Sedona Prince Testimony Before the United States Senate
Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation Hearing on NCAA Athlete NIL Rights
June 9, 2021
Senator Cantwell and Members of the Committee,
My name is Sedona Prince and I am a current college athlete competing for the University of Oregon women’s basketball team. I am also proud to represent the hundreds of thousands of other Division I student-athletes like me in a class action lawsuit that was filed last summer against the NCAA for its rules that unfairly prohibit college athletes from monetizing their name, image, and likeness rights. Thank you very much for the opportunity to offer testimony today on this important issue.
For student-athletes, the ability to capitalize off our NILs while we are in college would allow us to finally realize the benefits of our achievements in a way that the NCAA has long prevented us from doing. It would give us the chance to earn money that we could use to fund our future goals, support our families, cover the cost of expensive medical bills that many of us have been left with because of sports injuries, and pay for the countless other expenses that come along with becoming a young adult.
Our classmates are already making this money. They are signing endorsement deals on Instagram, earning ad money from videos they’ve posted on YouTube, and even working for our schools as paid “campus influencers” recruiting new students at promotional events and on social media. Our coaches and athletic departments are also making this money through their own licensing, sponsorship, and endorsement contracts – and they make ad money when videos of our best performances go viral on social media. Our fellow college athletes competing in the NAIA are even making this money because their association allows it, and I have heard great stories about many NAIA athletes who have benefitted from NIL, especially on social media. Yet, although we share the same fundamental rights as other students and all individuals, NCAA athletes cannot take advantage of the same opportunities solely because NCAA rules prohibit us from doing so.
I have personally worked very hard in the last few years to grow my following on social media but, because of NCAA rules, I cannot earn a cent on the platforms I have built. I can’t get sponsored on Instagram, for example, despite the fact that I already have more than 240,000 followers. And I would lose my college eligibility if I accepted any of the money that my TikTok profile has generated through the TikTok Creator Fund – money that I have already earned. I know of many other student-athletes, including some of my own teammates, who have been forced to turn down similar opportunities that no one else would think twice about taking.
In our lawsuit, we are just fighting for the same rights that all other college students already have, and Congress should not pass any bill that would limit our ability to do that or that would give the NCAA a free pass from legal liability for the enormous profits they have reaped at our expense. Congress does not need to give the NCAA any antitrust exemption in order to allow college athletes to benefit from their NIL rights, and there is no justification to providing them with immunity from accountability for the financial harm they have caused athletes when they continue to bring in millions upon millions of dollars every year. For student-athletes, college is the time when our NILs are most valuable and it is also the time in our lives when we are most likely to need all the financial help we can get. To deprive us of the ability to even try to recover some of the NIL money we were denied would be completely unjust.
Aside from the money, student-athletes have also been forced to miss out on important educational opportunities that our peers are taking advantage of right now – opportunities to learn about entrepreneurship, marketing, branding, financial management, and how to make smart business decisions. College is supposed to be about learning and developing the skills we’re going to need to be successful in life after graduation, and the value of our education should be no less important than other students on campus. The NCAA should no longer be able to deny us any educational opportunity that other students have.
One thing I have heard some people say is that NIL must be restricted or it will only benefit the star football and men’s basketball players. But as far as I can see this could not be further from the truth. I know of so many athletes in other sports who have built impressive social media followings and could definitely take advantage of valuable NIL opportunities. In fact, the ability to monetize our NIL rights in college is especially important for “non-revenue” sport athletes and female athletes like myself who have more limited professional opportunities down the road. Social media also gives us access to the world around us and allows us to connect with friends and family back home, teammates, coaches, professors, our peers on campus, and fans. The way we are able to engage with our communities impact the value of the experiences we have as
college athletes, and I have made it my own personal goal to use the platform I am able to build on social media to have a voice on issues that are important to me, including student-athlete rights issues. Congress should be sure to consider gender equity and, for female athletes in particular, I believe NIL opportunities are critical for us to bring increased attention and publicity to women’s sports and to have a chance at creating a better, more gender-equitable future for the girls coming up behind us – something that the NCAA has failed time and time again to prioritize.
Another thing I think Congress should think twice before doing is allowing the NCAA or schools to challenge the amount of NIL compensation that student-athletes are receiving. If the amount of compensation we get can be challenged, I strongly believe that it will discourage many student-athletes from trying to do NIL deals at all. If I was offered an NIL opportunity and the NCAA or a school challenged the amount of money I was getting, I would probably just give up the opportunity because I would be too afraid of losing my eligibility or having to pay the money back later, or being punished or retaliated against in some other way if I lost (or possibly even if I won). I think that most other athletes would feel the same way. With all of the stress we are already under with our full-time athletic and academic obligations, student-athletes should not also have to worry about whether our ability to negotiate a particularly good NIL deal might get us in trouble, and we should not be expected to go up against the money, power and influence of the NCAA alone. If NIL deals can be challenged, I think it is important that athletes are provided a lawyer to look out for us and to help us understand our rights in the process.
Thank you again for your attention to this important issue and your concern for college athletes. As you consider any potential legislation, I ask you to please think carefully about the impact that it will have on former, current, and future student-athletes. If your goal is to protect our rights and look out for our wellbeing, which I believe that it is, you should ensure that any NIL bill safeguards our ability to monetize our NILs free of unnecessary limits and restraints in the
same way that every other student and every other person in this country has the right to do. Above all else, no legislation should sacrifice college athletes’ rights and freedoms to protect the NCAA’s bank account.
Sincerely,
Sedona Prince
