shaken, is that foundation, with an employer-
    employee relationship.
        Besides that, it is just not sustainable from a university
    standpoint. And I have done a lot of work as far as engaging in
    conversation about this specifically. I have had a multitude of
    conversations with my president and different university
    administration on, hey, what would this look like for
    institutions like ours? And it is just not sustainable besides
    the principle.
        Mr. Guthrie. My time is up. I have gone over my time. So I
    appreciate that. I appreciate your answer.
        I yield back.
        Mr. Bilirakis. Thank you very much. The gentleman yields
    back.
        I will now recognize my friend from the great State of
    Florida, a fellow Floridian, but we didn't go to the same
    school.
        Sorry you didn't go to Florida, Kathy.
        Kathy Castor, you are recognized.
        Ms. Castor. Well, thank you, Mr. Chairman.
        There is nothing like college sports. It is beloved in
    America. It builds cohesion among the community and alumni and
    students and great pride in your institution. You admire the
    skill of all the student-athletes and then the care and concern
    of the coaches and support staff.
        But it is also big business. I think right now college
    sports generates over $18 billion all told. But it wasn't until
    that 2021 U.S. Supreme Court case where they granted student-
    athletes the rights to their own name, image, and likeness.
        So this is still new, and the courts, universities,
    athletes, and Congress are really trying to figure out how to
    navigate the landscape.
        So this hearing comes as we await another court decision on
    the multibillion-dollar settlement between the NCAA, the Power
    5 conferences, and the student-athletes. And that settlement is
    going to resolve multiple lawsuits and better set the rules of
    the game going forward.
        And, Chair Bilirakis, I know that you care, and you have
    been talking to me and other Members about trying to bring some
    guardrails. And I am interested in working with you on that.
        But I just do not think we can ignore the bigger picture
    right now of what is happening in higher education with the
    illegal shutdown of Federal funds, grant moneys that flow to
    students and educators, the wrench thrown into research at
    higher ed institutions by Elon Musk at the direction of the
    President.
        I fear for the fallout for all students and at the
    University of Florida and at the University of South Florida
    and at FSU and at UCF, research funding, and then the slashing
    of student aid, of student financial aid.
        I think we are going to be in a quandary here. And I just
    couldn't let this moment pass without speaking up about this.
        NIL is very important, but there is a bigger picture here,
    and it goes right to the heart of the economic security of all
    students and all of our institutions of higher learning.
        That said, Ms. Cole, I am so impressed with your pathway in
    life. You were a student at one of the Nation's top research
    universities. And yes, they are crying out about the NIH and
    scientific funding quandary.
        But let's put this in context. Can you discuss your
    research experience and that of you and your classmates that
    you were able to have at the collegiate level and what that has
    done for your professional growth?
        Ms. Cole. Yes, absolutely. Thank you so much for the
    question, Congresswoman.
        Honestly, I did do some research with the more lower-level
    education communities in North Carolina hoping to provide more
    culturally relevant curriculum within computer science. So I
    know how important it is, I have witnessed how important it is.
        But I am prepared here to speak on the future of NIL in
    college athletics, so----
        Ms. Castor. OK. Then let me ask you more about that.
        But let me say, the folks in the Research Triangle in North
    Carolina and at all the research institutions and at colleges
    large and small, are crying out for help.
        And, fortunately, the courts have weighed in on these
    illegal shutdowns of Federal funding, and we brace ourselves
    for the Republican budget that is going to come and really take
    a hatchet to student financial aid and Pell grants.
        But back on this topic.
        I am very concerned with Title IX and what NIL is doing to
    build inequities. We have worked so hard over the years to
    ensure there is equity between female and male athletes.
        You said that you really see this as an opportunity for
    students when it comes to the nonrevenue sports, small
    colleges, Olympic sports. But what is the solution when it
    comes to parity between men and women?
        Ms. Cole. I mean, obviously, parity between men's and
    women's sports is paramount. And seeing the exponential growth
    that has happened, especially in the past year--I mean, having
    the national women's basketball game have more viewership than
    the men's, and then finally achieving gender parity in the
    Olympics. I think it is extremely important. But I am not able
    to speak on the actual implementation of the laws of how that
    has happened.
        Ms. Castor. OK. So that is up to us, Mr. Chairman, to
    ensure that NIL doesn't warp all of the hard work that we have
    made to build opportunities for men and women alike in sports.
        I yield back. Thank you very much.
        Mr. Bilirakis. Thank you so very much.
        And now I will recognize the vice chairman of the full
    committee.
        And you are uniquely qualified to ask these questions being
    from Boise State. You are recognized for 5 minutes.
        Mr. Fulcher. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. I
    appreciate the tie Mr. Whitman has on. It is Boise State Bronco
    colors. We are glad to see that. But also Florida colors, if I
    have got that right, and probably Illinois is in there
    somewhere, I am guessing.
        Mr. Whitman. Probably.
        Mr. Fulcher. Yes. OK.
        Question for Mr. Egbo. As mentioned, I am a Boise State
    University alum. They are in my district, as well as the
    University of Idaho, Idaho State University. But they in the
    football and basketball arena have been very competitive, but
    they are not of the same size and scope of the large schools.
    And so I would like to get your take on this.
        Under the House case, the revenue sharing cap is up to
    $20.5 million. Well, that is more than the entire budget for
    Boise State or University of Idaho or Idaho State or, I am
    assuming, Abilene Christian University.
        And so just in terms of scope, how is this going to work?
    Is this going to be--can this be fairly applied? Can the
    smaller schools maintain their competitiveness with the larger
    schools under this revenue share cap system?
        Mr. Egbo. If I could get this answer right, I will probably
    get a raise from my AD.
        But I think the first thing is having clear rules. I think
    the first step is leveling the playing field as far as what is
    permissible, what is not, what is the standard, everybody being
    on the same page, so that schools like the schools you
    mentioned and our school can sit down and say, ``OK, this is
    the standard across the board, and this is what we can kind of
    build and strategize for how we can compete in this new age.''
        But I think with the gray areas that are implemented right
    now, it is very hard to start that strategic process.
        Mr. Fulcher. Thank you, Mr. Egbo.
        And, Mr. Beamer, I would like to go to you. If you have a
    comment on that, I would ask for your comment on that same
    question.
        But I would also like to follow up. I am going to give you
    a two-part here and let you run.
        Realizing that the objective of NIL is to recognize rewards
    from the student-athletes for their contributions, do you see
    unintended consequences? And if so, what bothers you the most
    about possible unintended consequences of what we are trying to
    do?
        Mr. Beamer. Thank you for the question.
        I think NIL, as it was initially implemented in 2021, the
    way it is meant to be, I think, is very good. I think in a lot
    of ways what name, image, and likeness has turned into in so
    many situations is pay-for-play, and that is very much because
    of the fact that it is not as regulated, in my mind, as it
    should be.
        There is an issue of agents in the NIL world. That is
    another issue in regards to how it is regulated and is
    everything on the up-and-up. That is an unintended consequence
    that I think has come certainly from NIL, without a doubt.
        Mr. Fulcher. Thank you for that.
        I would like to go to Mr. Whitman. I have just got about a
    little over a minute left.
        But I would like to talk with you and get your feedback on
    Federal preemptive standards. I have heard from the Idaho
    schools the concerns over enforcement burdens when it comes to
    the patchwork of some of the State and DC NIL laws and the need
    for Federal preemption.
        Without Federal preemptive standards, I could see a
    situation arising where State law conflicts with the terms of
    the settlement, which is still pending approval. But how would
    an institution have to adjust its strategy if this was the
    case?
        Mr. Whitman. Thank you for the question.
        I think you are thinking about it exactly right. There is
    that possibility, where States will pass legislation that
    conflicts with the terms of the settlement in an effort to
    create competitive advantage.
        And again, that is what we have started to see with more
    frequency across the country, is a race for States to find ways
    to give their hometown schools an edge.
        We have seen that in States like Missouri and Arkansas,
    where they now allow NIL payments to high school athletes who
    have signed letters of intent to compete at in-State
    institutions.
        We have seen it at States where they have offered State tax
    breaks for student-athlete NIL income.
        We have seen it in certain States where they have provided
    caps on how much money agents can make from student-athletes,
    which then disincentivizes the best agents from working in
    those States.
        And ultimately what we are here to discuss is the role that
    Congress can play in trying to create that level playing field
    and avoid putting schools in situations where they have to
    choose between complying with a Federal court order and
    ultimately with State law.
        And we understand that in this environment that conflict
    can arise, and ultimately only one body has the power and the
    authority to solve that for us, and that is Congress.
        Mr. Fulcher. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I do have some
    followup questions. I will do that in writing.
        Thank you for the time. I yield back.
        Mr. Bilirakis. Thank you very much. Appreciate it. Very
    good.
        Mr. Soto, you are recognized for 5 minutes.
        Mr. Soto. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
        Coming from Florida, college football is about as popular
    as sunshine and low taxes, right? At the risk of alienating you
    a little bit, Mr. Chairman, I am going to start out with an FSU
    story.
        Mr. Bilirakis. So you recognize that Florida is the Free
    State. Is that correct?
        Mr. Soto. Absolutely.
        So when I was in the State senate, FSU was heading towards
    a college championship, and a shocking story had happened.
    Jameis Winston, who was on his way to become a Heisman Trophy
    winner and lead his team to the championship, was accused and
    arrested of a small theft. And people thought: How could this
    possibly be happening?
        When you look further into it, you see this huge gap that
    happened back in the day between some of these star athletes
    versus the schools and the boosters and even a lot of the
    students.
        And that is one thing that name, image, and likeness has
    helped balance out a little bit. We don't see some of these
    student-athletes living in poverty while they are helping
    entertain millions of people. Of course, that is not uniform
    throughout, and we know that.
        I am proud to represent Central Florida. Go, Knights. Space
    U. We are going to work on the football program a little more,
    Mr. Chairman, much like UF. We are all working on that stuff.
        But we see big programs getting bigger right now and
    smaller programs struggling, and that is a concern. More
    popular sports like football, men's and women's basketball are
    surging in national popularity and in resources. But other,
    lesser-known sports are suffering, and we need to recognize
    that.
        We are also home to EA Sports, which every college football
    player in the Nation signed up and got a compensation for being
    able to lend their likeness. So that is something that we are
    really proud of in our area.
        But as was mentioned, we need rules of the road. We have
    had many hearings, but no bill passed into law just yet. And so
    we have work to do--financial literacy, making sure that our
    student-athletes have representation, safeguarding all NCAA
    sports, and potentially an independent players association.
        Mr. Falcinelli, where do you think we need to go next on
    it? Is it a player vote? Is it an NCAA vote? Do we need a law
    on this? Where do you hope to go with this next?
        Mr. Falcinelli. Yes. The future we see for college
    athletics and for college football is a world in which we are
    not reliant upon a court ruling or legislation to really set
    what is going to happen next, but a world in which the athletes
    themselves are empowered to negotiate to shape their own
    futures.
        We firmly believe that that can be done through collective
    bargaining. And whether they are employees or not, we believe
    it is collective bargaining that is what matters. If athletes
    were made employees tomorrow, they would still face many of the
    same issues they are facing now and many more.
        And not until they are organized and represented by
    independent players associations will they be able to actually
    enact the health and safety regulations they need or engage in
    further revenue sharing and getting good deals on revenue
    sharing.
        I would like to point out the EA deal for the NCAA video
    game is one of the only group licensing deals in sports to ever
    be signed where the athletes had no revenue share on the
    royalties from it and were just given a $600 fee for one time
    for their appearance in the game or every year they re-up, but
    their name, image, and likeness is already guaranteed to be
    used whether they re-up or not for the rest of their
    eligibility.
        And that game has gone on to probably cross over $700
    million in revenue this year. It was the top-selling sports
    video game of all time. And athletes have not been able to
    share in any of that revenue share.
        Mr. Soto. Well, we certainly believe in collective
    bargaining.
        I also want to turn to NIH briefly--we have been talking
    about NIL--the National Institutes of Health.
