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Senate Co-Sponsorship Memoranda
Senate of Pennsylvania
Session of 2019 - 2020
Regular Session
MEMORANDUM
| Posted: | October 30, 2019 03:37 PM |
|---|---|
| From: | Senator Anthony H. Williams and Sen. Patrick M. Browne |
| To: | All Senate members |
| Subject: | PA Fair Pay to Play Act |
| In the near future, we will be introducing legislation modeled on California’s Fair Pay to Play Act, which allows student athletes to retain their right of publicity in seeking endorsement deals. Currently, the amateurism requirement of the National Collegiate Athletics Association (NCAA) infringes on the right of student athletes to profit from their own image. While college athletes receive scholarships to cover tuition, room and board and in some cases a modest living stipend, their performance brings in tens of millions of dollars in revenue for schools each year. Those revenues result in large salaries for coaching staff, while athletes risk career-ending injuries on the promise of future professional earnings. Under no other circumstance are athletes of this caliber restricted from earning money from their own image – as evidenced by the smiling faces of Olympians on the famous Wheaties box. This bill would simply allow athletes to arrange business deals outside of their team duties without fear of losing their scholarships. It would place no duty on schools to directly pay the athletes beyond the current practices, and would require the NCAA to allow Pennsylvania colleges and universities to participate in national championships and bowl games. I hope you will join us in co-sponsoring this legislation. Any questions or concerns may be addressed to Senator Williams' Harrisburg office at 717-787-5970 or Senator Browne's office at 717-787-1349 . Thank you. |
Introduced as SB949