Press Releases

Washington, DC — Today, Rep. Becca Balint (VT-AL) released the following statement on her opposition to the Student Compensation and Opportunity through Rights and Endorsements (SCORE) Act: 

 

“In addition to harming women’s sports programs and preempting labor protections, the SCORE Act includes an irresponsible antitrust exemption. The SCORE Act’s antitrust exemption opens the door to abuses of the already significant power imbalance between athletes, schools, and conferences. I’m alarmed by the possibility of algorithmic price fixing by schools under Name, Image, Likeness (NIL) agreements. I’m proud to join antitrust experts across the spectrum, including eight former Department of Justice (DOJ) and Federal Trade Commission (FTC) officials, and five state attorneys general, in opposing the SCORE Act.” 

The landmark 2021 Supreme Court decision National Collegiate Athletic Association v. Alston unanimously held that the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) was subject to antitrust laws and that it had unlawfully used its monopoly power to limit NIL compensation to college athletes. The SCORE Act broadly shields the NCAA, athletic conferences, and educational institutions from antitrust liability. 

Granting this sweeping immunity deprives state and federal antitrust enforcers the power to hold institutions accountable for actions that undermine athletes’ rights and harm competition. It is a free pass for athletic conferences and educational institutions to take anticompetitive actions to unfairly limit college athletes’ compensation. 

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