        Student health is paramount. We have seen in Florida the
    chairman's own university created Gatorade because it is super-
    hot to practice in Florida.
        We actually make Gatorade in the district, Mr. Chairman. I
    am sure you are happy about that.
        But we have seen student-athletes pass away after
    conditioning, including, unfortunately, at our home university
    at UCF back in 2008. A lot of progress has been made since
    then, both there and in many other areas.
        And one of the NIH grants that UCF has is looking at
    digestive and kidney research. One of the biggest issues we see
    is dehydration. And then, even if it doesn't happen at the time
    of a student-athlete, that dehydration can affect them going
    forward as they get older.
        Mr. Falcinelli, how important is it for us to continue to
    look at hydration for student-athletes and have these NIH
    grants that are so important?
        Mr. Falcinelli. Oh, it is absolutely important. As Ms. Cole
    testified to today, there can be traumatic effects with stuff
    that surrounds that.
        And as a former football player, hydration, brain damage,
    thousands of subconcussive blows every year for 5 years
    straight, the research being done into health and safety and
    the issues that we are still trying to understand, like CTE, is
    incredibly important.
        And these are things that we as athletes are going to carry
    forward for the rest of our lives. So whether or not we have
    the time to enroll on a STEM major and help be part of doing
    this research, we are going to be feeling the impacts of this
    loss for a long time.
        As many of us can attest to--who are former athletes--after
    your career is done, your injuries are still there. You still
    wake up with pains--your knees, your back, your joints, your
    shoulders--that stay with you for life. So continuing to do
    important medical research is something that impacts all
    athletes.
        Mr. Soto. And we will be fighting this Trump administration
    freeze and unlawful restrictions to make sure we can continue
    to prioritize athlete health.
        And I yield back.
        Mr. Bilirakis. Thank you very much.
        Speaking of Gatorade, Dr. Cade invented Gatorade in the
    late '60s at the University of Florida. And my mother, Evelyn
    Bilirakis, was a TA for Dr. Cade.
        So I am sorry, Yes, I just thought that that had to be
    said.
        We have Representative Harshbarger from the great State of
    Tennessee, a Tennessee Vol. And she represents--she knows I am
    going to say this--she represents the hometown----
        Mrs. Harshbarger. I am just saying.
        Mr. Bilirakis [continuing]. Of my favorite all-time coach,
    Steve Spurrier.
        Mrs. Harshbarger. Yes.
        Mr. Bilirakis. So you are recognized for 5 minutes.
        Mrs. Harshbarger. He is a traitor, just so you know.
        Anyway, thank you, Mr. Chairman and Ranking Member.
        Thank you to the witnesses for being here today.
        I have got a lot of worries about this NIL. And I have two
    grandsons coming up. They love football, basketball, the whole
    9 yards.
        I worry about the number of times they can go through the
    portal. I worry about the agents and the collectives.
        Is there a standardization? Do they need to have some type
    of accreditation? And I worry about no limit on outside money.
        But I guess my first question, we are going to talk to Mr.
    Egbo, because you are a Wildcat. And I went to high school, I
    was a Wildcat. And once a Wildcat, always a Wildcat. Just so
    you know.
        In your opinion, how many times can a student-athlete
    transfer without expecting shortfalls to their educational
    attainment? Would it be once, twice, five times, eight times,
    in your opinion?
        Mr. Egbo. Yes. I don't know if I have that answer. Actually
    I do know that I don't have that answer.
        But I do think thatevery student-athlete is different at
    the stage that they enter into the portal. Some are grad
    students that have earned their degree already and are looking
    for a new opportunity. And others are 18-, 19-year-old kids
    that are for whatever case entering the portal.
        So I just do think that there are different situations and
    circumstances. But I don't know the answer to that.
        Mrs. Harshbarger. I know. We are trying to figure that out.
        I guess my followup to you is, Does transferring during the
    semester affect a student-athlete's academic success?
        Mr. Egbo. I mean, without question, in my opinion. I don't
    think that it is hard to see that a midsemester transfer is
    very disruptive to the educational principles that Coach Beamer
    mentioned before.
        At the end of the day, education is at the forefront and at
    the foundation of what we are trying to do.
        Mrs. Harshbarger. Absolutely.
        Mr. Egbo. So protecting that is important.
        Mrs. Harshbarger. I agree.
        This goes to Coach Beamer.
        If other schools follow the dynamic approach to NIL that
    schools in the SEC have, where do you think college football
    will be in 5 years?
        Mr. Beamer. Well, if there is a national standard in
    regards to the legislation, but also with revenue sharing
    coming in with the optimism of the settlement next month, to me
    it will level the playing field for programs across the country
    if we are all playing by the same rules, if we have the
    legislation and enforcement to back that.
        Mrs. Harshbarger. Thank you.
        Mr. Whitman, this will go to you and Coach Beamer. Should
    university revenue sharing include performance-based bonuses?
    Like, say, in Mr. Beamer's case you have got a quarterback that
    throws 3,000 yards and you beat Clemson. Should he get a bonus?
        You start, Mr. Whitman, and then we will go back to Coach
    Beamer.
        Mr. Whitman. It is an interesting question.
        I think it is important to remember under the terms of the
    settlement the payments to our student-athletes will come in
    the form of NIL licenses. And so the idea of being in the
    performance bonus context--that the better a student-athlete
    performs, then the more valuable their NIL license becomes for
    the use by the institution or by the athletics program.
        And so we certainly are contemplating a system that would
    permit performance bonuses. I think a different question is how
    those are ultimately accounted for in terms of the cap
    structure that is being developed. But ultimately, we think
    performance bonuses have a place. Whether institutions
    ultimately choose to use them or not is a different question.
        I think one of the intentions of this process is to allow
    each school a lot of autonomy to determine for itself how best
    to structure its contracts and its relationships with its
    student-athletes to make their institution as appealing as
    possible to potential student-athletes.
        Mrs. Harshbarger. Great.
        Mr. Beamer. Which I would agree with Mr. Whitman. In fact,
    that is a conversation that I literally just had yesterday
    morning with Dawn Staley, our women's basketball coach at South
    Carolina, in regards to bonuses. And yes, ma'am, if a player
    for us plays his tail off against Clemson and allows us to win,
    yes, absolutely.
        Mrs. Harshbarger. Sorry, young man. I knew he was going to
    say that.
        Mr. Beamer. He got the first dig in.
        Mrs. Harshbarger. Yes, exactly. All right.
        This goes to Coach Beamer and Mr. Whitman.
        How should student-athletes' fair market value be
    generated? I know you are speechless.
        Mr. Whitman. It is a really important question. And
    certainly we are champions of our student-athletes' NIL rights.
    It is important that we look for ways to separate through
    market-based, arm's-length transactions that support our
    student-athletes in their legitimate NIL interests from the
    synthetic, artificial, competitive-based NIL opportunities that
    have been created over the last handful of years.
        And so we certainly don't have an interest in micromanaging
    those opportunities for our student-athletes. In fact, we want
    to continue to try and help facilitate and create those in the
    ways that are permitted under the most recent changes to NCAA
    rules.
        But it is important that we do try and create some system
    to monitor that to create some level of transparency. Our
    student-athletes want that transparency. Those working within
    our system want that transparency.
        And ultimately, we also know that this isn't going to be a
    perfect system at the outset, and we will continue to evaluate
    it and improve upon it. But we feel confident that here at the
    beginning, as we develop a clearinghouse with a partner like
    Deloitte, a very reputable firm, that we will be in a strong
    position to make those assessments.
        Mr. Beamer. And I would agree the fair market value of
    range of compensation, there is no cap on that. I want to be
    clear that we are all for our student-athletes being able to
    make as much as they possibly can in legitimate NIL outside
    income. But what we need is transparency and a clearinghouse,
    like we are saying, that will give us the teeth in that.
        Mrs. Harshbarger. OK, very good.
        Mr. Bilirakis. And we want to take into consideration that
    some of the players, such as the offensive linemen--we have a
    Senator--I mean, we have maybe a future Senator--but a center
    right here--that they also be compensated as well fairly, even
    though they don't get the recognition they deserve.
        Mrs. Harshbarger. Yes, really. I love the offensive line,
    just FYI. All right.
        Mr. Bilirakis. They spell relief.
        Mrs. Harshbarger. I yield back.
        Mr. Bilirakis. OK, I--Representative Trahan.
        Mrs. Trahan. Well, thank you, Mr. Chairman.
        And thank you for our witnesses here today, especially our
    players.
        The state of college athletics, while imperfect, is better
    today than it was 4 years ago. Now, it may not be better for
    the people who have historically benefited from the guise of
    amateurism, but it is certainly better for athletes, and those
    are the folks who have always created the value in this
    industry.
        But while I celebrate the progress, I remain concerned
    about the inequities that persist in college athletics. And
    with respect to NIL, I worry that universities' plan to finally
    share revenue directly with athletes could again shortchange
    women at a time when women's sports are seeing a massive surge
    in popularity.
        Mr. Whitman, are you aware of the tentative agreement in
    the House v. NCAA lawsuit that will require the NCAA to pay out
    nearly $2.8 billion in damages to current and former athletes
    dating back to 2016, with 75 percent going to football players,
    15 percent for men's basketball players, 5 percent for women
    basketball players, and 5 percent for all other athletes?
        Mr. Whitman. I am aware, yes.
        Mrs. Trahan. I figured. And great. I wouldn't expect any
    other answer.
        You must also be familiar with the filing in that case by
    Barbara Osborne, an independent Title IX specialist with
    extensive experience auditing collegiate institutions, who
    studied the House Settlement terms.
        If the lopsided terms of the House Settlement were used in
    an institution, Ms. Osborne claimed she would have advised the
    institution that they were violating Title IX.
        Mr. Chairman, I ask unanimous consent to enter Ms.
    Osborne's report on the gender inequities present in the House
    Settlement revenue model into the record.
        Mr. Bilirakis. Without objection.
        [The information appears at the conclusion of the
    hearing.\1\]
    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
        \1\ The report has been retained in committee files and is included
    in the Documents for the Record at https://docs.house.gov/meetings/IF/
    IF17/20250304/117989/HHRG-119-IF17-20250304-SD003.pdf.
    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
        Mrs. Trahan. Thank you.
        Mr. Whitman, you advocate that Congress codify a revenue-
    sharing framework that is--and I am quoting here from your
    testimony--``largely in line with what is contemplated by the
    House Settlement.''
        Your testimony comes amid reports that Power 5 schools,
    like the University of Georgia, are already planning to use
    those same thresholds in their future revenue-sharing model
    scheduled to take effect later this year.
        Mr. Whitman, can you understand why many current and former
    women athletes, like myself, are alarmed that NCAA institutions
    and leaders are adopting a revenue-sharing model that only
    gives women at most 10 percent?
        Mr. Whitman. Thank you for the question, Congresswoman.
        This is an issue that has weighed heavily on our campuses
    as we have tried to evaluate how to apply an old--50-year-old
    law to a new set of facts that weren't contemplated when that
    law was passed.
        And we have worked very earnestly to consult with a variety
    of different counsel to gain some clarity on that issue. And
    all that we have learned through those conversations is there
    seems to be some lack of consensus around exactly how that law
    will apply to these new opportunities that we can make
    available to our student-athletes.
        What we know is that we are seeing an explosion in
    popularity in women's sports. We know that people who work in
    college athletics remain very strong champions of advancement
    amongst our women's teams. But we also see that we are faced
    with some really challenging balancing of equities in a case
    like this one.
        If we were to apply Title IX in the sense of the
    traditional financial aid balancing proportionality, we would
    potentially be diverting money away from the athletes who
    generate that revenue, many of whom are student-athletes of
    color, many of whom come from underprivileged backgrounds.
        On the flip side, we understand that if we were to maintain
    those revenues with the student-athletes who generate it, we
    wouldn't be potentially passing as much of it along to our
    female student-athletes.
