Bipartisan Bill Introduced To Let College Athletes Make Endorsement Deals

A bipartisan pair of congressmen introduced federal legislation Thursday, September 24, that, if passed, would open the door for college athletes to make money from a wide variety of endorsement deals and create some flexibility to adjust their proposed regulations over the course of the next three years.

The bill, co-authored by Rep. Anthony Gonzalez (Republican – Ohio) and Rep. Emanuel Cleaver (Democrat – Missouri), provides some restrictions on the types of products or companies college athletes would be allowed to endorse.

It stops short of implementing all of the restrictions that the NCAA and other college sports administrators have asked Congress to help them impose, reported ESPN.

The proposed law would also create a 13-member commission whose role would be to recommend ways for legislators to change the law as the nascent marketplace for college athletes becomes more clear and any unintended consequences emerge.

“The reality is we’re going down a path we’ve never gone down before,” Gonzalez told ESPN. 

The congressmen both said they hope to bring the bill to a vote sometime in early 2021.

Full Content: ESPN

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