II 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 3415 

To establish collective bargaining rights for college athletes, and for other 

purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

DECEMBER 6, 2023 

Mr. MURPHY (for himself, Mr. SANDERS, and Ms. WARREN) introduced the 

following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on 

Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions 

A BILL 

To establish collective bargaining rights for college athletes, 

and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘College Athlete Right 

5 to Organize Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds the following: 

8 (1) The National Labor Relations Act (29 

9 U.S.C. 151 et seq.) seeks to remedy the inequality 

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1 ers primarily through establishing and protecting the 

2 rights of employees to self-organize and designate 

3 representatives of their own choosing for the purpose 

4 of negotiating the terms and conditions of their em5 ployment or other mutual aid or protection. 

6 (2) Labor organizations often originate to rem7 edy unfair and exploitative labor practices by em8 ployers through assisting employees in securing more 

9 equitable terms and conditions of their employment, 

10 including fair compensation and safe working condi11 tions, which individual employees would be unlikely 

12 to negotiate successfully for on their own. 

13 (3) Labor organizations serve unique and essen14 tial purposes for professional athletes competing in 

15 sports leagues, where it is desirable to establish uni16 form rules and standards across multiple employers. 

17 These rules and standards bear significant con18 sequences to the athletes in terms of compensation, 

19 health and safety, and the ability or lack thereof for 

20 athletes to choose their employer, among other 

21 issues related to the athletes’ well-being. 

22 (4) The formation of labor organizations rep23 resenting athletes in professional sports leagues in 

24 the United States has helped end exploitative prac25 tices by team owners and management, particularly 


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1 through establishing collective-bargaining agree2 ments that have secured athletes a fair share of the 

3 revenues their talent and labor produces, as well as 

4 more equitable terms of their employment and pro5 tections for their short- and long-term health. 

6 (5) College athletes face exploitative and unfair 

7 labor practices by the National Collegiate Athletic 

8 Association (referred to in this section as the 

9 ‘‘NCAA’’) and its member institutions, primarily 

10 through the denial of the basic economic and labor 

11 rights of such athletes, which the NCAA and its 

12 member institutions have justified by defining col13 lege athletes as amateurs. 

14 (6) The NCAA and its member institutions 

15 have denied college athletes a fair wage for their 

16 labor by colluding to cap compensation; they main17 tain strict and exacting control over the terms and 

18 conditions of college athletes’ labor; and they exer19 cise the ability to terminate an athlete’s eligibility to 

20 compete if the athlete violates these terms and con21 ditions. 

22 (7) College athletes exhibit the markers of em23 ployment as established under the common law defi24 nition of the term ‘‘employee’’: They perform a valu25 able service for their respective colleges under a conVerDate Sep 11 2014 01:51 Dec 16, 2023 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3415.IS S3415

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1 tract for hire in the form of grant-in-aid agreements; 

2 these agreements assert significant control over how 

3 athletes perform their work and the conditions under 

4 which they work; and they receive compensation in 

5 the form of grant-in-aid and stipends in exchange 

6 for their athletic services. 

7 (8) To establish more equitable terms and con8 ditions for college athletes’ labor, college athletes 

9 need representation of their own choosing to nego10 tiate collective-bargaining agreements with their re11 spective colleges and the athletic conferences that 

12 help set rules and standards across an entire league. 

13 (9) To organize effectively, college athletes 

14 must be able to form collective bargaining units 

15 across institutions of higher education that compete 

16 against each other, including within athletic con17 ferences; and, accordingly, to establish effective col18 lective bargaining rights for college athletes under 

19 this Act, the National Labor Relations Act must be 

20 amended to cover both private and public institu21 tions of higher education to the extent that college 

22 athletes attending such institutions fall within the 

23 definition of ‘‘employee’’ under that Act, as amended 

24 by this Act. 


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1 (10) The Constitution of the United States 

2 vests Congress with the power to regulate commerce 

3 between the States, and intercollegiate sports, which 

4 are maintained by athletic associations that host 

5 competitions between colleges across States, involves 

6 interstate commerce that generates annual revenue 

7 of more than $15,000,000,000. 

8 (11) Intercollegiate sports’ significant engage9 ment in interstate commerce justifies application of 

10 the National Labor Relations Act (29 U.S.C. 151 et 

11 seq.) to regulate the labor market within which pub12 lic and private institutions of higher education com13 pete and set rules pertaining to the wages and work14 ing conditions of college athletes. 