        And so it creates a really challenging dynamic for us to
    navigate on campus. What we know----
        Mrs. Trahan. Which is why I asked that question, because as
    you are aware in your role as director of athletics, Title IX
    requires that if a school awards financial assistance to
    athletes, they must, quote, ``provide reasonable opportunities
    for such awards for members of each sex in proportion to the
    number of students of each sex participating in interscholastic
    or intercollegiate athletics,'' end quote.
        Surely the model that Georgia and other schools plan to use
    cannot comply with Title IX.
        Mr. Whitman. We don't think that has been identified or
    established. We think there is a lack of clarity around how
    Title IX will apply to these new payments.
        We currently comply with Title IX. We are required to
    comply with Title IX. We have every intentions of continuing to
    comply with Title IX.
        Mrs. Trahan. Well, at a time when women haven't seen their
    fair market value because they have never had the benefit of
    promotion or boosting, at a time when women's fandom of college
    sports is surging, I would hope that we would not base forward-
    looking and forward-looking frameworks for how we are going to
    distribute those revenues based on a model where women were
    shortchanged.
        So I thank you for the extra time, Mr. Chairman, and I
    yield back.
        Mr. Bilirakis. The gentlelady yields back.
        Mr. Whitman. If I could just for one final statement to
    that: It is important to note that at the University of
    Illinois our women student-athletes will receive far more
    benefits in the new paradigm than they have in the previous,
    and that includes scholarships, that includes NIL payments, it
    includes a number of different benefits that will now be made
    available by virtue of the settlement. And so that--it is an
    important note to make.
        Mr. Bilirakis. Thank you. Thank you. The gentlelady yields
    back.
        Now I will recognize Mr. Obernolte for your 5 minutes of
    questioning.
        Mr. Obernolte. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
        And thank you to our witnesses.
        This hearing is on a topic that is very important and
    deeply personal to me. A little-known fact: I was a student-
    athlete many years ago. When I was in college I played on the
    Cal Tech football team--go, Beavers--when there was a Cal Tech
    football team. And given the high quality and caliber of
    student-athletes at our witness table, you would probably argue
    that doesn't count, and maybe it doesn't.
        But then later in my life I got into video game
    development. And my company did the development of NCAA college
    football for EA Sports for a couple of years in 1998 and 1999.
    And I remember vividly having the argument of, like, why can't
    we use the student-athletes' names in the game? They told us
    that we could use your number, we could use your stats, we
    would make a player that looked vaguely like you but not too
    much like you.
        And I remember vividly saying this is completely stupid
    because everybody loses. The student-athletes lose because they
    are not allowed to get compensated. We as game designers lose
    because we are not allowed to design a game around the
    athletes, as we wanted to. The players of the game lose because
    they are not allowed to see the players that they love and
    recognize in the games that they bought.
        So we have an opportunity here to create a system where
    everybody wins, where student-athletes are allowed to play the
    game and the sports that they love, where colleges are allowed
    to benefit from having these sports, where millions of fans
    around the country are allowed to participate in these sports
    and root their teams on.
        So I guess my message is let's not mess it up, because we
    need to create a system here where everybody wins. And if we
    create a system where someone loses, then we are not doing our
    jobs right.
        So one of the kind of recurring themes that has been in
    today's testimony has been around this question of whether or
    not student-athletes are employees. And I think it is really
    interesting because it fits into a larger debate that we are
    having here in Congress about whether or not when someone says,
    ``Look, I don't want to be an employee,'' and an entity says,
    ``I don't want to be an employer,'' does the Federal Government
    have the right to step in and say, ``You both lose, you are
    going to be employee and employer''?
        And I think it is particularly compelling that I have heard
    our student-athletes say loud and clear today that they don't
    want to be treated as employees.
        So, Ms. Cole, I know in your testimony you said that
    classifying athletes as employees is not the right answer. Can
    you talk a little bit about why you feel that way?
        Ms. Cole. Yes, absolutely. Thank you so much for your
    question, Congressman.
        I mainly, as I touched on in my testimony, am just focused
    on continuing to promote and grow the equity with Olympic and
    women's sports as well, and I do believe that the employment
    model could make that extremely difficult.
        Mr. Obernolte. Mr. Whitman, you had said in your testimony
    that one of the things that you would like Congress to do is to
    clarify that the relationship between school and students is
    not that of employer and employee. Why do you think that that
    is not the right model?
        Mr. Whitman. I think it is not the right model on a number
    of different levels.
        First and foremost, from the perspective of the student-
    athletes, I think it creates very real questions around the
    taxability of some of the benefits that they are already
    receiving as part of our system.
        I think it ultimately could result in less freedom for them
    in terms of the mobility to move from one school to the next.
        I think it ultimately could create less protections, I
    think, in terms of their status on the team, the opportunity to
    be cut or fired if they are not performing at a certain level.
        And ultimately, as we have heard from several witnesses
    today, the opportunity to lose roster spots across all of
    college athletics as a result of forcing schools to support
    this compensation.
        And importantly, they don't want to be employees. I have
    had the privilege in the last 15 years of my career to work
    every day with student-athletes. I take a lot of pride in
    having a great relationship with them, of having an
    understanding of their experience on our campus and what we can
    do to improve upon it.
        Not once have I had a student-athlete come to me and say,
    ``Mr. Whitman, I would really like to be an employee of this
    institution.''
        I think we are developing a model through the House
    Settlement that allows us to address many of their concerns. We
    are putting us in a position to provide them with additional
    compensation.
        We are in a position now to offer them more scholarships.
    We are doing things at the University of Illinois like
    providing continuing education after they have broken time with
    the university, if they want to come back and complete their
    degrees.
        We offer enhanced medical care where our student-athletes
    are actually the beneficiaries of what I would call concierge
    medical service. They receive 24/7 care from independent
    medical authorities who provide care to our student-athletes
    independent of any oversight or supervision from coaches or
    administrators.
        And ultimately, they want a greater voice. And I think that
    we are looking for ways to develop that through SAAC, through
    some of the opportunities that we have given student-athletes
    to provide feedback on our campus, whether that is in the form
    of exit surveys, end-of-the-season interviews, and more
    informal conversations with administrators who are embedded
    with their programs.
        Ultimately, our student-athletes are the beneficiaries of a
    very robust system and opportunity. That system continues to
    need tweaking. But ultimately, designating them as employees is
    not that answer.
        Mr. Obernolte. Thank you, everyone, for your testimony.
        And I just in conclusion want to reinforce I think that
    there is a win-win-win here. And I am hoping that Congress can
    work together with the NCAA and the schools and the athletes to
    make that happen.
        I yield back.
        Mr. Bilirakis. I agree. Thank you. The gentleman yields
    back.
        Now we have Ms. Clarke from the great State of New York.
    You are recognized for your 5 minutes of questioning.
        Ms. Clarke. Thank you. And good afternoon, Chairman
    Bilirakis, Ranking Member Schakowsky. And thank you to our
    panel of witnesses for joining us today.
        The NCAA's decision in 2021 to finally allow college
    athletes to capitalize on the value of their name, image, and
    likeness in the open market was undoubtedly correct and also
    long overdue.
        For years, the NCAA was content to rake in profits from the
    multibillion-dollar business of college sports while hiding
    behind the inherently flawed and totally made-up concept of
    amateurism as justification for maintaining an unpaid labor
    force primarily comprised of Black and Brown student-athletes.
        Now that the college athletes have the ability to pursue
    their true worth on the open market as a result of public
    pressure, court decisions, and State-level action which forced
    the NCAA's hand, we are expected to believe that college sports
    is in a crisis and on the verge of collapse simply because the
    jobs of highly paid coaches and administrators have become
    slightly more difficult. I don't buy it.
        Ending the legalized exploitation of an unpaid labor force
    is an inherent good and one we should not seek to put
    unnecessary restraints on.
        If we want to talk about protecting college athletes, let's
    do that. Let's talk about meeting the long-term healthcare
    needs of former college athletes who have suffered grievous
    injuries on the fields of play. Let's talk about guaranteed
    scholarships for 4 years.
        Let's talk about the quality of education these young
    people receive when the sport they participate in requires time
    commitments tantamount to full-time jobs and requires more
    travel than almost any other job.
        Let's talk about the revenue sharing or the multibillion-
    dollar contracts that the NCAA and Power 4 conferences earn on
    the backs of these young people who are overwhelmingly students
    of color in the revenue-generating sports.
        We could even talk about the role of agents and their
    brokers in the new NIL landscape or the attempts to
    artificially cap the amount a student-athlete can earn in
    revenue sharing and NIL deals.
        But let's not pretend that a young person's ability to be
    compensated for the use of their own name, image, and likeness
    is some kind of crisis in need of an urgent congressional
    action when there are far more pressing issues this committee
    could take up.
        In fact, if we really want to dive into the core issues
    facing college sports, in addition to hearing from today's
    panelists we need to hear directly from the power players
    involved in the business of college sports: the NCAA; the
    College Football Playoff and the commissioners of the Power 4
    conferences, particularly the Southeastern Conference, the Big
    Ten Conference; the college athletes who have sued the NCAA for
    violating their rights and failing to protect their health and
    welfare; the collectives that are helping to funnel money to
    students and universities; the agents who claim to represent
    the best interest of the college athletes but too often fail to
    do so; and the accountants who think they can figure out the
    fair market value of an NIL deal, despite the fact that
    corporations large and small are willing to pay ever more money
    for endorsements from superstars like former LSU basketball
    player Angel Reese.
        While I appreciate the desire to examine the issues related
    to college athletics and the well-being of our student-
    athletes, the lack of participation from the powers that be and
    all participants in the diverse and complicated ecosystem,
    likely in part due to the beginning of March Madness, means
    that we are not ready to address these issues in a very serious
    way.
        So I look forward to the opportunity to do so in the
    future.
        Having said that, Mr. Chairman, I yield back the balance of
    my time.
        Mr. Bilirakis. Thank you, Ms. Clarke.
        The Chair recognizes Rep. Houchin for 5 minutes, please.
        Mrs. Houchin. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and to Ranking
    Member Schakowsky for holding this hearing.
        Thanks to the witnesses for your testimony. We really
    appreciate your time and your insight.
        This issue is especially important for my home State of
    Indiana, as we have nearly 60 colleges and universities across
    the State, including Curt Cignetti's Indiana University Hoosier
    football team in my district.
        In fact, in 2014 IU was the first university in the Nation
    to establish a student-athlete bill of rights, which enshrined
    protections and commitments for IU student-athletes. And they
    were also one of the first universities to implement an NIL
    policy.
        Mr. Whitman, you are a fellow Hoosier from West Lafayette.
    I appreciated your testimony and that of Coach Beamer and, Mr.
    Egbo, your emphasis on the impossible patchwork of State laws.
        As a member of the Indiana General Assembly and the State
    senate, I was hoping to tackle a data privacy issue for our
    State. I sent the proposed text of legislation to some
    stakeholders, and they promptly replied: Please do not file
    this bill. We don't want to have abide by 50 different State
    laws.
        And that is exactly what the States are currently doing
    with NIL. I may be the only State legislator in history to kill
    her own bill, but I did at that point because I understood the
    assignment.
        So with that experience, I certainly appreciate the need
    for a national standard and framework. I would like to hear,
    though, from Director Whitman and Coach Beamer, How is the lack
    of a national standard impacting competition and recruiting
    between universities and States with different or no NIL laws?
        Director Whitman, if you would like to go first.
        Mr. Whitman. Thank you, Congresswoman.
        The lack of clarity and the lack of transparency has become
    very challenging in the recruiting space in terms of the
    competitive field. At the end of the day, we are trying to
    create national competition with absence of a national
    framework, and that is a really difficult place for us to be.
        The idea here is not to figure out who can build the best
    cars, it is to figure out who drives the car the best. And
    ultimately, the rules that are being passed State by State are
    standing in the way of really determining who puts together the
    best program, who builds the right things culturally from a
    leadership perspective, from a strategy perspective.
