U.S. Sen Ron Wyden Talks Vision For NIL Compensation Legislation

U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) "shared his vision for national NIL legislation and some of the topics at the center of the debate and negotiation with the NCAA and Power 5 conferences," according to James Crepea of the Portland OREGONIAN. Wyden, a former college basketball player at UC-Santa Barbara, said, "Let's allow college athletes to be compensated for their work and allow them to market their name and image and likeness. ... There needs to be strong protections for athletes' health and provide coverage for medical bills and out-of-pocket expenses from sports-related injuries." He added, "Then you need to have improved education outcomes; stop the schools from taking scholarships away from students that get injured while playing or practicing and put a focus on getting those graduation rates up among college athletes. I think there needs to be more transparency and accountability; reports on booster donations, revenue and academic outcomes" (Portland OREGONIAN, 8/23).