WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Congresswoman Lori Trahan (MA-03), the only former Division I woman athlete in Congress and a member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee’s Innovation, Data, and Commerce Subcommittee, participated in a hearing focused on the future of college athletics in the post-amateurism landscape.
Footage of Trahan’s opening remarks and line of questioning can be accessed by clicking HERE or the image below. A full transcript of the exchange is included below.
During Trahan’s opening remarks, she supported calls for a federal name, image, and likeness (NIL) bill that prioritizes the input and rights of athletes.
“I would urge my colleagues that when we move the ball forward on this issue, we do so in a way that prioritizes the rights of athletes who have long been left out of discussions about the future of college athletics,” said Congresswoman Trahan. “There should not be a desire to return to the status quo that didn’t work for so many college athletes. We can’t put that genie back in the bottle, as they say, but we can work together to advance legislation that creates a level playing field, strengthens the rights of athletes, and preserves college athletics for generations to come.”
During her line of question, she questioned a Power 5 athletic director on the university’s compliance with Title IX. A USA Today report found that colleges routinely exploit loopholes to misrepresent the number of women athletes at their institutions. She called for Congress to pass the Fair Play for Women Act, bicameral legislation she introduced to close these loopholes and ensure real compliance with Title IX requirements.
“Many of my colleagues on this committee may not be aware that the Department of Education allows colleges to exploit loopholes like overcounting women athletes, double or triple counting them, or even counting male athletes as women to comply with Title IX on paper,” Congresswoman Trahan continued. “Of course, just because the Education Department allows it doesn’t mean it’s right to make college athletics less available to women athletes…We can’t talk about NIL rights – particularly for women athletes – without talking about how some schools exploit loopholes that deprive women of the opportunity to play in college in the first case.”
Trahan also questioned Washington State University Athletic Director Pat Chun and College Football Players Association Executive Director Jason Stahl about the impact of collectives. Trahan raised concerns that NIL collectives, which are purposely structured separately from athletic departments and therefore not subject to Title IX requirements, are prioritizing men athletes over their women counterparts.
Trahan has introduced one of the leading bills to create a national NIL standard and has also been a staunch advocate for updating Title IX rules to protect opportunities for women athletes. In this hearing, Trahan drew upon her legislation as well as her experience as a volleyball player at Georgetown University and the process of earning her athletic scholarship, which helped her to become the first in her family to graduate from college.
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Congresswoman Lori Trahan
Remarks as Delivered
Hearing on “Taking the Buzzer Beater to the Bank: Protecting College Athletes' NIL Dealmaking Rights”
March 29, 2023
TRAHAN: Well, I thank the Ranking Member for yielding. Like many of our colleagues on the committee, I believe that Congress can and must act to create a level playing field for college athletics. We’ll no doubt hear today from our witnesses that the current patchwork of state laws is difficult for colleges and conferences to navigate. But as a former college athlete myself, I’m more concerned with how that same patchwork affects athletes.=
When I was being recruited to play volleyball, I had to navigate that process alone. You know, my parents didn’t get a scholarship to college – in fact, many first-generation Americans, like my dad, didn’t have a choice but to start working right after high school. They did their best to help me, but the burden of navigating different scholarship offers and weighing the pros and cons of one school against another was stressful and at times daunting. That was difficult enough 30 years ago without having to parse through different state laws to determine if going to school in New Mexico might be better from a NIL perspective than staying in my home state of Massachusetts. But that’s a challenge athletes are facing today.
Make no mistake – the system of college athletics is better than it was two years ago. But there are emerging challenges, including inequity and collusion among collectives, predatory contracts, and Title IX loopholes that we should address. I would urge my colleagues that when we move the ball forward on this issue, we do so in a way that prioritizes the rights of athletes who have long been left out of discussions about the future of college athletics. There should not be a desire to return to the status quo that didn’t work for so many college athletes. We can’t put that genie back in the bottle, as they say, but we can work together to advance legislation that creates a level playing field, strengthens the rights of athletes, and preserves college athletics for generations to come.
I want to thank the Chair and Ranking Member for hosting today’s hearing, and the panel of witnesses for their testimony, and I yield back.