        Coach Beamer and his colleagues work really hard to go out
    and compete on the most level playing field we can create. But
    the result of these State laws is that the State laws are
    ultimately influencing what that playing field looks like, and
    I don't believe that is an appropriate place for our State
    legislatures to be.
        Mrs. Houchin. Coach Beamer?
        Mr. Beamer. Yes, I would agree.
        And also, I know Ms. Clarke had to step out, but she and I
    are on the exact same page in what we are trying to get done.
        She alluded to rogue agents that aren't certified. I
    completely agree. We need to protect our student-athletes from
    these uncertified rogue agents.
        She talked about healthcare. I agree. I think we should
    expand healthcare after their careers are over as we look at
    that, as well. But it is a challenge to do that because she
    mentioned the NCAA is constantly getting sued of anything they
    try to enforce.
        To answer your question, it is a challenge. We are all
    extremely competitive, whether it is Mr. Fry's Gamecocks or
    your Hoosiers or Mr. Fulcher's Boise State Broncos or the
    Florida State Seminoles, and everyone is trying to find a
    competitive advantage.
        And no one is here today saying that they are against the
    portal, they are against NIL, they are against expanding
    resources for our players. We are all just trying to get a
    uniform standard that benefits all of us, the schools, the
    administrations, and the student-athletes.
        Mrs. Houchin. Thank you.
        We have a saying in my office as we are trying to
    anticipate unintended consequences. We say the mouse will find
    the cheese. It seems like the States are getting very creative
    in how to give their teams a competitive advantage through
    their NIL State laws.
        I want to touch just briefly on the current lawsuit and
    impending settlement. Could either of you speak to the lack of
    Title IX protection and clarification within the settlement and
    why Congress might need to weigh in on how the NIL dollars are
    allocated? Whichever one thinks they can best answer that.
        Mr. Whitman. I am happy to do that.
        My understanding is that the Title IX question has not been
    put directly in front of the judge and that she has declined to
    opine on that particular issue because it is not germaine to
    the conflict that is being evaluated.
        And my understanding is, when it comes it the distribution
    of the back-payment damages, those are decisions that are being
    led by plaintiff's counsel, not by the judge, not by the
    defendants, certainly. And so how they have chosen to build
    that algorithm and allocate those dollars is really a decision
    that has been left to those attorneys.
        Mrs. Houchin. Thank you.
        And, in closing, I just would like to take a quote from Mr.
    Egbo's testimony, because I think it perfectly encapsulates
    what we need to do on this issue of NIL.
        He says, ``I'm asking you to help student-athletes by
    creating uniformity and stability with NIL, protecting us from
    employment status classification, and ensuring consistent rules
    can be made and enforced.''
        I hope we can achieve that through our work in this
    committee.
        Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I yield back.
        Mr. Fulcher [presiding]. Thank you, Mrs. Houchin.
        The Chair now recognizes Representative Dingell for 5
    minutes.
        Mrs. Dingell. Thank you, Mr. Chairman and Ranking Member
    Schakowsky.
        As those of you know--and I am from Michigan. College
    sports are a big deal. I am committed to ensuring all athletes
    are treated fairly, female athletes are protected and
    supported, and the integrity of college sports is maintained.
        As we figure this out, it is well known that women's sports
    often do not receive the same support, promotion, recognition,
    or attention as men's sports programs at schools, in the media,
    and elsewhere. So we have to address this as we are doing all
    this. We have to strengthen Title IX, improve gender equity in
    NIL, and ensure collective schools and conferences distribute
    resources more equitably.
        In April 2024, the GAO reported that 93 percent of
    institutions with athletic programs failed to meet Title IX
    participation standards. And data shows female athletes are
    shortchanged over a billion dollars annually in scholarships.
        Schools continue to invest more in promoting men's sports,
    and the success of revenue programs has enhanced male athletes'
    NIL and recruiting value. Schools are indicating that they will
    be giving men's basketball and football players 90 percent of
    the new revenue-sharing payments, up to $20 million a year for
    the next decade, and publicly saying these payments don't count
    against Title IX.
        Mr. Whitman, how can thoughtful NIL policy promote women's
    sports programs and bridge these disparities in treatment?
        Mr. Whitman. Thank you, Congresswoman.
        Title IX has been absolutely instrumental in the
    advancement of college athletics. You would be hard-pressed to
    find any law that has had bigger impacts on the opportunities
    for students across this country over the last five decades
    than Title IX.
        And, as I mentioned earlier, we are thrilled by the
    explosion in interest in women's sports. We have seen a
    volleyball match that was played in front of 90,000 people at
    the University of Nebraska. We have seen women's basketball
    played in a football stadium at Iowa. We saw a women's
    basketball national championship game that outdrew the men's
    counterpart on national television.
        We have seen the NCAA now for the first time begin to
    reward women's basketball performance, with the adoption of the
    Women's Basketball Performance Fund--a hugely important change
    that was recently adopted by the national organization.
        We have seen some of these changes happening on our own
    campus at the University of Illinois. We have attendance and
    revenue records happening in women's basketball, volleyball. We
    have made real investments recently in our soccer program,
    track and field.
        Ultimately, as I mentioned earlier, we have an obligation
    and are complying with Title IX. And we have every intention of
    continuing to comply with Title IX as we move forward.
        There do continue to be some questions around how Title IX
    will apply to these new payments. It has been a question that
    has needed clarity for some time. We continue to seek that
    clarity. I expect that will reveal itself in the months and
    years ahead.
        Every person who sits in my chair understands our Federal
    obligations and will adapt our policy and our strategy to be in
    line with whatever clarification we ultimately receive.
        Mrs. Dingell. Thank you. We really do have to work on this.
    And I always have Hutch who is trying to help me figure it out.
        In February 2025, the Trump administration rescinded
    guidance that required NIL payments in college athletics to be
    proportionally available to male and female athletes under
    Title IX.
        Ms. Cole, do you think this decision undermines Title IX's
    goal of ensuring equal opportunity for women in sports?
        Ms. Cole. I am not familiar with this topic and not able to
    speak on the question.
        Mrs. Dingell. OK. Thank you. I may ask you to familiarize
    yourself and get you to answer for the record.
        Traditionally, all sponsorship, gate receipts, donations,
    and TV revenue go into one pot that supports all sports without
    discriminating on the basis of sex. This commitment has made
    the United States a world power in Olympics and a global
    powerhouse.
        Mr. Whitman--I am coming to you again--can you tell us what
    an overhaul of this precedent would mean for the athletes?
        Mr. Whitman. I am sorry, Congresswoman. Can you clarify
    what--overhaul of which precedent?
        Mrs. Dingell. That all the sponsorship, gate receipts,
    donations, and TV revenue go into one pot that supports all
    sports without discriminating on the basis of sex. That has
    made the Olympics a success.
        Mr. Whitman. I don't see that changing. And certainly at
    the University of Illinois, our intent is for our resources to
    continue to support all of our student-athletes.
        And we do believe, under the House Settlement, we will be
    in a position to offer additional benefits to every student-
    athlete in our program, whether those benefits take the form of
    additional scholarships, potential NIL payments, or some of the
    additional benefits that are now made available by virtue of
    the House Settlement.
        Our intention is to continue to invest heavily in the
    experience of every student-athlete who wears the orange and
    blue, and we think the House Settlement provides us an even
    greater tool set to approach that opportunity.
        Mr. Fulcher. Thank you.
        The gentlelady's time has expired.
        The Chair recognizes Representative Fry for 5 minutes,
    please.
        Mr. Fry. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and I think it has been a
    great hearing.
        And I appreciate the witnesses for being here, for your
    expertise, your professionalism. It is a really important
    issue, I think, that touches a lot of aspects in our country.
    People like college sports. They want to see it succeed.
        And it is great to have two of South Carolina's finest
    higher institutions present from our football programs, but
    there is only one university--South Carolina, sir. Go,
    Gamecocks.
        And for the Californians in the room, ``USC'' stands for
    ``South Carolina'' and not ``Southern California.'' We were an
    institution before you were a State.
        That being said, the NCAA--I think the prior scheme, you
    had a very restrictive, not player-focused scheme that, you
    know, you went to school, you got a scholarship, there wasn't
    many other benefits that were afforded to you, maybe not the
    correct legal protections.
        And, of course, we have seen that go the opposite way,
    right? And I think, in some ways, people welcome that, that
    players that are adults--they are 18 years old--are going and
    capitalizing on their talent, on their NIL, their name, image,
    and likeness. But there are some real concerns, right? And we
    have heard that.
        Last year, I filed the Protect the BALL Act, right, which
    was a shield, if you will, for institutions. And the idea was
    that you wanted to give the breathing room between the NCAA,
    the colleges, the conferences, and the players to figure out
    the framework.
        But we have, as has been alluded to--I think Mrs. Houchin
    talked about it--a patchwork of State laws. You have States
    that are--Coach Beamer talked about competition, but you have
    State legislators that are invested in preserving and enhancing
    their State institutions. And so there are some dangers on the
    horizon on where we go from this when States are doing their
    own thing.
        And I think the big thing that we have talked about here
    seems to be a level of preemption that is needed, right, that
    you cannot have a patchwork of 50 State laws, that you have to
    have one standard, the framework maybe being provided by
    Congress, but most of that effort being provided by the
    institutions themselves, the players, the families that are
    affected, the conferences, and, of course, the NCAA.
        That seems to be, I think, where we need to go, right, that
    this is a collaboration between those who are engaged in the
    space. It isn't a mandated, top-down, heavy mandate from
    Congress, but there are some frameworks that should be
    available to allow college sports to thrive, that focuses on
    the players, that focuses on the college athlete experience.
        And with that being said, Coach Beamer, obviously, with
    that backdrop, how has NIL changed just recruiting in general?
    Football, but you have, I am sure, heard stories from, you
    know, Dawn Staley or whomever. How has that changed the
    recruiting aspect of college athletics?
        Mr. Beamer. Thank you for the question. And thanks for all
    you do for the great State of South Carolina, Mr. Fry. And
    great to see you again as well. As you know, this is my third
    time to Washington, DC, in the last couple years on this issue.
    So appreciate everyone being here today to listen to us as
    well.
        It has certainly changed things, in regards to when you are
    recruiting a student-athlete, finding out what is important to
    them. And, certainly, name, image, and likeness is another
    aspect of that, without a doubt.
        But we are really well situated at the University of South
    Carolina because of the things that we have to offer beyond
    NIL. As I mentioned, we are in the capital city, and there are
    so many opportunities for our student-athletes at the
    University of South Carolina.
        And schools across the country should have advantages, from
    a recruiting standpoint, because they have great academics--
    which we do--they have great coaches--which in all of our
    sports we do--great development, and not necessarily who pays
    the most.
        And that is what has happened in so many instances as well.
    It is still about the educational experience, on and off the
    field, with everyone.
        Mr. Fry. For sure.
        Coach, do you think that a Federal standard--and I think
    you testified to this earlier, but do you think a Federal
    standard would level the playing field in college athletics?
        Mr. Beamer. Yes.
        Mr. Fry. OK.
        And, obviously, you said that college sports should be less
    about money. It is about the education, and it is about the
    experience.
        What guidance or structure do you believe would help ensure
    that NIL remains a tool for empowerment rather than a
    distraction?
        Mr. Beamer. Obviously, with the settlement next month, with
    revenue sharing, that is going to help things. We will have a
    real enforcement arm behind that, is the way it is trending
    right now, which would be very beneficial for all coaches, all
    sports. And then, as Mr. Whitman mentioned, a clearinghouse for
    any outside income beyond revenue share, which we are all for.
        And our student-athletes at South Carolina--as you know,
    A'ja Wilson, a former women's basketball player, has a statue
    outside our basketball arena. So there are fantastic
    opportunities for all of our student-athletes with national
    legislation.
        Mr. Fry. Coach, finally--and I will go over here just
    briefly, but--you know, I think, collectively, we have talked
    about maybe some of the Olympic-style sports, we have talked
    about some of the smaller schools and how they might be
    impacted.
        How do you see NIL affecting those Olympic-type sports? And
    can Congress help to protect those types of sports for college
    athletes?
