SCORE Act Sets the Right Rules for College Sports

Congress has a clear choice on the future of college athletics. It can adopt a free-market framework that protects student-athletes and preserves competition. Or it can invite lawsuits, unionization, and federal micromanagement. H.R. 4312, the Student Compensation and Opportunity through Rights and Endorsements Act, takes the right path.

Name, image, and likeness policy is not the only area in need of reform. The same legal chaos now surrounds student-athlete transfers. Both issues stem from the same problem: fragmented rules, legal uncertainty, and growing pressure to turn college athletes into employees. The SCORE Act addresses these challenges directly.

Why NIL and Transfers Need a Federal Fix

The modern NIL debate traces back to 2021, when the Supreme Court’s decision in NCAA v. Alston loosened restrictions on education-related benefits. That ruling accelerated the expansion of NIL compensation and opened the door to state-level intervention.

Since then, states have enacted a patchwork of NIL laws, each with different requirements and restrictions. At the same time, transfer rules have grown increasingly unstable, with litigation and regulatory pressure pushing toward unlimited movement, constant roster churn, and de facto free agency.

The result is confusion for schools and uncertainty for athletes. Different rules apply depending on geography, conference, and courtroom outcomes. That instability undermines competitive balance and reduces long-term opportunities for student-athletes.

Both NIL compensation and transfer freedom require clear, consistent national rules.

What the SCORE Act Does Right

The SCORE Act offers a constitutional, common-sense solution grounded in free markets and individual liberty.

Key provisions include:

• One national standard. The bill preempts conflicting state NIL laws, replacing today’s regulatory chaos with a uniform federal framework that applies equally to all schools and athletes.

• Protection from trial lawyers. H.R. 4312 blocks private lawsuits under federal and state antitrust law, preventing NIL and transfer rules from being dictated by litigation.

• Preserving student status. Athletes who earn NIL income are not classified as university employees, protecting them from forced unionization.

• Respecting athlete mobility without chaos. By stabilizing the legal environment, the bill allows reasonable transfer rules to exist without turning college sports into a professional free-for-all.

• Treating athletes as individuals, not labor units. Student-athletes can earn compensation and make transfer decisions as individuals and small business owners, not as unionized workers.

This approach protects opportunity while preserving the structure that makes college sports work.

The Big Government Alternative

The Left’s preferred approach, the SAFE Act, moves in the opposite direction.

That proposal would:

• Invite a flood of lawsuits against schools and conferences.

• Push student-athletes toward employee classification based solely on NIL compensation.

• Encourage compulsory unionization that many athletes neither want nor benefit from.

• Accelerate transfer chaos by tying athlete mobility to labor law rather than education.

• Create a national government board to negotiate college sports media rights.

Washington bureaucrats should not be negotiating television and streaming contracts, nor should they be redesigning college athletics from the top down.

Broad Support from College Sports

Support for the SCORE Act reflects real-world experience. Thirty-one Division I athletic conferences, representing schools with vastly different resources and missions, have publicly endorsed the bill. That includes conferences with smaller budgets and Historically Black Colleges and Universities.

They understand that sustainable NIL and transfer policies require stability, not litigation and federal control.

The Path Forward

H.R. 4312 provides a free-market, limited-government framework for both NIL compensation and student-athlete transfers. It restores clarity, protects opportunity, and preserves college sports as an educational enterprise.

Congress should support the SCORE Act and reject the Big Government SAFE Act.