LDF Strongly Opposes Passage of the Protect College Sports Act, Urges House to Reject the Bill

Read a PDF of our statement here.

On Sept. 28, the U.S. Senate passed the Protect College Sports Act (PCSA), an irresponsible piece of legislation that threatens the financial security and success student-athletes, including low-income Black student-athletes, have earned.

The Legal Defense Fund previously issued a letter urging all members of Congress to reject the bill. Altogether, the PCSA lacks employment rights for student-athletes, bars student-athletes from suing the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and other organizations that enforce athletic regulations, and fails to guarantee funding for Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) as the bill's proponents alleged.

"The Protect College Sports Act fails to put student-athletes first," said Demetria McCain, Director of Policy at the Legal Defense Fund. "For decades, universities, boardrooms, and booster clubs have unilaterally profited from the talent and efforts of Black student-athletes. Recently, those athletes have been able to change the trajectory of their lives and the lives of their families through the monetization of their name, image, and likeness. The PCSA flat-out refuses to provide the necessary financial and legal protections student-athletes deserve. The House must reject this bill."

The PCSA now goes before the U.S. House of Representatives, which will resume voting on legislation after the midterm elections in November.

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Founded in 1940, theLegal Defense Fund (LDF)is the nation's first civil rights legal organization. LDF has been completely separate from the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) since 1957, though it was founded under the leadership of Thurgood Marshall while he was at the NAACP. LDF's Thurgood Marshall Institute (TMI) is a division of LDF that undertakes innovative research and houses LDF's archive. In all media attributions, please refer to us as the Legal Defense Fund or LDF (do not include NAACP) and refer to the Institute as LDF's Thurgood Marshall Institute or TMI.