Former College, Pro Players Warn SCORE Act Will Hurt College Sports’ Most Valuable Assets: Athletes

[VIDEO] [TRANSCRIPT INCLUDING Q&A]

Washington, D.C. - Today, former college and professional athletes joined U.S. Senators Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) Ranking Member of the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee, Cory Booker (D-N.J.) and Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) in warning that the SCORE Act, being considered by the House of Representatives, would roll-back hard fought NIL rights and health protections, leave athletes vulnerable to unscrupulous agents, short-change women's and Olympic sports and shut the door on collective bargaining rights. Today's comments came during a virtual press conference hosted by the National Football League Players Association (NFLPA), National Basketball Players Association (NBPA), National Women's Soccer League Players Association (NWSLPA), Major League Soccer Players Association (MLSPA), Major League Baseball Players Association (MLBPA) and the National Hockey League Players Association (NHLPA).

"The SCORE Act is really…not what we think it is for the athlete," said Sen. Cantwell. "Let's just put it that way. It's not the solution for the athlete. You can say there's a lot of people scoring. Two big divisions and their commissioners, they're scoring. The NCAA, they're scoring. Okay, and now apparently private equity is scoring. Okay, but who's not scoring is the athletes."

Sen. Booker shared his own story about being a student athlete at Stanford which, he said, gave him a lot of opportunity but also "opened my eyes to the deep, systemic injustices…and outright exploitation" by the NCAA of athletes, including the lack of healthcare and support for athletes post-graduation.

"I've been really happy that we have been able to make a lot of gains in recent years and they were fought for by college athletes…themselves," Sen. Booker said. "They won those gains. They earned them in court. They began to share in the revenues being created…, to see some of the money that they were principally generating through their athleticism. We are now seeing, stunningly, a bill come out called the SCORE Act that would halt the progress that these athletes made…which is just, to me, outrageous. We should be doing everything we can to empower athletes, protect their rights, protect their health, education, create stability for the sport so the next generation can have the same kind of life-changing opportunities that college sports gave me, and frankly more."

While playing college basketball at Trinidad State Junior College in Colorado, Spencer Haywood earned a spot on the U.S. Men's Olympic Basketball Team. He helped lead the team to a gold medal at the 1968 Olympic Games in Mexico City. Mr. Haywood joined the NBA in 1969, when its rules prohibited players from joining the league unless they were four years removed from high school. Mr. Haywood talked about his fight against this restriction and how the case, Haywood v. National Basketball Association, ultimately reached the U.S. Supreme Court. Spencer won, and the rule was overturned, allowing future underclassmen to enter the NBA early. For Haywood, his livelihood depended on it.

"So I joined the Seattle SuperSonics in Seattle, Washington," said Mr. Haywood. "And so, in joining the Seattle SuperSonics, right away…they [the NBA] hit me with a lawsuit…an injunction saying that I cannot play because my fourth year [after high school] was not up. And I said I wanted to play. So Sam Schulman, the owner of the Seattle Supersonics, said, 'Let's fight this case.' And I was up for a good fight, because I had seen so many players, Connie Hawkins, Roger Brown, just a number of great players who were sitting out on the sideline waiting for four years before they could go into the NBA and make a living for themselves. And a lot of those players…they fell through the pipeline. So I said, I gotta fight this. And so we started off in Seattle. We went to the District [Court] and all the way to the Supreme Court. [W]e had a good run, and I won the case seven to two."

Dwayne Allen played football at Clemson University and was drafted into the NFL in 2012. Mr. Allen played for the Indianapolis Colts for the New England Patriots, where he became a Super Bowl LIII Champion. Before and during his NFL career, Mr. Allen held several leadership roles. From 2013 to 2016, he served as a Player Executive for DREAM Alive, a nonprofit focused on youth mentorship. During the same time period, he served as a Player Representative/Advisor for the NFL Players Association. Since 2019, Mr. Allen has served as the Player Director for the NFL Players Association.

