Statements on Introduced Bills and Joint Resolutions - S. 1170

STATEMENTS ON INTRODUCED BILLS AND JOINT RESOLUTIONS

By Mr. WYDEN:

    S. 1170. A bill to designate certain conduct by sports agents relating to signing of contracts with student athletes as unfair and deceptive acts or practices to be regulated by the Federal Trade Commission; to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.

    Mr. WYDEN. Mr. President, summer is upon us. For many college athletes, that means leaving campus and heading back to a home in a different state. Some may take the opportunity to do some traveling, or even to attend sports camps in various parts of the country.

    Unfortunately, this well-earned break can carry real risks for the athletes and their schools. Why? Because traveling student athletes may be big targets for opportunistic sports agents—and due to highly inconsistent state laws on the subject, the legal protections that an athlete might enjoy in the state where the college is located don't necessarily apply elsewhere.

    Today I am reintroducing a bill to address this issue, the Sports Agent Responsibility and Trust Act. The purpose of the bill is simple: to set some basic, uniform nationwide rules to prevent unscrupulous behavior by sports agents who court student athletes. The universities in Oregon with top athletic programs—the University of Oregon, Oregon State University, and Portland State University—have all provided letters of endorsement for this legislation. So has the NCAA.

    Too often, unscrupulous sports agents prey upon young student athletes who are inexperienced, naive, or simply don't know all of the collegiate athletic eligibility rules. The agent sees the student athlete as a potentially lucrative future client, and wants to get the biggest headstart possible on other agents. So the agent tries to contact and sign up the student athlete as early as possible, and does whatever takes to get the inside track.

    In some cases, the agent may attempt to lure the student athlete with grand promises. In some cases, the agent may offer flashy gifts. To make the offer more enticing, the agent may withhold crucial information about the impact on the student's eligibility to compete in college sports.

    A majority of States have enacted statutes to address unprincipled behavior by sports agents, but the standards vary from State to State and some states don't have any at all. The universities in my State of Oregon tell me that this creates a significant loophole. Specifically, Oregon has a State law, but it doesn't apply when, for example, a University of Oregon athlete goes home to another State for the summer and is contacted by an agent there. Every time that athlete crosses into another State a different set of rules apply. And if one State's laws on the subject are particularly weak, that is where shady sports agents will try to contact their targets.

    That is why there ought to be a single, nationwide standard. The bill I am introducing today would establish a uniform baseline, enforceable by the Federal Trade Commission, that would supplement but not replace existing state laws. Specifically, the bill would make it an unfair and deceptive trade practice for a sports agent to entice a student athlete with false or misleading information or promises or with gifts to the student athlete or the athlete's friends or family. It would require a sports agent to provide the student athlete with a clear, standardized warning, in writing, that signing an agency contract could jeopardize the athlete's eligibility to participate in college sports. It would make it unlawful to pre-date or post-date agency contracts, and require both the agent and student athlete to promptly inform the athlete's university if they do enter into a contract.

    Representative BART GORDON of Tennessee has spearheaded this legislation in the House, where the Energy and Commerce Committee and the Judiciary Committee have both considered and approved the bill this year. I'm told that consideration on the House floor could occur this week. I applaud Congressman GORDON for his leadership on this issue, and I urge my Senate colleagues to join me in addressing this matter in the Senate.

    I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be printed in the RECORD.