II 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 238 

To establish name, image, likeness, and athletic reputation rights for college 

athletes, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

FEBRUARY 4, 2021 

Mr. MURPHY introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation 

A BILL 

To establish name, image, likeness, and athletic reputation 

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 Eco5 nomic Freedom Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

7 In this Act: 

8 (1) ATHLETE AGENT.—The term ‘‘athlete 

9 agent’’ has the meaning given the term in section 2 


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1 of the Sports Agent Responsibility and Trust Act 

2 (15 U.S.C. 7801). 

3 (2) ATHLETIC REPUTATION.—The term ‘‘ath4 letic reputation’’ means, with respect to a college 

5 athlete or prospective college athlete, the recognition 

6 or fame of the athlete relating to the participation 

7 or performance of the college athlete or prospective 

8 college athlete in a sport. 

9 (3) COLLEGE ATHLETE.—The term ‘‘college 

10 athlete’’ means an individual who participates in or 

11 is eligible to participate in an intercollegiate sport 

12 for an institution of higher education. 

13 (4) COMPENSATION.—The term ‘‘compensa14 tion’’— 

15 (A) means any payment, remuneration, or 

16 benefit provided to a college athlete or prospec17 tive college athlete in exchange for the use of 

18 the name, image, likeness, or athletic reputation 

19 of the college athlete or prospective college ath20 lete; and 

21 (B) does not include— 

22 (i) a grant-in-aid; or 

23 (ii) a stipend scholarship from the in24 stitution of higher education in which a 

25 college athlete is enrolled. 


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1 (5) GRANT-IN-AID.—The term ‘‘grant-in-aid’’ 

2 means a scholarship, grant, or other form of finan3 cial assistance that is provided by an institution of 

4 higher education to a college athlete for the college 

5 athlete’s undergraduate or graduate course of study. 

6 (6) IMAGE.—The term ‘‘image’’, with respect to 

7 a college athlete or prospective college athlete, means 

8 any photograph, video, or computer-generated rep9 resentation that reasonably identifies the college ath10 lete or prospective college athlete. 

11 (7) INSTITUTION OF HIGHER EDUCATION.—The 

12 term ‘‘institution of higher education’’ has the 

13 meaning given the term in section 101 of the Higher 

14 Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001 et seq.). 

15 (8) INTERCOLLEGIATE ATHLETIC ASSOCIA16 TION.—The term ‘‘intercollegiate athletic associa17 tion’’ means any association, conference, or other 

18 group or organization that— 

19 (A) exercises authority over intercollegiate 

20 athletics and the recruitment of college athletes 

21 or prospective college athletes; and 

22 (B) is engaged in interstate commerce or 

23 in any industry or activity affecting interstate 

24 commerce. 


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1 (9) LIKENESS.—The term ‘‘likeness’’, with re2 spect to a college athlete or prospective college ath3 lete, means the uniquely identifiable voice, catch 

4 phrase, or any other mark that when used in a con5 text that reasonably identifies the college athlete or 

6 prospective college athlete. 

7 (10) NAME.—The term ‘‘name’’, with respect to 

8 a college athlete or prospective college athlete, means 

9 the first or last name, or a nickname, of the college 

10 athlete or prospective college athlete when used in a 

11 context that reasonably identifies the college athlete 

12 or prospective college athlete. 

13 (11) PROSPECTIVE COLLEGE ATHLETE.—The 

14 term ‘‘prospective college athlete’’ means an indi15 vidual who— 

16 (A) has not enrolled at an institution of 

17 higher education; and 

18 (B) may be recruited by an institution of 

19 higher education. 

20 (12) THIRD PARTY.—The term ‘‘third party’’ 

21 means an individual or entity other than an institu22 tion of higher education or an intercollegiate athletic 

23 association. 


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1 SEC. 3. ATHLETE RIGHTS TO MARKET NAME, IMAGE, LIKE2 NESS, AND ATHLETIC REPUTATION. 

3 (a) RIGHT TO MARKET USE OF NAME, IMAGE, LIKE4 NESS, AND ATHLETIC REPUTATION.— 

5 (1) IN GENERAL.—An institution of higher edu6 cation or intercollegiate athletic association may not 

7 enact or enforce any rule, requirement, standard, or 

8 other limitation that prevents college athletes or pro9 spective college athletes, individually or as a group, 

10 from marketing the use of their names, images, 

11 likenesses, and athletic reputations. 