"None of us like or enjoy, really, where college athletics is right now," said Mr. Allen. "I believe we are in the growing pains…of change, and we all want it to slow down or stop, but I don't believe that the SCORE Act is our solution… I love college athletics, and I too want to preserve it. And I think the SCORE ACT, you know, as far as mental health services, post-participation health care, it touts a lot of things in the right direction. But at what cost? The cost is the voices of other people that will come that are currently speaking out being null, right? It's saying, hey, here are some antitrust exemptions so that we don't have to talk, have these difficult conversations, and we can be [the] rule of law. I don't believe the gains [of] the SCORE Act [are] worth the cost that it will take against college athletes, current and future.. And thus, I am in opposition, strong opposition, of the Student Compensation and Opportunity through Rights and Endorsements Act."

Meghann Burke is a former professional player turned attorney and Executive Director of the National Women's Soccer League Players Association (NWSLPA), Burke has dedicated her career to advancing the rights, dignity, and power of women athletes. In 2022 she was elected Vice President of the AFL-CIO, affirming her role as one of the most influential voices in athlete advocacy and organized labor. Burke's playing career spanned some of the earliest U.S. women's professional leagues, including the WUSA and WPS, where she didn't just take the field - she organized it, helping establish the WPS Players Union.

"If universities want to act like for-profit actors, they have that option," said Ms. Burke. "They can return their federal funds, pay taxes like every other private business, and function like a for-profit business -- except they're not. They're educational institutions. This is not reform. It's regression. Title IX promised equal opportunity under the law. The law requires equitable financial resources for coaching, facilities, travel, training and match conditions and visibility, not just a box checked for participation numbers. If enacted, the SCORE Act will enshrine inequity in a federal statute. Instead of a Title IX backslide, we need the full enforcement of the original Title IX as it was intended. And we need athletes, men and women alike, like my brothers on the panel here, to have a real seat at the table in shaping the future of college sports."

Sen. Blumenthal spoke of the need for federal legislation to ensure the future of college athletics by both protecting athletes and leveling the playing field for all schools.

"So, I believe that this cause is one of civil rights and economic rights and racial rights to equality, and we need to redouble our efforts to protect those athletes from the exploitation that can occur.-- but also the schools," said Sen. Blumenthal. "I've talked to schools in Connecticut who feel that the present system works against them because they're not part of the Big Ten or the SEC. And the NCAA has been a total abject failure in its leadership so far."

The college athletics legislation recently introduced by Senators Cantwell, Booker and Blumenthal - the Student Athlete Fairness and Enforcement (SAFE) Act - allows colleges and universities to lawfully negotiate their media rights as a group to increase their value-just like the NFL, NBA and NHL are able to do, without violating antitrust laws. Sen. Cantwell responded to a question about why the SCORE Act does not include a similar provision:

"I might be going out on a limb here, but in my view, you could take the rights that Senator Booker and Blumenthal and I have worked on as a federal preemption for health and safety and scholarship, and you could probably pass them tomorrow," said Sen. Cantwell. "And you could say, this is the national law. My guess is the people who are pushing the SCORE Act won't let us do that, because that's not really what their objective is. Their objective isn't to codify rights for student athletes. Their objective is to run away with the money…They basically want the two largest divisions to have the ability to have their TV revenue, even though they could make more out of the changes to the [Sports] Broadcasting Act, and that would make more money for the ecosystem."

Sen. Cantwell has been deeply involved in the effort to fix college sports. Earlier this month, she wrote to the presidents of the Big Ten schools warning of the dangers of selling University assets to private equity firms. Last month Sen. Cantwell released a report showing how skyrocketing media rights payments have exacerbated a massive financial gap between traditional power conferences, especially the new Power 2-the SEC and Big Ten-and everyone else. In August, she wrote to the presidents and chancellors of more than 350 Division I universities and their governing bodies, warning that the SCORE Act - currently before the House of Representatives - would further cement current inequities in college athletics and consolidate power with the SEC and Big Ten. On July 15, Sen. Cantwell and Rep. Michael Baumgartner (R, WA-05) sent a letter strongly opposing the bill.

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