Legislation recently reintroduced by Senators Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) and Shelly Moore Capito (R-W.Va.) joins a growing number of federal bills on pay equity for female athletes. The “Equal Pay for Team USA” Act of 2021, first introduced in 2019, would require equal pay for all athletes representing the United States in international sporting competitions, regardless of the athlete’s gender. This comes less than a month after the “Even Playing Field” Act, another bill addressing pay…

Effective July 1, 2021, college athletes in South Carolina can earn compensation for the use of their name, image, or likeness (NIL) and obtain agents. South Carolina Attorney General, Alan Wilson, certified the effective date of the bill as July 1st after the NCAA Board of Directors agreed to allow student athletes to earn compensation for the use of their NIL. Senate Bill 685, signed by Governor Henry McMaster, applies to eligible intercollegiate athletes and…

In its ongoing reaction to the recent unanimous Supreme Court decision in NCAA v. Alston finding the NCAA in violation of federal antitrust laws, the NCAA Division I Council has voted to support the interim name, image and likeness (NIL) policy provided below. The NCAA Board of Directors will now consider the policy and vote on the potential adoption of the policy on Wednesday, June 30. If adopted by the Board of Directors, the interim…

The NCAA has lost an additional federal court battle on name, image, and likeness (NIL) compensation for student-athletes just days after the U.S. Supreme Court’s unanimous decision confirming the Ninth Circuit’s ruling that the NCAA’s limitation on education-related benefits for student-athletes violates federal antitrust laws. In its latest legal loss, U.S District Court Judge Claudia Wilken, the federal district judge who presided over both the Alston case and Ed O’Bannon antitrust cases, denied the NCAA’s…

From the last line of Justice Kavanaugh’s concurring opinion, one thing is clear from the U.S. Supreme Court’s unanimous ruling against the NCAA in NCAA v. Alston, “The NCAA is not above the law.” The Supreme Court, in a unanimous opinion authored by Justice Neil Gorsuch and supported by all nine justices, and Justice Kavanaugh’s concurring opinion which advocated further rejection of many of the NCAA’s current interpretations of amateurism, decided that the NCAA’s restraints…

A group of Democratic U.S. Senators, led by Senator Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) and Senator Bernie Sanders (D-Vt.) have introduced the College Athlete Right to Organize Act. The proposed legislation would amend the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) and provide student-athletes collective bargaining rights, regardless of any existing state law restrictions. Regarding his proposed legislation, Senator Murphy stated, “Big time college sports haven’t been ‘amateur’ for a long time, and the NCAA has long denied its…

Soccer phenom, 15-year-old Olivia Moultrie has been granted a Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) in her challenge to the National Women’s Soccer League’s (NWSL) Age Rule. The league’s Age Rule requires players to be at least 18 years old to compete for a position on a NWSL team. United States Court Judge Karin J. Immergut granted the TRO on May 24, 2021, after written and oral arguments. In her opinion, Judge Immergut wrote, “Given the information…