12 (2) COLLUSION.—An institution of higher edu13 cation may not coordinate with any other institution 

14 of higher education or third party to limit the 

15 amount of payment offered to a college athlete, pro16 spective college athlete, or group of college athletes 

17 or prospective college athletes under a contract for 

18 the use of the name, image, likeness, or athletic rep19 utation of the college athlete, prospective college ath20 lete, or group of college athletes or prospective col21 lege athletes. 

22 (3) RIGHT TO COLLECTIVE REPRESENTA23 TION.—An institution of higher education or inter24 collegiate athletic association may not enact or en25 force any rule, requirement, standard, or other limi26 tation, or engage in conduct that prevents college 


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1 athletes from forming or recognizing, or interferes 

2 with such formation or recognition of, a collective 

3 representative to facilitate group licensing agree4 ments or provide representation for college athletes. 

5 (4) GROUP LICENSING.—A third party may not 

6 use the name, image, likeness, or athletic reputation 

7 of any member of a group of college athletes to mar8 ket any product unless the third party obtains a li9 cense from the group for that purpose. 

10 (5) GRANTS-IN-AID.—Receipt of compensation 

11 for the use of the name, image, likeness, or athletic 

12 reputation of a college athlete or prospective college 

13 athlete shall not adversely affect— 

14 (A) the eligibility or opportunity of a col15 lege athlete or prospective college athlete to 

16 apply for a grant-in-aid; or 

17 (B) the amount, duration, or renewal of 

18 the grant-in-aid of a college athlete or prospec19 tive college athlete. 

20 (6) EQUITABLE INSTITUTIONAL SUPPORT.—An 

21 institution of higher education, an intercollegiate 

22 athletic association, or a party affiliated with an in23 stitution of higher education or an intercollegiate 

24 athletic association that provides direct or indirect 

25 support to college athletes with respect to the marVerDate Sep 11 2014 19:30 Feb 20, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S238.IS S238

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1 keting of their names, images, likenesses, and ath2 letic reputations shall make such support accessible 

3 to all college athletes in the applicable athletic pro4 gram, regardless of gender, race, or participating 

5 sport. 

6 (b) RIGHT TO REPRESENTATION.— 

7 (1) ABILITY FOR COLLEGE ATHLETES TO RE8 TAIN REPRESENTATION.—An institution of higher 

9 education or intercollegiate athletic association may 

10 not prevent a college athlete or prospective college 

11 athlete from fully participating in intercollegiate ath12 letics based on the college athlete or prospective col13 lege athlete having obtained professional representa14 tion with respect to a contract or legal matter, in15 cluding— 

16 (A) representation provided by an athlete 

17 agent or financial advisor; and 

18 (B) legal representation provided by an at19 torney. 

20 (2) PROHIBITIONS ON THE REGULATION OF

21 REPRESENTATION.—An institution of higher edu22 cation or intercollegiate athletic association may not 

23 regulate the legal, financial, or agency representa24 tion of college athletes and prospective college ath25 letes with respect to the marketing of their names, 


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1 images, likenesses, or athletic reputations, including 

2 the certification of such legal, financial, or agency 

3 representation. 

4 (c) PROHIBITION ON WAIVER.—A college athlete, a 

5 prospective college athlete, an institution of higher edu6 cation, an intercollegiate athletic association, or any other 

7 person may not enter into any agreement or a legal settle8 ment that waives or permits noncompliance with this Act. 

9 SEC. 4. GRANTS FOR ANALYZING NAME, IMAGE, LIKENESS, 

10 AND ATHLETIC REPUTATION MONETIZATION. 

11 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

12 (1) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘‘eligible enti13 ty’’ means— 

14 (A) a business in the United States; 

15 (B) a public or private education and re16 search organization in the United States; or 

17 (C) a consortium of entities described in 

18 subparagraph (A) or (B). 

19 (2) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

20 the Secretary of Commerce. 

21 (b) GRANTS AUTHORIZED.—Annually, the Secretary 

22 may award a grant to, or enter into a contract or a cooper23 ative agreement with, an eligible entity for the purpose 

24 of conducting a market analysis of the monetization of the 


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1 rights granted to college athletes under this Act during 

2 the 1-year period preceding the date of the analysis. 