        Mr. Fulcher. Very quickly, please.
        Mr. Beamer. Yes, sir.
        No, I would say this. With the terms of the settlement--and
    I am not a legal expert. I will defer to someone that is. But
    the way I understand it, Mr. Fry, with the terms of the
    settlement, all of our Olympic sports, there is an unintended
    consequence. There are going to be some roster spots that are
    cut. But all members of the Olympic sports, nonrevenue sports,
    going forward will be on scholarship. So, in so many ways, that
    has bettered their situation.
        Mr. Fulcher. Thank you, Mr. Beamer.
        Mr. Fry. Thank you.
        Mr. Fulcher. The Chair recognizes Representative Veasey for
    5 minutes.
        Mr. Veasey. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
        First of all, I want to say thanks to each and every one of
    you for coming to testify.
        I want to, for Mr. Egbo, wanted to give a special shout-out
    to him. My uncle, back in the 1960s, before the now-defunct
    Southwest Conference started accepting Black athletes, he had
    an opportunity and graduated from Abilene Christian University.
    And so I have--my late uncle. So we have Abilene Christian
    University, a shared value there.
        So welcome.
        Mr. Beamer, we are here to talk about NIL, and I will tell
    you that I think that one thing that the Southeast Conference
    is facing--and I talked a little bit--touched on that earlier
    when I mentioned the Southwest Conference and integration. I
    think that the SEC, particularly, with all of the Governors and
    wokeness and DEI that they are bringing to these college
    campuses, I think you all are going to run a lot of the
    brothers off, honestly. I will be straight-up with you. You all
    need to figure out how you are going to make your campus
    comfortable for the Black athletes that are playing there, with
    all of this rhetoric around some of these topics.
        Mr. Whitman, I wanted to also point out, you talked about
    the grades, and I think that you are right-on to mention that.
    What worries me--and everybody knows it, it is not anything
    new--that, in order for players to stay eligible and in order
    for players to be able to participate, that there are certain
    degrees that are off limits, certain degrees that make it
    really tough for them to be able to major in if they don't want
    to be moved down the depth chart and if they want to be able to
    stay on the team.
        And so it is great to talk about that education is still
    one of the priorities, but everybody knows that that game has
    gone on for a long time, that there were players that had all
    these credits and the credits absolutely led to nothing, or
    they get a degree in something like general education to where
    there is not really a lot that they can do with it and no one
    really knows what those degrees are for.
        And so I am glad that you are talking about the education,
    but that brings me to my first question. I want to talk about--
    and I know that you are not from UCLA, but I want to just
    mention this. They are going to travel over 22,000 miles this
    season, going from the West Coast all the way over to the East
    Coast. And Stanford, USC, Washington, other schools are going
    to face those same demanding itineraries. And this is going to
    be disruptive to their academics.
        And so, with knowing that you are going to have that
    increased physical and mental fatigue that is going to be
    taking place, how is that good for the student-athletes? I
    really don't understand that. These increased travel schedules,
    I am just curious, how have athletes been able to work around
    that, and how has it impacted them academically?
        Mr. Whitman. Thank you for the question, Congressman.
        We have had the chance now at the University of Illinois to
    participate in the expanded Big Ten since the beginning of the
    fall, and so I have some firsthand experience watching a number
    of our teams make those trips.
        The thing that I would remind you is that we continue to
    try and champion our student-athletes both in their academic
    and their athletic pursuits. And in the expanded Big Ten
    footprint, just as an example, for schools that compete at the
    level that we do, we are used to traveling nationally. Our
    student-athletes in all of our sports travel extensively,
    across the country, to participate in their nonconference
    competition.
        And so, for Illinois, we have now replaced some of those
    nonconference competitions maybe in California or Texas or
    Florida with now conference competitions. And so the chance for
    them is not that much different than what it was before.
        Mr. Veasey. Yes.
        Mr. Whitman. And we are also able to provide them with
    robust academic support. We have tutors and academic advisers
    who travel with our student-athletes to help them study when
    they are traveling----
        Mr. Veasey. And I am sorry to cut you off, but I might run
    out of time. I wanted to ask Mr. Falcinelli about that too.
        Could you touch on that?
        Mr. Falcinelli. Yes. We had a number of games, and
    traveling across the country is incredibly taxing.
        And especially to the point of--I really want to get on the
    point of your practice schedule far outweighs your academic
    schedule, to where the majority of your time as a college
    athlete is spent on your sport and your workouts and your team
    meetings and your practices, traveling for games, to where I
    have had a number of times where you are getting off that bus,
    returning from a game at 7 in the morning, and the sun is
    coming up, and you are thinking, great, on the way to meetings,
    and then back to bed, and hopefully I will be awake for class
    on Monday.
        Those long-distance games are very tough and oftentimes
    lead to lack of sleep, to lack of--all these issues that are
    part of it. And athletes do enjoy the pace, athletes are all
    about the grind on it, but it is incredibly difficult and
    taxing to manage having a final later in the week when you are
    not sleeping for part of that week.
        Mr. Veasey. Yes. Thank you very much.
        Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
        Mr. Bilirakis [presiding]. Appreciate it.
        The gentleman yields back.
        I now recognize Mr. Goldman for 5 minutes for your
    questioning.
        Mr. Goldman. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
        Thank you all to the panelists for being here. And, yes, I
    too am a huge fan of women's sports, especially the number 1
    Lady Longhorns right now.
        I will be very brief.
        Mr. Whitman, can you just tell us, in your world, what is
    the number 1 producing revenue sport?
        Mr. Whitman. Football, Congressman.
        Mr. Goldman. Do any of the others make money?
        Mr. Whitman. Men's basketball.
        Mr. Goldman. So just men's football and men's basketball
    are revenue-producing. None of the others are?
        Mr. Whitman. We have two other sports that produce revenue.
    They don't earn profit. And so we also make money through
    women's basketball and volleyball as well.
        Mr. Goldman. So they make revenue--you know, I mean, you
    put it perfectly. They make revenue but not profit.
        Mr. Whitman. Yes, sir.
        Mr. Goldman. So how do you all divide what goes everywhere
    else?
        Mr. Whitman. I am sorry?
        Mr. Goldman. How do you divide what goes everywhere else?
        Mr. Whitman. We generate our resources through football,
    men's basketball, women's basketball, volleyball, and then we
    redistribute that money out to fund the experience and the
    opportunities for the remainder of our student-athletes.
        Mr. Goldman. So, again, like, what programs do you decide
    you have or not have based on the revenue that you have coming
    in?
        Mr. Whitman. Ultimately, they are strategic decisions left
    to the discretion of each institution to determine for
    themselves what programs we wish to sponsor and at what level
    of resource we are able to provide them.
        Mr. Goldman. So what is your, let's say--what is your--OK.
    You have football, men's basketball. What is--do you have a
    third? What is number three?
        Mr. Whitman. We have an incredibly competitive men's golf
    program.
        Mr. Goldman. OK. So men's golf, perfect example. What do
    those kids get paid, NIL?
        Mr. Whitman. They do receive NIL contracts. They probably
    don't at many institutions, but at the University of Illinois,
    because of the profile that our golf program enjoys, they are
    the beneficiaries of NIL arrangements.
        Mr. Goldman. So the golfers make money, but the program
    does not.
        Mr. Whitman. Correct.
        Mr. Goldman. Thank you.
        Coach Beamer, thank you very much for being here.
        Can you take us through a normal--and I know SEC now. So
    when a recruit comes in--you go to a home or a recruit comes
    in, what is the first topic of discussion these days?
        Mr. Beamer. We start recruiting them really early, so maybe
    when they are a young player in high school, it is about the
    uniforms and things like that.
        And then, certainly, as they get older and closer to making
    a decision, they want to talk about opportunities in our town,
    they want to talk about academics, they want to talk about
    playing time. We talk about the fan base and the resources and
    the development that our program provides.
        And, certainly, NIL is a topic that comes up, but is it
    typically at the forefront? Not necessarily.
        Mr. Goldman. Define ``not necessarily.'' I mean, let's say
    five-star, four-star recruits, is that not the number 1 topic
    of discussion?
        Mr. Beamer. I wouldn't necessarily say it is the number 1.
    I think, honestly, it really depends on the young man. There
    have been those type of players that have been in my office
    that it is one of the first things that comes up, and there are
    other players that have come in my office and it hasn't come up
    at all.
        Now, I am not naive, to say that outside of my office with
    other people they may be having those conversations. But in
    regards to me, that is the experience that I have with players.
        Mr. Goldman. And what about for the players in the portal?
    Is that----
        Mr. Beamer. Players in the portal, I would say the NIL
    conversation is a little bit more prevalent, because so many of
    those young men in the portal, they have done something at the
    other school in a lot of situations as well.
        Being from the State of Texas, you are familiar with your
    rival, Oklahoma, and Spencer Rattler. Spencer Rattler
    transferred to the University of South Carolina. Spencer had
    accomplished a lot at the University of Oklahoma. Him coming to
    the University of South Carolina, he had proven a lot.
        So, certainly, in situations like that, going forward there
    are NIL conversations that are a little bit more prevalent with
    transfers that have been in college.
        Mr. Goldman. And that is kind of where I am going, right?
        I mean, the whole student body experience, in my opinion,
    is to get an education first. We all know the reality of this
    is, with NIL, with the money in sports now, with the golfers at
    Illinois getting paid more than the program generates, we have
    a major problem in this country. And we have to fix it, and I
    believe now it is up to us to fix it. Because there is no
    equality anymore.
        Mr. Beamer. Right.
        Mr. Goldman. It is who gets paid the most----
        Mr. Beamer. Uh-huh.
        Mr. Goldman [continuing]. And where those players go. And
    if they are unhappy, they transfer. And they can easily
    transfer. And do they go to another academic institution
    because of the programs that they have in education, or
    possibly what they are going to get paid?
        These are 18-, 19-, 20-year-old kids that are out for a
    paycheck rather than an education. And I think it is up to us
    to change that moving forward.
        Thank you all very much for being here today.
        Mr. Bilirakis. The gentleman yields back.
        I now recognize Ms. Kelly for her 5 minutes of questioning.
        Ms. Kelly. Thank you, Chair Bilirakis and Ranking Member
    Schakowsky.
        As we continue with today's hearing, I look forward to
    discussing how we can protect college athletes' ability to
    benefit from NIL and NIH funding for crucial biomedical
    research done at our Nation's colleges and universities.
        As I said in my opening remarks, indirect costs are the
    infrastructure that makes research possible. They are the
    oversight, buildings, utilities, safety protocols, training,
    and regulatory compliance that is a necessary part of medical
    research and particularly critical to clinical studies.
        If these costs are not supported, institutions across the
    Nation, like Lurie Children's Hospital, which is affiliated
    with Northwestern University's Feinberg School of Medicine,
    will lose the ability to continue discovering and delivering
    cutting-edge treatments, and cures and therapies will be
    essentially undermined. In fact, Lurie Children's expects that
    by 2030 we will need to subsidize their infrastructure costs by
    an additional $30 million per year.
        College athletes, particularly those in contact sports like
    football, face significant risk when it comes to long-term
    health, especially concerning head injuries that may not be
    immediately diagnosed.
        Studies have shown that around 10 percent of college
    football players sustain concussions each season, with many
    going undiagnosed and untreated at the time. These injuries,
    particularly repeated concussions, can lead to long-term
    neurological conditions such as CTE, which may not manifest
    symptoms until later years.
        Mr. Whitman, welcome. Given the growing body of research on
    the long-term effects of brain injuries, what steps are
    athletic directors and universities taking to ensure that
    college athletes have access to comprehensive healthcare,
    including ongoing monitoring for head injuries even after they
    have left the field?
        Mr. Whitman. Our student-athletes are the beneficiaries of
    world-class healthcare, concierge healthcare, 24/7 healthcare
    that is managed by independent medical advisors, doctors,
    physicians.
