Legislation
FILE - UConn's Paige Bueckers stretches during a practice session for a college basketball game in the final round of the Women's Final Four NCAA tournament April 2, 2022, in Minneapolis. In 2019, California became the first state to pass a law allowing athletes to earn money on endorsements, autograph signings and other activities, and by July 2021, the NCAA lifted its decades-old ban. (AP Photo/Eric Gay, File)
Miami's Wong shows college sports hurtles toward free market

By Jim Vertuno May. 05, 2022 04:45 PM EDT

FILE - Alabama coach Nick Saban watches players warm up for the College Football Playoff championship NCAA football game against Georgia on Jan. 10, 2022, in Indianapolis. Saban is concerned about the current state of college football. He recently told The Associated Press "I don't think what we’re doing right now is a sustainable model.” (AP Photo/Paul Sancya, File)
AP source: SEC, Pac-12 leaders to push for NIL law in DC

By Ralph D. Russo May. 05, 2022 12:25 AM EDT

FILE -The March Madness logo is shown on the court during the first half of a men's college basketball game in the first round of the NCAA tournament at Bankers Life Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, Saturday, March 20, 2021. Kansas, Villanova, North Carolina and Duke will play in the first Final Four to take place under the new world of “name, image and likeness” endorsements in college sports. It allows college players to earn money through endorsements. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya, File)
March Madness paying off for players under mishmash of rules

By Eddie Pells Mar. 30, 2022 01:01 PM EDT

FILE - Rep. Chip LaMarca talks on his phone during a break in a legislative session April 29, 2021, at the Capitol in Tallahassee, Fla. With millions of dollars pouring into endorsements for college athletes, the latest battleground in the recruiting wars is the statehouse: A handful of states are already considering changing barely-dried rules to help their flagship schools land — or keep — top prospects. LaMarca is interested in tweaking a state law, to let schools get more directly involved in helping athletes make deals. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee, File)
Statehouses latest front in college athlete recruiting wars

By Jim Vertuno Feb. 04, 2022 12:15 PM EST

FILE - BYU football players enter the field to warm up for an NCAA college football game against Utah in Provo, Utah, Thursday, Aug. 29, 2019. NCAA enforcement has inquired about how college athletes are earning money off their names, images and likenesses at multiple schools as it attempts to police activities that are ungoverned by detailed and uniform rules. BYU is the one school that has publicly acknowledged providing the NCAA with information about an NIL deal. (AP Photo/George Frey, File)
Lack of detailed NIL rules challenges NCAA enforcement

By Ralph D. Russo Jan. 28, 2022 05:05 PM EST

Alabama head coach Nick Saban watches warm ups before the College Football Playoff championship football game against Georgia Monday, Jan. 10, 2022, in Indianapolis. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)
Nick Saban, others urge Manchin to protect voting rights

By Leah Willingham Jan. 18, 2022 02:32 PM EST

FILE - Texas players sing "The Eyes Of Texas" after defeating Kansas State 22-17 in an NCAA college football game in Austin, Texas, Friday, Nov. 26, 2021. Six months after one of the biggest rule changes in the history of college sports, money for athletes is being pledged by the millions in a development that has raised concerns about the role of wealthy alumni eager to back their beloved alma maters. At Texas, one group is dangling $50,000 a year for individual offensive linemen while another says it already has $10 million promised for Longhorns athletes. (AP Photo/Chuck Burton, File)
Latest NIL twist: Millions being pledged to college athletes

By Jim Vertuno Dec. 14, 2021 03:23 PM EST

Atlantic Coast Conference commissioner Jim Phillips listens to a question during a press conference at the NCAA college football ACC media days in Charlotte, N.C., Wednesday, July 21, 2021. (AP Photo/Nell Redmond)
New commissioners thrust into conference realignment chaos

By Ralph D. Russo Jul. 23, 2021 03:58 PM EDT

SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey speaks to reporters during the NCAA college football Southeastern Conference Media Days Monday, July 19, 2021, in Hoover, Ala. (AP Photo/Butch Dill)
Sankey joins call for change in college athletics oversight

By John Zenor Jul. 19, 2021 03:50 PM EDT

FILE - Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., speaks during a Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions hearing on Capital Hill in Washington, in this Tuesday, May 11, 2021, file photo. College athletes would have the right to organize and collectively bargain with schools and conferences under a bill introduced Thursday, May 27, by Democratic lawmakers in the House and Senate. Sen. Chris Murphy (Conn.) and Sen. Bernie Sanders (Vt.) announced the College Athletes Right to Organize Act. (Jim Lo Scalzo/Pool via AP, File)
Democrats push bill allowing college athletes to organize

By Ralph D. Russo May. 27, 2021 11:31 AM EDT

Florida Rep. Chip LaMarca talks on his phone during a break in a legislative session, Thursday, April 29, 2021, at the Capitol in Tallahassee, Fla. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee)
College athletes decry possible delay in compensation law

By Bobby Caina Calvan Apr. 29, 2021 06:17 PM EDT

Both parties back bill for image rights for college athletes

Apr. 26, 2021 05:41 PM EDT
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. Rep. Anthony Gonzalez, a former Ohio State football player, reintroduced on Monday a bipartisan bill that would give college athletes...