15 SEC. 3. COLLECTIVE BARGAINING RIGHTS OF COLLEGE 

16 ATHLETES. 

17 (a) DEFINITIONS.—Section 2 of the National Labor 

18 Relations Act (29 U.S.C. 152) is amended— 

19 (1) in paragraph (2), by adding at the end the 

20 following: ‘‘Notwithstanding the previous sentence, 

21 the term ‘employer’ includes a public institution of 

22 higher education with respect to the employment of 

23 college athlete employees of the institution.’’; 

24 (2) in paragraph (3), by adding at the end the 

25 following: ‘‘Any individual who participates in an 


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1 intercollegiate sport for an institution of higher edu2 cation, and is a student enrolled in the institution of 

3 higher education, shall be considered an employee of 

4 the institution of higher education if— 

5 ‘‘(A) the individual receives any form of direct 

6 compensation, including grant-in-aid, from the insti7 tution of higher education; and 

8 ‘‘(B) any terms or conditions of such compensa9 tion require participation in an intercollegiate 

10 sport.’’; and 

11 (3) by adding at the end the following: 

12 ‘‘(15) The term ‘grant-in-aid’ means a scholarship, 

13 grant, or other form of financial assistance that is pro14 vided by an institution of higher education to an individual 

15 for the individual’s undergraduate or graduate course of 

16 study. 

17 ‘‘(16) The term ‘institution of higher education’ has 

18 the meaning given the term in section 102 of the Higher 

19 Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1002). 

20 ‘‘(17) The term ‘intercollegiate athletic conference’— 

21 ‘‘(A) means any conference, or other group or 

22 organization, of institutions of higher education 

23 that— 


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1 ‘‘(i) exercises authority over intercollegiate 

2 sports at such institutions of higher education; 

3 and 

4 ‘‘(ii) is engaged in commerce or an indus5 try or activity affecting commerce; and 

6 ‘‘(B) notwithstanding subparagraph (A), does 

7 not include the National Collegiate Athletic Associa8 tion. 

9 ‘‘(18) The term ‘college athlete employee’ means an 

10 individual described in the second sentence of paragraph 

11 (3).’’. 

12 (b) MULTIEMPLOYER BARGAINING UNIT.—Section 

13 9(b) of the National Labor Relations Act (29 U.S.C. 

14 159(b)) is amended by striking the period at the end and 

15 inserting the following: ‘‘: Provided, That, for the purpose 

16 of establishing an appropriate bargaining unit for college 

17 athlete employees at institutions of higher education in an 

18 intercollegiate athletic conference, the Board shall recog19 nize multiple institutions of higher education within an 

20 intercollegiate athletic conference as a multiemployer bar21 gaining unit, but only if consented to by the employee rep22 resentatives for the intercollegiate sports bargaining units 

23 at the institutions of higher education that will be included 

24 in the multiemployer bargaining unit.’’. 


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1 (c) JURISDICTION RELATED TO INTERCOLLEGIATE

2 SPORTS.—Section 14(c)(1) of the National Labor Rela3 tions Act (29 U.S.C. 164(c)(1)) is amended by striking 

4 ‘‘Provided,’’ and inserting the following: ‘‘Provided, That 

5 the Board shall exercise jurisdiction over institutions of 

6 higher education and college athlete employees of such in7 stitutions in relation to all collective bargaining matters 

8 under this Act pertaining to such employees, including any 

9 representation matter, such as recognizing or establishing 

10 a bargaining unit for such employees and any labor dis11 pute involving such institutions and employees: Provided 

12 further,’’. 

13 (d) PROHIBITION ON WAIVER.—An individual may 

14 not enter into any agreement (including an agreement for 

15 grant-in-aid, as defined in section 3(15) of the National 

16 Labor Relations Act (29 U.S.C. 152(15))) or legal settle17 ment that waives or permits noncompliance with this Act 

18 or the amendments made by this Act. 

19 SEC. 4. TREATMENT OF DIRECT COMPENSATION FOR TAX 

20 PURPOSES AND ELIGIBILITY FOR FEDERAL 

21 FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE. 

22 Nothing in this Act, or an amendment made by this 

23 Act, shall— 

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1 tions Act (29 U.S.C. 152(3)) that was not previously 

2 treated as income for which a tax may be imposed 

3 under the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to become 

4 a type of direct compensation for which such a tax 

5 may be imposed; 

6 (2) cause any individual to be treated as an em7 ployee, or cause any amounts received by an indi8 vidual to be treated as wages, for purposes of any 

9 provision in the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 re10 lating to employment taxes or the withholding of 

11 taxes by an employer if such individual or amounts 

12 would not otherwise be so treated; 

13 (3) affect the treatment of qualified scholar14 ships under section 117 of the Internal Revenue 

15 Code of 1986; or 

16 (4) otherwise affect the treatment of any direct 

17 compensation described in such section 2(3) in de18 termining income, including gross income or ad19 justed gross income, for purposes of— 

20 (A) the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, in21 cluding any reporting requirements under such 

22 Code; or 

23 (B) determining eligibility for any form of 

24 Federal financial assistance, including assist25 ance under subpart 1 of part A of title IV of 


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1 the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 

2 1070a et seq.). 

3 SEC. 5. SEVERABILITY. 

4 If any provision of this Act, an amendment made by 

5 this Act, or the application of such provision or amend6 ment to any person or circumstance is held to be unconsti7 tutional, the remainder of this Act and the amendments 

8 made by this Act, and the application of the provision or 

9 amendment to any other person or circumstance, shall not 

10 be affected. 

Æ 


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