        They are encouraged to receive as many second opinions and
    expert opinions from any medical facility in the country when
    they present with injuries that require that level of
    attention.
        Relative to the head-injury question, we have invested
    heavily as an institution into better safeguards for our
    students-athletes competing in contact sports, particularly in
    football. We now outfit every student-athlete with custom-
    fitted helmets that are built specifically for their head and
    only their head.
        It is one of many changes that have come to college
    athletics here in the last number of years. As technology has
    improved, we have been able to outfit our student-athletes with
    ever-improving equipment that we think can help prevent those
    kinds of long-term injuries.
        We do, as mentioned earlier, provide ongoing healthcare for
    our student-athletes for a number of years after their
    collegiate careers are over. And, again, I think that is now a
    protection that is provided not just at the University of
    Illinois, but it is mandated all across Division I, which is a
    tremendous step in the right direction.
        Ms. Kelly. Thank you. And that is great to hear.
        Mr. Falcinelli, Clemson, which has an enrollment of 76.5
    percent of White students, received over 25 million in 2024
    from NIH to do research. Why is preserving this research
    important to college athletes, especially given the health
    risks they face on the field?
        Mr. Falcinelli. Yes. And as you mentioned with your
    references to CTE, there is so much that can go on there, that
    it is something that is incredibly personal to me as an
    offensive lineman. The average life span of an NFL offensive
    lineman is 55 years old. That is 20 years less than the
    national average.
        And so, while I did not play in the NFL, I sure played a
    lot of snaps, so that is something I think about every day. And
    the research into CTE is something that will be critically
    important to my life and to those many like me.
        And I just want to say, I appreciate Mr. Whitman and the
    way he is running his program there and his emphasis on second
    opinions and independent medical care. And that is the model
    that we as an institution want to see bargained for for all
    institutions everywhere. That is how a college football program
    should be run, and that is the kind of medical treatment that
    all players across the country should be able to have.
        Ms. Kelly. Thank you so much. And I am very proud to hear
    that, since part of his school is in my district.
        So thank you both, and thank you to the witnesses.
        And I yield back.
        Mr. Bilirakis. The gentlelady yields back.
        I now recognize my fellow Florida Gator, Ms. Lee, for her 5
    minutes of questioning.
        Ms. Lee. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Go, Gators.
        And thank you to all of our witnesses for being with us
    here today.
        I would like to go back to you, Mr. Whitman, for some
    followup questions.
        In your testimony, you advocate for Congress to establish a
    uniform name, image, likeness and revenue-sharing framework in
    line with the House Settlement. How do you see the dynamic
    between the collectives and schools changing if we are to
    codify the basic provisions of the settlement?
        Mr. Whitman. Thank you, Congresswoman.
        The question around the relationship between institutions
    and their respective collectives is one that I think is best
    left to those organizations.
        I think there is no question that, in the new environment
    that will be created by the settlement, we expect those
    relationships to evolve.
        I would imagine they would go one of three different
    directions. In one instance, you could see some collectives
    wind down and cease operations. Secondly, you could see some
    collectives that come, quote/unquote, ``in house'' to the
    athletic program and begin to operate internally under the
    umbrella of the athletics department. Or, third, you could see
    some collectives continue to exist separate and apart from the
    athletic program but repurpose their focus and begin to develop
    true market-based NIL opportunities for student-athletes.
        Ms. Lee. And I would also like to discuss the application
    of antitrust laws to collegiate sports and the NCAA.
        In your testimony, you distinguish between a blanket
    exemption and a safe harbor. Why do you believe that a safe
    harbor is appropriate? And why is that important for collegiate
    sports?
        Mr. Whitman. It is important today to understand that we
    have leadership across college athletics that recognizes the
    need for college athletics to evolve and change, to modernize
    the structure that has existed for decades around college
    sports. The challenge that we face is that, every time we try
    and implement new rules, new procedures, we get pulled into
    court under the auspices of the antitrust laws.
        And so we are not looking for Congress to, quote/unquote,
    ``fix'' college sports. We are looking for Congress to create a
    legally defensible space where we can fix college sports.
        And, right now, because of the overarching concerns around
    antitrust and the need for us to create a national environment,
    that lends itself naturally to some challenges in the antitrust
    space. And that is where we would appreciate some protection so
    that we could function more openly and create that national
    playing field that we think everybody wants in college
    athletics.
        Ms. Lee. And, Mr. Egbo, I would like to go back to you. As
    a student-athlete, you bring a very important perspective to
    the conversation that we are having here today. And we are
    nearing the end of our hearing, so I wanted to come back to you
    and ask this question: Is there anything that you believe is an
    important perspective that you have not had the opportunity to
    share with us today or haven't been asked about yet today?
        Mr. Egbo. Yes, I would like to take the time to just
    reemphasize some of the things that I have said in my opening
    statement.
        You know, student-athletes, we value this experience
    greatly. Like, this collegiate experience is something that
    creates opportunities. Like I mentioned, my life has changed
    from my opportunity to play college sports, and it will
    continue to change because of those connections I have.
        So I want to reemphasize that student-athletes, again, when
    talking about employment, want to preserve those opportunities.
    And we believe that the opportunities that we do have come from
    being student-athletes first. So a lot of what we are desiring
    and asking Congress to help with is to protect those
    opportunities, like I said, for student-athletes like me that
    are in these situations at institutions, like myself.
        But I just want to say thank you again for the opportunity
    to hear us, because we know that you guys care about these
    issues.
        Ms. Lee. And, Ms. Cole, the same question for you: Is there
    anything you were hoping to share with us today or want to
    emphasize for our benefit?
        Ms. Cole. I really think I just would like to emphasize how
    grateful I am to have had a positive experience with the new
    NIL regulations. And I am so grateful to all of you all for
    taking the time to put effort in to continue to help athletes
    have a similar experience as I had.
        Ms. Lee. All right.
        Mr. Whitman, coming back to you, how are you anticipating,
    what are you doing now to prepare for challenges? The
    settlement is approved and implemented. How will that affect
    the resources and the programs that you currently provide?
        Mr. Whitman. It will allow us to begin generating
    additional resources, we think, through a number of different
    avenues. It will allow us to begin providing direct
    compensation to our student-athletes in the form of NIL
    licenses. It will allow us to control that environment more to
    provide greater accountability to our student-athletes.
        Our student-athletes trust us. They trust our athletics
    program. They understand that we are actively working in their
    best interests. And we look forward to, under the settlement,
    being able to lock arms with them and create a stronger
    partnership that ultimately enhances their opportunity to be a
    student-athlete at our university.
        Ms. Lee. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I yield back.
        Mr. Bilirakis. The gentlelady yields back.
        And now I will recognize Ms. Schrier for her 5 minutes of
    questioning. Thank you.
        Ms. Schrier. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. And thank you, Madam
    Ranking Member. And thank you to all of our witnesses. I have
    enjoyed listening to your testimony.
        I really appreciate this discussion about compensating
    young athletes for their performance, especially as a mom of a
    16-year-old basketball player and a pediatrician who has taken
    care of a lot of the athletes that play for you.
        I also want to make sure that these athletes continue to
    grow and thrive, and so I just want to really drive home the
    point that athletes need to have universities to play for.
        The United States is the gold standard in scientific
    research for a reason. It has always been a bipartisan priority
    for us in this committee and in the Congress to fund the
    National Institutes of Health in order to support brilliant
    scientists and researchers across the country who are doing
    cutting-edge research, who live and work in both Democratic and
    Republican districts. This research benefits the entire world,
    and our Nation takes such pride in their accomplishments.
        I am a pediatrician, as I mentioned, and I have seen
    firsthand the kids who I have taken care of who have cancer.
    And most children--people don't know this--most children who
    are being treated for cancer are participating in clinical
    trials that are funded by the National Institutes of Health.
    And that is how they get access to groundbreaking new
    treatments that can help them do better and give them the best
    chance for survival. And when this administration takes away
    NIH funding, we are putting those kids' lives at risk.
        In Washington State, we are blessed with amazing research
    institutions: University of Washington, Washington State
    University, we have Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center, and we have
    Seattle Children's Hospital. Fred Hutchinson that researches
    cancer cures would lose an estimated $125 million annually if
    the Trump administration's 15 percent indirect cost caps go
    into effect.
        And this phrase ``indirect costs'' is so misleading. The
    reality is that ``indirect funding'' just means anything other
    than funding for the scientists' salaries, the materials, and
    the equipment that are specific for that study. So if you have
    shared equipment, like labs or infusion centers, an MRI
    machine, refrigerators, computers, grant writers, all of that
    is considered indirect. And so it is really indispensable for
    the research that your universities do.
        This is not insignificant. For some of the research
    institutions in my State, we are talking about 50 percent
    indirect costs. So, for every dollar that goes specifically to
    the project, another 50 cents goes to all of the support
    equipment. So this isn't cutting fat when they go from 50
    percent to 15. This is knee-capping research. And it will shut
    down our greatest research institutions and our medical
    schools.
        And I am hearing from people in the middle of trials right
    now, scheduled to get their next dose of trial chemotherapy,
    and they can't get it because it is delayed. That messes up, of
    course, not just their health, putting it at risk, but it
    messes up the study, because now a dose has been given late,
    and how do you evaluate those results? This is already
    happening.
        So I just want to emphasize that it is threatening the
    universities where you play and you coach. It makes our
    brightest young scientists think about not pursuing research,
    even though they could. And it makes our bright young scientist
    athletes reconsider whether they want to go into sports
    medicine research or sports medicine.
        So I have no specific questions for all of you. I do have
    gratitude to all of you. And I just want to ask that, as we
    consider these programs to benefit our student-athletes, that
    we also consider the well-being of the universities that they
    play for. And restoring that National Institutes of Health
    funding keeps our universities strong and keeps us all at the
    cutting edge.
        Thank you, and I yield back.
        Mr. Bilirakis. Thank you.
        I recognize now the gentleman from New Jersey, Mr. Kean,
    for his 5 minutes of questioning.
        Mr. Kean. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
        And thank you to all of our witnesses for being here today.
        As the landscape of college athletics continues to evolve,
    NIL has created new opportunities for student-athletes while
    also raising concerns about fairness, recruitment, and the role
    of higher education in sports.
        As we consider Federal legislation, it is critical that we
    strike the right balance, ensuring that athletes can benefit
    from their name, image, and likeness, preserving the integrity
    of college athletics, and keeping competition fair for all
    schools, including those in New Jersey.
        Mr. Whitman, thank you for your testimony. And one of my
    concerns is how reclassifying students as employees would
    drastically harm smaller universities, where we already have
    seen many eliminate specific sports teams or their entire
    sports program in its entirety.
        I know that you are the athletic director for a larger
    school, but what are the consequences of shifting students to
    become employees? Are there alternative ways in which we can
    bring about some of the protection for student-athletes without
    naming them employees and potentially eliminating their chance
    to continue playing the sports they love?
        Mr. Whitman. Thank you, Congressman.
        I do have some firsthand experience with this. Prior to
    coming to the University of Illinois, I was the athletic
    director at two different Division III institutions. And so I
    have an understanding of what it means to be at a smaller
    institution that competes at a different level of college
    athletics.
        I do think that the Dartmouth men's basketball case is
    instructive to the question that you have asked. And in that
    case, the Regional Director of the National Labor Relations
    Board found the men's basketball team at Dartmouth to be
    employees based on the fact that Dartmouth exercised control
    over their schedule and ultimately they compensated them in the
    form of free apparel, shoes, and sweatshirts, priority
    scheduling, and the opportunity to give their family free
    tickets.
        The problem with that is, if that is the test, then every
    student-athlete in America at every Division I, Division II,
    and Division III institution is also an employee, because every
    school provides free sweatshirts, free shoes, free tickets for
    their kids to have for their families to attend their games.
    And that becomes a tremendous problem.
        If schools like University of Wisconsin-La Crosse, where I
    began my athletic director career, were forced to begin
    compensating student-athletes, they don't have the financial
    resources to support a program that is required to do that, and
    ultimately they will have to make decisions that may ultimately
    result in significant reduction in opportunities for student-
    athletes and potentially even the closure of full programs. And
    that would be catastrophic for the educational mission of
    college athletics.