3 (c) REQUIREMENTS.—An eligible entity that receives 

4 a grant or enters into a contract or cooperative agreement 

5 to conduct an analysis under subsection (b) shall— 

6 (1) make the analysis and information relating 

7 to the analysis publicly available, including— 

8 (A) the surveys and interviews the eligible 

9 entity conducted during the course of the anal10 ysis; and 

11 (B) estimates of the compensation received 

12 by college athletes during the 1-year period pre13 ceding the date of the analysis as a result of 

14 the monetization of the names, images, 

15 likenesses, and athletic reputations of those col16 lege athletes, separated by— 

17 (i) gender; 

18 (ii) race; and 

19 (iii) sport; and 

20 (2) provide recommendations to the Secretary 

21 to address any disparate estimates described in 

22 paragraph (1)(B). 

23 (d) PUBLIC AVAILABILITY OF RECOMMENDA24 TIONS.—The Secretary shall make any recommendations 

25 received under subsection (c)(2) publicly available. 


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1 (e) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

2 are authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary such 

3 sums as may be necessary to carry out this section. 

4 SEC. 5. ENFORCEMENT PROVISIONS. 

5 (a) UNFAIR OR DECEPTIVE ACT OR PRACTICE.— 

6 (1) IN GENERAL.—A violation of section 3 shall 

7 be treated as a violation of a rule defining an unfair 

8 or deceptive act or practice prescribed under section 

9 18(a)(1)(B) of the Federal Trade Commission Act 

10 (15 U.S.C. 57a(a)(1)(B)). 

11 (2) ACTIONS BY THE COMMISSION.—The Com12 mission shall enforce section 3 in the same manner, 

13 by the same means, and with the same jurisdiction, 

14 powers, and duties as though all applicable terms 

15 and provisions of the Federal Trade Commission Act 

16 (15 U.S.C. 41 et seq.) were incorporated into and 

17 made a part of this Act. 

18 (3) ENFORCEMENT RELATED TO NONPROFIT

19 ORGANIZATIONS.—Notwithstanding section 4, 

20 5(a)(2), or 6 of the Federal Trade Commission Act 

21 (15 U.S.C. 44, 45(a)(2), 46) or any jurisdictional 

22 limitation of the Federal Trade Commission, the 

23 Commission shall also enforce this Act and the regu24 lations promulgated under this Act, in the same 

25 manner provided in paragraphs (1) and (2) of this 


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1 subsection, with respect to organizations not orga2 nized to carry on business for their own profit or 

3 that of their members. 

4 (b) PRIVATE RIGHT OF ACTION.— 

5 (1) IN GENERAL.—An individual who is ag6 grieved by a violation of section 3 may bring a civil 

7 action in an appropriate Federal district court of 

8 competent jurisdiction. 

9 (2) DAMAGES; COSTS AND ATTORNEY’S FEES.— 

10 A court may award to a prevailing party in a civil 

11 action brought under paragraph (1)— 

12 (A) actual damages sustained by the party 

13 as a result of the violation that is the subject 

14 of the action; and 

15 (B) the costs of the action and reasonable 

16 attorney’s fees. 

17 (c) SHERMAN ACT.—A violation of this Act shall be 

18 deemed to be a per se violation of the Sherman Act (15 

19 U.S.C. 1 et seq.) and subject to all remedies and rights 

20 afforded under that Act. 

21 SEC. 6. STATE PREEMPTION. 

22 (a) IN GENERAL.—A State may not enforce a State 

23 law relating to the ability of college athletes to enter into 

24 contracts for the use of their names, images, likenesses, 

25 or athletic reputations pursuant to this Act. 


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1 (b) EXCEPTION FOR THE CERTIFICATION OF ATH2 LETE AGENTS.—A State may enforce a State law or regu3 lation relating to the certification of athlete agents under 

4 the Sports Agent Responsibility and Trust Act (15 U.S.C. 

5 7801 et seq.). 

6 SEC. 7. RULE OF CONSTRUCTION. 

7 Nothing in this Act shall affect the treatment of 

8 qualified scholarships under section 117 of the Internal 

9 Revenue Code of 1986. 

Æ 


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