WASHINGTON, DC — Congress took the biggest plunge yet in its foray into college athletics on Thursday.
Sen. Roger Wicker (R-Mississippi), the powerful chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee, has introduced a bill governing name, image and likeness (NIL). The bill permits college athletes to earn compensation through commercial and endorsements deals, establishes the Federal Trade Commission to oversee such endeavors and grants the NCAA antitrust protection from legal entanglements. Details of the bill were provided to Sports Illustrated by a Senate committee aid earlier Thursday.
Wicker’s legislation is one of several NIL Congressional bills that have already been introduced or are being drafted on Capitol Hill, but his bill is the most significant, as he is the chair of the Senate Commerce Committee, the group that is presumed to hold jurisdiction over any NIL legislation.