FILE - In this March 20, 2021, file photo the March Madness logo is shown on the court during the first half of a men's college basketball game in the first round of the NCAA tournament at Bankers Life Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. A Supreme Court case being argued this week amid March Madness could erode the difference between elite college athletes and professional sports stars. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya, File)
High court sympathetic to college athletes in NCAA dispute

By Jessica Gresko Mar. 31, 2021 12:09 AM EDT

Illinois guard Andre Curbelo (5) makes a pass under Iowa guard Jordan Bohannon (3) in the second half of an NCAA college basketball game at the Big Ten Conference tournament in Indianapolis, Saturday, March 13, 2021. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)
Not NCAA Property: Players push for reform on social media

By Ralph D. Russo Mar. 17, 2021 06:53 PM EDT

fILE - In this Nov. 13, 2017, file photo, Notre Dame athletic director Jack Swarbrick attends an NCAA college basketball game between Notre Dame and Mount St. Mary's in South Bend, Ind. Swarbrick tells The Associated Press the school went public with its decision to not be included in EA Sports' new college football video game because the NCAA's proposed rule changes would prevent the names, images and likeness of players from being used in the game. (AP Photo/Robert Franklin, File)
By opting out of video game, ND calls attention to NIL issue

By Ralph D, Russo Mar. 01, 2021 05:36 PM EST

FILE - Then-Democratic presidential candidate Corey booker speaks during the National Urban League Conference in Indianapolis, in this Thursday, July 25, 2019, file photo. A bill being introduced Thursday, Dec. 17, 2020, by four Democratic lawmakers would grant college athletes sweeping rights to compensation, including a share of the revenue generated by their sports, and create a federal commission on college athletics. The College Athletes Bill of Rights is sponsored by U.S. Senators Corey Booker (D-N.J.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) and Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), and U.S. Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.). If passed it could wreak havoc with the NCAA's ability to govern intercollegiate athletics, and the association's model for amateurism.(AP Photo/Darron Cummings, File)
Booker, Democratic lawmakers introduce NCAA reform bill

By Ralph D. Russo Dec. 17, 2020 07:21 AM EST

FILE - In this Tuesday, Feb. 11, 2020, file photo, Rep. Anthony Gonzalez, R-Ohio, speaks during a Senate Commerce subcommittee hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, on intercollegiate athlete compensation. Federal legislation setting guidelines for college athletes to pursue money-making opportunities could be proposed within a month, and Gonzalez, who is planning to introduce it, said Thursday, June 4, 2020, there will be no blanket antitrust exemption for the NCAA. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh, File)
Congressman: No NCAA antitrust exemption in athlete pay bill

By Eric Olson Jun. 04, 2020 05:57 PM EDT

FILE - In this March 12, 2020, file photo, John Swofford, commissioner of the Atlantic Coast Conference, announces the cancellation of NCAA college basketball games at the ACC tournament in Greensboro, N.C. The Power Five conferences spent $350,000 on lobbying in the first three months of 2020, more than they had previously spent in any full year, as part of a coordinated effort to influence Congress on legislation affecting the ability of college athletes to earn endorsement money. “In this particular case, the (Power Five) conferences are working together on this so that there’s less confusion, not more, in terms of the messaging to congressional leaders that helps explain NIL (Names, Images and Likenesses) and what the concerns are, and how it might work,” Swofford told The Associated Press. (AP Photo/Ben McKeown, File)
AP Exclusive: Power Five spend big on lobbying Congress

By Ben Nuckols May. 19, 2020 11:52 AM EDT

FILE - In this is an April 25, 2018, file photo, NCAA headquarters in Indianapolis is viewed. College sports programs are already being cut and more are likely on the chopping block. The coronavirus pandemic has triggered fears of an economic meltdown on campuses around the country. The cancellation of the NCAA men's basketball tournament cost schools $375 million and more losses are expected, especially if football season is disrupted in the fall. (AP Photo/Darron Cummings, File)
Analysis: NCAA moves toward athlete compensation, but how?

By Ralph D. Russo Apr. 30, 2020 06:12 AM EDT

FILE - In this April 25, 2018, file photo, the NCAA headquarters is shown in Indianapolis. The NCAA is moving closer to permitting Division I college athletes to earn money from endorsements and sponsorship deals they can strike on their own. Recommendations for changes to NCAA rules that would permit athletes to earn money for their names, images and likeness are being reviewed by college sports administrators this week before being sent to the association's Board of Governors. (AP Photo/Darron Cummings, File)
Skeptics loom as NCAA builds guardrails around compensation

By Ralph D. Russo Apr. 29, 2020 06:25 PM EDT