If a billion-dollar organization breaks the law, should Congress reward it with immunity from the antitrust laws? The NCAA and some lawmakers seem to think so, and the recently introduced House bill — The Student Compensation and Opportunity through Rights and Endorsements Act (‘‘SCORE Act”) — does just this.
College sports are at a crossroads. Student-athletes have only recently gained the right to earn money from their name, image and likeness (NIL). Just as this progress gains steam, Congress may undermine it by granting the NCAA a sweeping exemption from antitrust law.
Buried in the SCORE Act legislation is a clause that would make “compliance” with it broadly immune from enforcement of federal antitrust law and any state law or rules that have the same effect, no matter how anti-competitive its rules may be.