        Mr. Kean. Thank you.
        Coach Beamer, do you feel NIL opportunities have created
    challenges in maintaining team chemistry? And if so, how do you
    keep players focused on the team?
        Mr. Beamer. It is a new challenge that all of us as coaches
    are navigating for the first time.
        To me, sir, it starts with bringing the right kind of
    people into your program that certainly understand that they
    can capitalize on their name, image, and likeness, but making
    sure that is not the sole reason that they are at the
    University of South Carolina, for sure, and that, you know,
    they understand, all of our players--they are not, but they all
    have a goal of going to professional football. And that is an
    aspect of professional football as well--players getting paid.
    And some guys are going to be making more on their name, image,
    and likeness in college, just like the NFL players will be as
    well when they are paid a salary.
        Mr. Kean. OK.
        And how can Federal NIL legislation create a fair playing
    field for all student-athletes, including those at smaller
    schools or in nonrevenue sports?
        Mr. Beamer. Certainly just the national legislation that we
    need that would, one, promote academics and enhance welfare for
    all of our student-athletes, that allows the conferences in the
    NCAA to regulate without being caught up in litigation; and
    then certainly something to protect the student-athletes as
    well, a national law that will help with the agents. Because,
    as has been mentioned--there are some great ones out there,
    don't get me wrong--but in pro sports, you have to be certified
    to be an agent. So many of our student-athletes have agents
    that help them with NIL that aren't really agents, and so many
    young student-athletes are being taken advantage of by these.
        Mr. Kean. Thank you.
        I yield back.
        Mr. Bilirakis. Thank you very much.
        And now I recognize Mr. Evans from the great State of
    Colorado.
        I am not sure if you represent Neon Deion, Coach Prime, or
    not. But you are recognized for your 5 minutes of questioning.
        Mr. Evans. Thank you, Mr.--
        Mr. Bilirakis. He would be a great witness, by the way.
        Mr. Evans. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
        And thank you to the ranking member and to the witnesses.
        No, they are actually just outside of my district. But I am
    honored to be representing the University of Northern Colorado,
    where we have student-athletes who of course will be directly
    impacted by the NIL reforms that we are discussing here today.
    And I have had the chance to hear from this institution about
    some of the needs for Federal regulation to set those basic
    rules of the road for all schools and ensure that we are
    setting up our student-athletes for success.
        They are a Big Sky Conference member with a very--I think
    they have the highest graduation rate, actually, and a very
    good sports program. And so I look forward to working with them
    to be able to just explore how we can get this critical work
    done.
        And so my first question, with that back story, is to Ms.
    Cole.
        Again, University of Northern Colorado, they have that
    very, very crucial role of setting up their student-athletes
    for success, not just in college but for the rest of their
    lives. But, as we have heard, you know, we have situations
    where student-athletes can get in trouble with owing back taxes
    or being taken advantage of or exploited.
        And so I just want to hear a little bit about your
    experience in how, as a student-athlete, how you can navigate
    the NIL landscape responsibly and how institutions and
    conferences can play a role in making sure that students get
    the appropriate guidance to navigate that situation.
        Ms. Cole. Absolutely. Thank you so much for your question,
    Congressman Evans.
        I actually spoke on two different panels at the NIL Summit,
    which started, obviously, right after the laws changed, for
    Invesco and then Robinhood, to really bring up the importance
    of awareness around these topics and education for student-
    athletes, especially in such a new and ill-defined space.
        And I think it is extremely important that we put in
    programs to help make sure that these student-athletes are
    educated in a way that they can go into these decisions
    informed, to really set themselves up in the best position to
    thrive both during and after their collegiate careers.
        Mr. Evans. Thank you.
        And kind of continuing on that same vein of questioning,
    Mr. Egbo, you served some time on the Student-Athlete Advisory
    Committee. Can you just talk a little bit about how that
    exposed you to some of the decision-making processes for your
    athletic department?
        Mr. Egbo. Yes, I was on SAAC for my institution, president,
    and then represented my conference, and then now sit on
    National SAAC--which I am on the joint council with Josh--
    integrated in every level of governance and decision making. At
    the national level, 32 reps, 1 from each Division I conference,
    we sit on every voting standing committee, on council and board
    of directors and board of governors.
        So just being exposed to that, and also trying to, you
    know, create more avenues, like Josh mentioned earlier, to give
    student-athletes more decision-making influence and voice is
    very important.
        But we are integrated in it, and there is a system in place
    right now to have that continue to be built up.
        Mr. Evans. Thank you.
        And then to Mr. Whitman, you know, we have heard today
    about some of the good work that institutions are doing to make
    sure that they are taking care of their student-athletes, but
    we also understand that there is a need for, again, just basic
    rules-of-the-road legislation.
        For example, one thing that I specifically heard from my
    athletic director at the University of Northern Colorado--and
    it seems to be a concern that you all are facing as well--is,
    last week, CBS Sports obtained a draft bill from the capital in
    Springfield to exempt NIL payments from State income tax, which
    is modeled after some policies in other States.
        And so the question is: Do you think that that patchwork,
    where some States are able to exempt those payments from income
    tax, gives a competitive advantage? And how do you think that
    affects the recruiting landscape without general rules of the
    road?
        Mr. Whitman. Thank you for the question. And, yes, I
    absolutely do think it is a competitive advantage. And that is
    the kind of political maneuvering that we need to try and
    eliminate through the use of Federal legislation.
        Right now, we have this environment that makes it very
    difficult to compete on a level playing field, which is the
    point of college sports--is, when Coach Beamer goes out on
    Saturday afternoon, to know that he has the same opportunity
    for his team to be successful as those teams that he is
    competing against. And, right now, some of these State laws are
    creating inequity across our system that really only can be
    addressed through Federal legislation.
        Mr. Evans. And so, with my last 20 seconds, just very
    briefly, how do you see such a piece of legislation structured
    to give the institutions the flexibility they need to be able
    to do the good work that many of them are doing but also to
    provide that guidance?
        Mr. Whitman. Ultimately, I think it is on two fronts. One
    is preemption, making sure that this new piece of legislation
    preempts State efforts to address some of the issues that are
    active in college athletics.
        And then, secondly, as I discussed with Ms. Lee earlier, I
    think it is important that we create some limited antitrust
    safe harbor so that we have flexibility to manage our own
    house. And we have heard from you and your colleagues that
    people are interested in seeing college athletics step up and
    manage its own affairs.
        Mr. Evans. Thank you.
        Mr. Whitman. We would like to do that, but we need
    additional resources on the legal side to manage.
        Mr. Evans. Thank you.
        I yield back.
        Mr. Bilirakis. The gentleman yields back.
        Now I recognize the vice chairman of the full committee,
    Dr. Joyce, for your 5 minutes of questioning.
        Mr. Joyce. First, I want to thank Chairman Bilirakis for
    holding this important hearing and for allowing me to waive on.
        I also want to thank the witnesses for appearing.
        The unique nature of college athletics is something that is
    firmly embedded in American sports, in our psyche and in our
    culture. Millions of Americans have been able to attend college
    and excel both on and off the field because of the
    opportunities that the NCAA and their member institutions
    offer.
        In the wake of the Alston decision in 2021 and the changes
    in the NIL policy, we recognize that the amateur model that had
    existed at colleges across the country must evolve.
        In the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, steps have already
    been taken to ensure that student-athletes can navigate the
    evolving NIL landscapes responsibly. Penn State has been a
    leader in ensuring that NIL opportunities are both beneficial
    and sustainable by offering robust financial literacy programs
    and prioritizing student-athlete well-being.
        This year, Penn State Athletics announced the creation of
    the ROAR Solutions, a powerful and dynamic group of resources
    assembled to deliver the best student-athletes endorsements and
    support in the country. This collaboration between the
    university and the world-class student-athletes at Penn State--
    like NFL player Mike Gesicki, sports commentator Adam Breneman,
    and 2025 Super Bowl champion Saquon Barkley--will help to tell
    the unique stories and propel their careers forward.
        Besides my alma mater of Penn State, Pennsylvania hosts 14
    other DI schools. These universities range from large
    universities, like the University of Pittsburgh and Temple, to
    smaller colleges, like Bucknell and St. Francis University.
        The experience of being a student-athlete not only prepares
    great opportunity--academic opportunities, but allows young
    adults to enter the world after college. In my own
    congressional office, we have an outstanding example of this:
    Lili Benzel, a former St. Francis University basketball
    superstar and three-point specialist, who I am proud to have as
    my director of operations.
        As we consider NIL as legislators, we must examine this
    issue and the impact that any action will not only have to big
    teams like Penn State but also the ripple effects that this
    might have on the St. Francis University women's basketball
    team, the Shippensburg baseball team, the Juniata College
    volleyball national championship team, and the thousands of
    athletes who compete and go to school every day in
    Pennsylvania-13.
        Mr. Whitman, in 2021 Pennsylvania's NIL law went into
    effect, and subsequently they have had to amend their law
    several times, largely to respond to other States seeking a
    competitive advantage in the recruiting of athletes.
    Additionally, States are now looking to other laws, as we have
    discussed, to do the same regarding tax law.
        What are the dangers to this approach, when States are
    creating and amending tax laws to seek competitive advantages
    in college sports?
        Mr. Whitman. Thank you, Congressman. I think your question
    strikes at the challenge that we confront and the reason we are
    all here today, is the need to identify a standardized playing
    field for college athletics.
        And as States have become increasingly active in passing
    legislation to benefit their hometown institutions, that is a
    new phenomenon. It is not something we have experienced in
    college athletics in the past, and we believe it is
    antithetical to the purpose of college athletics, which, again,
    is to educate our student-athletes but also to provide them a
    world-class competitive opportunity on the most fair and even
    playing field that we can create.
        And the only way, at this point in time, for us to be able
    to do that is to get some support from the Federal Government
    and ultimately to preempt those State efforts.
        Mr. Joyce. Ms. Cole, as a student-athlete who has to deal
    with the ever-evolving situation, in your opinion, what are the
    greatest misconceptions that the public has about NIL?
        Ms. Cole. That is a great question. And I think the main
    misconception that I have seen is, you know, people really only
    think of, like, football and collectives whenever this
    conversation comes up, and it is really under two different
    buckets. There is also the whole legitimate NIL side of
    actually working with brands separately on these different
    brand deals.
        And so there really are, like, two different buckets, and I
    think a lot of people get them confused. But a lot of my
    experience and expertise is totally within the more--working
    with companies to do brand partnerships, which is separate from
    the collective conversation.
        Mr. Joyce. Coach Beamer, with the remaining time, I wanted
    to see if there was anything that we haven't discussed today
    that should be brought into this conversation regarding NIL
    from your perch.
        Mr. Beamer. No, I think it has been very beneficial for all
    of us, without a doubt, that we are all pro-student-athlete,
    but making sure that we understand it is still about the
    educational experience.
        And it hasn't been mentioned, but there are a lot of rules
    that have come up, there are a lot of laws that have been
    changed and talked about. One thing that hasn't changed is,
    student-athletes still have to go to school to be eligible to
    compete in college athletics. And just making sure that we
    don't get too far away from the educational model as it stands
    right now.
        Mr. Joyce. Coach Beamer, I am glad that you put that
    exclamation point on the question, because the educational
    model--the experience is important, but to walk away with a
    class-A educational experience is what student-athletes should
    want to achieve.
        Mr. Chairman, again, I thank you for allowing me to waive
    on, and I yield back.
        Mr. Bilirakis. Thank you. I thank the gentleman.
        Now we have Representative Carter for his 5 minutes of
    questioning.
        Welcome, sir.
        Mr. Carter of Georgia. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
        And I appreciate all of you being here. I know you are
    tired and you are ready to go, so we will try to be succinct
    and get to the point.
        Thank you, Mr. Chairman, for allowing me to waive on as
    well.
