...and the College Athlete Economic Freedom Act to expand and codify the right of college athletes to be fairly compensated for the use of their Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL).
Expand and codify the right of college athletes to be fairly compensated for the use of their Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL).
Occurrences
Our legislation shields college athletes from an assault on their livelihoods by expanding and codifying their basic right to be fairly compensated for their Name, Image, and Likeness.
Evidence
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On March 26, 2026, Senator Chris Murphy served as Ranking Member of the Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee hearing titled 'Don't Fumble Their Future: Positioning Student-Athletes for Success in School and Beyond.' During the hearing, Murphy criticized the current college sports industry for funneling the majority of profits to coaches and NCAA executives rather than student athletes. He advocated for reforms to ensure fair compensation for athletes and highlighted his reintroduction of the College Athlete Right to Organize Act and the College Athlete Economic Freedom Act, which aim to codify the right of college athletes to unionize and be fairly compensated for the use of their Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL).
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On July 24, 2025, Congresswoman Lori Trahan and Senator Chris Murphy reintroduced the College Athlete Economic Freedom Act. This legislation aims to establish an unrestricted federal right for college athletes to market their Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL). The bill also allows international college athletes to market their NIL without losing their visa status, encourages negotiation between athletes and their colleges for the use of athletes' NIL for promotion and media rights deals, and ensures colleges and collectives do not discriminate on the basis of gender, race, or participating sports in the facilitation of NIL deals.
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On March 16, 2026, Senator Richard Blumenthal urged Congress to pass the Student Athlete Fairness and Enforcement (SAFE) Act, legislation he introduced alongside Senators Maria Cantwell and Cory Booker. The SAFE Act aims to codify athletes' rights and protections in law, expand revenue for all schools, support women's and Olympic sports, and bring stability to the college sports system. The bill provides new opportunities for schools to increase revenues for all sports by amending the Sports Broadcasting Act and ensures all schools benefit from increased resources. It also stops collectives from engaging in pay-for-play by requiring that any payments to students are for legitimate use of their NIL.
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On December 8, 2025, Senators Maria Cantwell and Marsha Blackburn introduced the Helping Undergraduate Students Thrive with Long-Term Earnings (HUSTLE) Act. This bipartisan legislation aims to create a new NIL investment account that would allow student athletes to save a portion of their NIL earnings. The HUSTLE Act also protects athletes' NIL earnings by reining in abusive practices by unscrupulous athlete agents, including by requiring college athlete agents to register in a state and capping agent fees.
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On September 14, 2022, Senator Roger Wicker reintroduced the Collegiate Athlete Compensation Rights Act to create a national framework for student athlete Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) compensation. The bill aims to enshrine in federal law the right of student athletes to earn compensation for the use of their NIL, protect student athletes from deceptive business practices, and establish a uniform, national framework for NIL compensation to ensure equal rights and opportunities for student athletes in every state.
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On June 10, 2025, Representatives Janelle Bynum and Lisa McClain introduced the College Student-athlete Protections and Opportunities through Rights, Transparency, and Safety (College SPORTS) Act. This bipartisan bill aims to establish national standards for how college athletes can earn compensation from their Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL). The bill also strengthens academic, health, and financial protections for collegiate athletics, including provisions for extended academic access, health and life skills education, medical protections, scholarship security, agent oversight, and federal preemption to create a single national standard.
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On April 8, 2025, Representative Lisa McClain introduced the Protecting Student Athletes' Economic Freedom Act to safeguard college athletes' ability to benefit from their Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL). The bill also prohibits student-athletes from being classified as employees under federal and state labor laws and regulations due to their participation in intercollegiate athletics, aiming to preserve the collegiate nonprofessional model.
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On July 26, 2023, Senator Chris Murphy introduced the College Athlete Economic Freedom Act (S. 2554) in the Senate. The bill aims to establish name, image, and likeness rights for college athletes at institutions of higher education, and for other purposes.
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GovInfo lists Murphy as sponsor of S. 2470, the College Athlete Economic Freedom Act, with the full title to establish name, image, and likeness rights for college athletes. The listed action is introduction, second reading, and referral to the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee on July 28, 2025; no enacted version or later action is shown on this record.
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Murphy criticized the Protect College Sports Act as limiting athlete compensation and favoring the NCAA and high-paid college-sports executives. His office stated that earlier in the 119th Congress he reintroduced the College Athlete Economic Freedom Act to expand and codify the right of college athletes to be compensated for NIL.
Assessments
Murphy materially advanced the promise by sponsoring and reintroducing the College Athlete Economic Freedom Act to establish federal NIL rights for college athletes, and he continued using hearings and public advocacy to push fair compensation. But the relevant Murphy bill remained introduced/referred and no federal NIL-compensation right had been enacted as of August 24, 2026. Other NIL-related proposals, including the Protect College Sports Act, had advanced but were not law and were not a completed Murphy-delivered outcome. This is a serious legislative effort without delivery of the promised codification.
Senator Murphy made a clear promise to expand and codify the rights of college athletes to be compensated for NIL. He took extensive and repeated legislative action, including introducing and reintroducing relevant bills, speaking out in committee, and supporting broader efforts to pass NIL legislation. However, no federal legislation was enacted to codify these rights during the term in question. Thus, while significant effort was demonstrated, the actual policy outcome was not delivered.
Senator Chris Murphy made sustained and notable efforts to expand and codify the right of college athletes to be compensated for their Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL), as evidenced by multiple legislative proposals he introduced or supported, participation in relevant hearings, and continued advocacy. Despite these efforts, no federal legislation establishing or codifying such NIL rights for college athletes has been signed into law. The legal environment for NIL remains a patchwork of state laws and NCAA policy. Therefore, while effort is clearly demonstrated, the promise remains unfulfilled.