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TRAHAN: Thank you Mr. Chairman, I’m not from Florida, but I have a world of respect for everything you all do. Mr. Chun, I'm going to start with you because my opening remarks were already given. As the Athletic Director at Washington State University, you’re responsible for reporting the number of men and women for Title X compliance, correct?
MR. CHUN: Yes.
TRAHAN: You must be aware that last year, an investigative report from USA Today found that your university overcounted your women's rowing roster by 21 athletes and counted 8 male practice players as women's roster spots to show compliance with Title IX on paper.
MR. CHUN: Yes.
TRAHAN: And, It sounds like just from your direct and truthful answers, you understand that by overcounting or misrepresenting the number of women athletes at your university, you’re essentially depriving, in this case, 29 women of the chance to continue their athletic career?
MR. CHUN: Yes. Assuming those numbers are correct, yes.
TRAHAN: So, I bring this up because many of my colleagues on the committee may not be aware that the Department of Education allows colleges to exploit loopholes like overcounting women athletes, double or triple counting them, or even counting male athletes as women, to comply with Title IX, on paper. Of course, just because the Education Department allows it on paper, does not mean that it is right to make college athletics less available to women athletes.
And I bring this up, not to put you on the spot Mr. Chun. But we can’t talk about NIL rights, particularly for women athletes, without talking about how some schools exploit loopholes that deprive women of the opportunity to play sports in college in the first place. It's for this reason that I introduced the fair play for women act, with Congresswoman Adams, and Senator Murphy, to close these loopholes, and I would encourage my colleagues on the committee to join me in supporting legislation that not only strengthens NIL rights but closes these loopholes as well.
I'll switch gears because I’d like to talk about one of the biggest issues facing college athletics in the post-amateurism landscape, and that’s collectives. As some of my colleagues have rightly pointed out today, the emergence and embrace of NIL collectives have created a number of questions over the past year and a half. Mr. Chun, are you familiar with the Cougar Collective, the NIL collective associated with Wazzu?
MR. CHUN: Yes.
TRAHAN: And do you or athletic department staff, including coaches, communicate directly with members of the Cougar Collective, and if so, do they discuss potential recruits that a team may be hoping to land a commitment from?
MR. CHUN: Not with me directly, and not to my knowledge with any of our coaches. Our interaction with them has been education; they've done compliance education with us. Our compliance staff probably meets with them. I think they have a standing meeting once a month just to ensure compliance with the rules. We're fortunate that our collective is filled with alums that care about the institution that are really focused on following whatever rules exist. And we do not have a NIL law in the state of Washington.
TRAHAN: So I think one of the things that we need to talk about when we're talking about these collectives are whether or not you know there are conversations about specific athletes in tandem with universities. Mr. Chun, is it your understanding or your belief that the cougar collective prioritizes women athletes as equally as they do male athletes?
MR. CHUN: I know they've had conversations. We do not have access to what exact deals are happening. I know they have communicated to us that they are working to try to find opportunities for our women. They understand, you know, at our institution specifically, I mean women's sports are performing at particularly spectacular levels. So they recognize the challenges that our women coaches have as well, but we do not have any clarity exactly to what the deals are.
TRAHAN: Dr. Stahl, I’m sorry, I’m interested to hear your thoughts on this as well. Are you aware of active collusion between athletic depts and collectives and would you say that generally speaking, collectives tend to approach NIL arrangements with the goal of equally supporting men and women athletes?
DR. STAHL: I mean, it depends on what you mean by collusion. One of the reasons I found the discussion somewhat odd today about collectives is from what I know from around the country, that athletic department heads like Mr. Chun are encouraging donors to donate money to collectives. It's a huge thing, it happens everywhere. And so to the extent that we would need some sort of NIL federal law, like what exactly would they want said about collectives? It's just, the messaging is very unclear. So, in terms of collusion…
TRAHAN: Coordination.
DR. STAHL: I’ll put it very simply, Athletic Directors around the country are absolutely encouraging donors to donate money to collectives, this happens everywhere.
TRAHAN: In addition to that, it would also be helpful as we consider where the boundaries of Title IX are if we are also having conversations about specific recruits and how those collectives are set up to recruit athletes. Thank you, I know I’m over my time Mr. Chair, I yield back
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