        You know, NIL, as we all know, has certainly changed
    sports, but it is really a great opportunity. And I hope we
    will recognize the opportunity that it brings for student-
    athletes as well as for fans like myself, a graduate of the
    University of Georgia. Go, Dawgs. So, just want to get that out
    there real quick.
        But, nevertheless, it is something that we in the State of
    Georgia have tried to address, and the State has actually come
    up with some State laws. The Governor and the State legislature
    have already passed executive orders and bills to make the
    State of Georgia one of the country's most competitive NIL-
    participating States.
        And that is one thing that concerns me, and I suspect it
    concerns all of you all, is that consistency throughout the
    country. Because that is very important then. And I think that
    is the role--I hope that is the role, anyway--that the Federal
    Government can play, is making sure we are consistent.
        Another thing that I am concerned about--and I would
    suspect that, Ms. Cole, you are concerned about this too, and
    you have mentioned it--is how the proceeds are distributed
    throughout the sports.
        As a student at the University of Georgia in 19-uhh, I will
    tell you that, you know, I thoroughly enjoyed all the sports
    that were offered. Obviously I am a big football fan, but I
    will never forget, I got to see John McEnroe play tennis at the
    University of Georgia when he played--when he went to 1 year at
    Stanford. And what a great experience that was. But even the
    gymnastics, all the other sports are so very important.
        Coach, would you agree with that? Would you elaborate just
    a little bit on how important it is for us to make sure we keep
    those--I am not going to refer to them as ``minority sports,''
    but--those less popular sports, if you will?
        Mr. Beamer. Yes, sir. And your Georgia Bulldogs come to
    Columbia tonight for basketball. So go, Gamecocks----
        Mr. Carter of Georgia. They do that.
        Mr. Beamer [continuing]. In Columbia as well.
        No, to me, it is--and I tell people this all the time, Mr.
    Carter--it is what I love about my job, is being in the middle
    of a college campus, where I am able to be a part of the entire
    athletic fabric and support all sports and go and watch our men
    and women compete.
        My wife is here with me today, and our three children. They
    love being a part of a college campus, where we are able to go
    see the different sporting events. And I have two young
    daughters that are teenagers that certainly enjoy going to
    watch sports. And being able to take them and support all of
    our student-athletes, not just the football program, is
    something that is very special and important to me.
        Mr. Carter of Georgia. What about South Carolina? Do they
    have a plan on the sharing among the sports, on the different
    sports? Is there--or how is that handled?
        Mr. Beamer. Yes, I believe it is obviously in the works.
    And our athletic director, Jeremiah Donati, has done a great
    job of spearheading that and communicating to all of us coaches
    at the University of South Carolina some of his initial plans
    as we get ready to finalize it.
        Mr. Carter of Georgia. Mr. Whitman, what about at Illinois?
    How do you all handle that?
        Mr. Whitman. As at South Carolina, across the country, all
    of our schools are working to identify what those plans will
    be, how we will handle the new opportunities that are made
    available to us through the House Settlement.
        But I would just reiterate a point Coach Beamer made, which
    is, it has become very popular in today's world to take shots
    at college athletics. There have been a lot of cynics who have
    developed around the industry of the college athletics
    ecosystem. And I would just encourage people to spend a day on
    our campus to really interact with our student-athletes--we
    have great representatives here on the panel today--but to
    understand that the core of college athletics remains as true
    as it has ever been.
        It is about education. It is about personal growth and
    development. It is about how a program like ours at Illinois
    can bring people together from all walks of life. It is just an
    incredibly important part of the American tradition.
        Mr. Carter of Georgia. Right.
        Mr. Whitman. And there is nothing that has changed from
    that as college athletics has continued to evolve over time.
        Mr. Carter of Georgia. Ms. Cole, let me ask you again, has
    NIL changed the environment of the team sports and the
    chemistry between teammates now that money is a factor there?
        Ms. Cole. That is a great question. I think we all note the
    majority of that change is not happening in cross country and
    track, the sports that I did participate in. So I didn't
    witness those types of changes yet, but I can see how it would
    be a factor in other sports.
        Mr. Carter of Georgia. Mr. Egbo?
        Mr. Egbo. I mean, yes, I think it is different for every
    team, you know, different cultures at different teams, but I
    think, at the end of the day, I said earlier most of the
    athletes aren't anti-getting-paid. So it is a matter of, you
    know, just another factor of team culture and chemistry, but it
    is not a negative factor.
        Mr. Carter of Georgia. Great. I am glad to hear that, and I
    hope that remains the same as well.
        Again, I want to thank all of you for being here. And, you
    know, we are all big sports fans, and especially college
    football. I mean, if you live in the South, you are a big
    college football fan. And we want to see this--we want to get
    this right. We want to help you, but we don't want to hurt you.
    But we do want to help you.
        So please know that we are on your side, and we are--we
    really appreciate you coming today and really appreciate your
    participation in this.
        Mr. Chairman, I yield back.
        Mr. Bilirakis. Never thought I would agree with a Georgia
    Bulldog, but I do in this case. You know, we don't want to lose
    the school spirit. That is for sure.
        All right. I now will yield some time to the gentleman from
    Texas, Mr. Pfluger. I believe he is a Red Raider.
        Right? Is that right?
        Mr. Pfluger. Well, Mr. Chairman--
        Mr. Bilirakis. I know you represent Baylor.
        Mr. Pfluger. Well, I am actually an Air Force Falcon----
        Mr. Bilirakis. Oh, that is right. That is right. Right.
        Mr. Pfluger [continuing]. A student-athlete, which I don't
    know if we talked about a service captain is. But----
        Mr. Bilirakis. Absolutely. Go ahead. I yield----
        Mr. Pfluger [continuing]. That is a special----
        Mr. Bilirakis [continuing]. To you for 5 minutes.
        Mr. Pfluger [continuing]. Special case. Thank you, Mr.
    Chairman.
        I will get right into it. And thank you all for being here.
    Five minutes is not enough to ask questions.
        But, Coach, I will start with you. Do you think that the
    conferences have aligned themselves as a result of no Federal
    standard for NIL?
        Mr. Beamer. Well, first of all, thank you for your service
    to our country as well.
        I believe the conferences are certainly, as a whole, trying
    to align themselves for the betterment of the student-athlete
    experience and college athletics, but, within that, there are
    individual States within those conferences that are trying to
    find a competitive advantage to better their individual States,
    as we have discussed in here.
        Mr. Pfluger. One thing I am worried about is just having,
    you know, East Coast, West Coast--you know, you have got UCLA
    and Rutgers in the same conference. And as a student-athlete, I
    mean, that is a tough--especially if you are playing multiple
    games, that is a very tough thing. So lack of a Federal
    standard, I think, is an issue.
        And then I will go a step further and get your thoughts on
    the threat to the nonrevenue-generating sports, the threat to
    women's sports. You know, talk to me about, is there such a
    thing as too much market share for one conference or another?
    And we are seeing a lot of domination, and does that then
    affect how the Title IX sports and how the nonrevenue Olympic
    sports are able to actually exist?
        Mr. Beamer. Yes, certainly with the upcoming settlement
    next month, it would better the situation for the nonrevenue
    sports, because they would all be part of a roster cap that
    they are all on scholarship as well.
        And I am all for that, absolutely, as those sports continue
    to advance. I mean, these are three fantastic athletes right
    here, and I know two of them were in football, but with Emily
    from track and field as well, we want those opportunities to
    continue for all student-athletes.
        And you have seen what the student-athlete experience can
    do for people, with these three being here today. I know, as a
    guy that is going to be 48 at the end of the month, I was
    nervous as heck coming in here today. And to see what they have
    been able to do as young people because of their experience as
    student-athletes, I have so much respect for and want the
    continued advancement of all student-athletes in all sports.
        Mr. Pfluger. Mr. Chairman, there is a tweet by RGIII. It
    says, ``The Soul of College Football is dying because of money.
    Allowing the Big 10 and SEC to get 4 automatic bids into
    another expanded College Football Playoff''--anyways, I want to
    enter this into the record, because I think it is important.
        Mr. Bilirakis. Without objection.
        [The information appears at the conclusion of the hearing.]
        Mr. Pfluger. Thank you.
        And I love competition, love the fact that--Mr. Egbo, I
    will go to you, because I am 90 miles south of you in my
    hometown of San Angelo. So thank you for representing Abilene
    Christian here. And talk to us about the pros and cons of being
    a student-athlete.
        Coach, I love what you said about being a student-athlete.
    That is the most important thing. I was a student-athlete, if
    you can call it that at an Air Force Academy. It is more of a,
    you know, military school.
        But talk to us about the opportunities that you have been
    provided because of being a student-athlete.
        Mr. Egbo. Greatest experience. I mean, you said there is
    nothing like it, and it is true, and I am an embodiment of
    that.
        I mean, the opportunity that I got to walk on to Abilene
    Christian, it eventually paid for my undergraduate and
    graduate. It allowed me to work with the president of my
    university. I was a presidential intern my senior year. It
    allowed me to make the connections I have made. Student-Athlete
    Advisory Committee at the national level.
        I mean, you can point almost to every good thing that has
    happened in the last 5 years to some sort of experience as
    being a student-athlete. It is the greatest experience that I
    think exists in this country.
        Mr. Pfluger. Folks at Abilene Christian would be very proud
    of you. They are very proud of you for representing so well
    today.
        I am sorry I don't have time to go to everybody, but I will
    go to Ms. Cole, because I have three daughters, and, you know,
    wanting them to have that experience. And, you know, what is,
    in your--wave your magic wand, and what is the--what needs to
    be fixed first, from your perspective?
        Ms. Cole. Yes, absolutely. Thank you so much for the
    question and also for everything you do for the great State of
    Texas. I am actually from Houston, so----
        Mr. Pfluger. Oh, great.
        Ms. Cole. Yes. I am very grateful for everything that you
    do.
        But I actually--I think that there should be a big emphasis
    on giving these female athletes the same platform and voice
    that the male athletes have been given. And that is something
    that we have been able to see happen through social media and
    all of these female athletes being able to prove that they can
    sell tickets and they can make money.
        And, obviously, there is still a lot of work to be done,
    but I really believe in the power that social media has had in
    helping these female athletes have the platform and voice to
    show that we can do the work and have the potential to drive
    the same progress and revenue that men's sports do.
        Mr. Pfluger. Fantastic.
        Mr. Chairman, I have to thank you for continuing to lead on
    this issue, with all the other things that we are doing.
        Having these three student-athletes here, but also the
    experience you get--I think you are right, Mr. Egbo, that, you
    know, learning how to be on a team, learning how to compete,
    that is a skill for life.
        And I know Coach--by the way, ``Sandstorm,'' interesting
    how that has just been a phenomenon that has taken off. That
    doesn't have anything to do with NIL. But, Chairman, thank you
    for--it is the song they play in advance of the games at the
    South Carolina Gamecock football games. They have this European
    dance song that they play.
        Mr. Beamer. He has heard it as a Gator when they have come
    to Columbia.
        Mr. Pfluger. Anyways, Mr. Chairman, great job, and I yield
    back.
        Mr. Bilirakis. My pleasure. Thank you.
        I just want to tell you all, you all did an outstanding
    job. And I appreciate, it is a sacrifice, the time that you
    have given to us today.
        And I am telling you, we are going to get a good bill. We
    are going to build some consensus on both sides of the aisle,
    partially because of your testimony today. So we appreciate you
    so very much.
        I ask unanimous consent that the documents on the staff
    document list be submitted for the record.
        Without objection, so ordered.
        [The information appears at the conclusion of the hearing.]
        Mr. Bilirakis. I remind Members that they have 10
    legislative days to submit questions for the record. And I ask
    the witnesses to respond to the questions promptly. Members
    should submit their questions by the close of business on March
    18th.
        So, without objection, the subcommittee is adjourned. Thank
    you so very much. We appreciate all of you.
        [Whereupon, at 1:25 p.m., the subcommittee was adjourned.]
        [Material submitted for inclusion in the record follows:]
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