Raskin, other Democrats say athletes could lose if Congress intervenes in college sports

Jeff Barker, Baltimore Sun on Mar 11, 2025

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WASHINGTON — Federal lawmakers on Tuesday called for Congress to help stabilize college athletics, but Maryland Rep. Jamie Raskin and other Democrats said they worry the NCAA would use legislation to roll back significant gains made by student-athletes.

“The NCAA has had a monopoly on college sports and the revenue they generate for decades, and has consistently failed to make needed changes to help the student players without outside pressure,” Raskin said during a hearing of a House Judiciary subcommittee overseeing antitrust issues.

Now, the Montgomery County Democrat said, “they want federal statutory protections to enable them to roll back the positive changes that have been made for students.”

The hearing of the Republican-controlled subcommittee came as college sports transitioned to a new economic model in which schools, as a result of litigation, will begin revenue sharing with their athletes in 2025-26.

The University of Maryland announced in January that it will begin sharing the maximum-allowable amount of $20.5 million with its athletes this fall. The vast majority of that amount will be distributed among the marquee sports of football, men’s basketball and women’s basketball, according to the school.

An athletics department spokesperson had no immediate comment on whether the school would favor congressional intervention.

Morgan State and other Maryland universities will also allow its student athletes to directly receive a portion of the school’s sports revenue.

Committee Republicans argued Tuesday that the evolving new landscape must be regulated. Doing that would likely require the NCAA to receive an antitrust exemption or waiver. Major League Baseball has long had such an exemption permitting it to act collectively on behalf of its teams.

College players previously won the right — in 2021 — to profit from endorsements, jersey sales and other products capitalizing on their names, images or likenesses (NIL). Athletes have also benefited from liberalized transfer rules allowing them to switch schools multiple times and be immediately eligible to play.

“College sports has largely lost any resemblance of the amateur sports that they used to be — or collegiate spirit — even when the cost of a sport consistently and greatly exceeds any revenue from it,” said subcommittee chairman Scott Fitzgerald, a Wisconsin Republican, at the hearing. “Coaches are finding it difficult to manage their teams because students can transfer at a drop of a hat.”

If it intervened, Congress could grant the NCAA an antitrust waiver, impose standards on how much college athletes can receive in endorsements, or block players from being considered employees of their schools and potentially unionizing.

“We’ve got to sort this out. This has to get fixed in this Congress,” said subcommittee member Michael Baumgartner, a Washington Republican.

Jim Jordan, the Ohio Republican who chairs the full Judiciary Committee, and others said they are worried that non-revenue producing sports — typically including swimming and diving, track and field and others — could disappear under the current unregulated model that directs money primarily to football and basketball.

“Track and field and other non-revenue sports are at risk,” Caryl Smith Gilbert, director of men’s and women’s track and field at the University of Georgia, told the panel. “The current NIL environment — without a clear uniform national standard — threatens scholarships, undermines roster stability, and creates uncertainty for athletes, coaches, and programs.”

It remains uncertain how or whether Congress will act.

New York Rep. Jerry Nadler, the subcommittee’s top-ranking Democrat, said he is worried the “fix” could set back progress made in recent years.

“College athletes are being recognized and compensated for their talents and contributions as never before, and new models of compensation continue to develop through litigation and other competitive pressures,” Nadler said. “But now the NCAA, which generates nearly $1.3 billion a year in revenue, wants to stop this progress dead in its tracks.”

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