WSU Athletic Director testifies before Congress, urging for a NIL federal standard.

House Energy and Commerce Committee Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA) and Innovation, Data, and Commerce Subcommittee Chair Gus Bilirakis (R-FL) held a subcommittee hearing surrounding Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) this morning.

WSU Director of Athletics Pat Chun testified this morning urging Congress to develop federal standards that provide transparency and enforceable safeguards to mitigate the negative impact of the existing patchwork NIL environment.  In his testimony Chun touches on the detrimental impacts of current NIL standards and Title IX efforts.

“The notion that a student-athlete could be fired for underperformance undermines the very core of the educational mission. Additionally, transitioning to employment status could erode many of the benefits and guarantees that student-athletes currently receive through potential tax implications. Lastly, if one group of student-athletes becomes employees, such as those in high revenue-producing sports, demands and legal claims could be made that all student-athletes should become employees. The financial impact could lead to the reduction of opportunities for broad-based participation on campuses around the country, resulting in significant Title IX implications threatening generations of hard-fought progress in women’s sports.”

In her opening statement, Congresswoman McMorris Rodgers called out Pat’s leadership in this issue:

“I’d also like to thank Pat Chun, the Athletic Director of Washington State University for testifying before us today—Go Cougs!  At every level, from his work at WSU to his various roles with the NCAA, Pat has taken a leadership role on NIL.”

As background, collegiate athletes previously have been prohibited from receiving compensation for their NIL. This debate on allowing NIL at the college level recently resurfaced as a series of court cases began to answer this question in favor of student athletes. Currently the NCAA rules have been updated to allow NIL. However a lack of nationwide standards has caused problems, making fair competition elusive and raising concerns on consumer protection. There is no federal standard for NIL, only an uneven patchwork of state of laws.

You can view Pat’s remarks below.

Witness invited to testify alongside Pat included:

Jennifer Heppel, Commissioner, Patriot League

Dr. Makola M. Abdullah, Ph.D., President, Virginia State University

Trey Burton, Former National Football League player

Kaley Mudge, Student Athlete, Florida State University

Jason Stahl, Executive Director and Founder, College Football Players Association