- The Drake Group Examines 2023 Congressional Efforts to Alleviate the College Athlete NIL Chaos - Representatives of the NCAA, prominent athletic conferences, and athletics administrators have been pacing the halls of Congress asking their Senators and Representatives for federal laws that would negate the patchwork of state laws that gave college athletes name, image, and likeness employment rights outside their education institutions. Such employment is a good thing for athletes, ... Read more
- Why is the Department of Education Office for Civil Rights Failing to Help Colleges and Universities Resolve the Current Name/Image/Likeness Chaos? - On August 1, 2023, The Drake Group sent its fourth request to the U.S. Department of Education Office for Civil Rights asking that they issue existing Title IX guidance to colleges and universities to address sex discrimination in recruiting, publicity, promotion, and financial aid by name/image/likeness collectives (NIL collectives) they are directly and indirectly supporting. ... Read more
- Following Reports of Hazing and Abuse, The Drake Group Calls Upon Congress to Enact the College Athletes Bill of Rights - WESTPORT, CT – July 18, 2023. Prompted by last week’s reports about systemic sexual hazing, harassment, racism, and other abuse in Northwestern University athletics programs, The Drake Group renewed its call for Congressional action on the College Athletes Bill of Rights, sponsored by U.S. Senators Cory Booker (NJ) and Richard Blumenthal (CT). The legislation would ... Read more
- The Drake Group Endorses the FAIR PLAY FOR WOMEN ACT - The Drake Group strongly endorses the Fair Play for Women Act and applauds Representative Adams and Senator Murphy for sponsoring the bill. The Act would strengthen existing statutes that require colleges and universities to publicly report data demonstrating their compliance with the athletics provisions of Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 and, for the first ... Read more
- Webinar #12: 2022 Sack Symposium Proceedings: Session 2: Mandating A College Athletes Bill of Rights - How can Congress address the economic and educational exploitation of college athletes: lack of adequate long- and short-term insurance and medical expense coverage for athletics injuries, low graduation rates for minority basketball and football players, lack of professional codes of conduct that protect athletes from abuse. The panel examines Senator Cory Booker’s Framework for legislation mandating a College ... Read more
- Webinar #11: 2022 Sack Symposium Proceedings: Session 1: Giving College Athletes the Right to Unionize - Is it possible for Congress to give college athletes the right to unionize under the National Labor Relations Act in order to create a better balance of power between athletes and their institutions? How important is it to retain the athlete’s “student” relationship to the university? If athletes were allowed to “unionize,” should athletes aggregate by ... Read more
- NILs and Title IX: Educational Institutions Must Fix their Promotion, Publicity, and Recruiting Inequities Critical to the NIL Monetization Success of College Female Athletes and Must Not Use Third Parties to Evade Their Title IX Obligations - Universities must not only focus on their own Title IX compliance obligations to provide male and female athletes with equal participation opportunities, athletics scholarship support, and equal treatment and benefits (including promotion, publicity, and recruiting), they must also require the third parties they establish, control, assist, or benefit from — conferences, national governing organizations, businesses, ... Read more
- We Must End College Athlete Abuse Now - Drake Group leaders explain how college athletes are being harmed by the current NCAA constructed system of college sports, why the NCAA won’t fix it and how Congress must be involved to find solutions. See the full story
- College Athlete Bill of Rights is Needed, But Not New - U.S. Senators Booker and Blumenthal introduced S. 5062 College Athletes Bill of Rights as legislation to be considered by the 116th Congress in December of 2020. At the time, the bill was heralded as extraordinarily progressive legislation. We asked Allen Sack, a co-founder of The Drake Group, to write a first person narrative of the ... Read more
- The NCAA Is Playing The Ball In The Wrong Court - The Drake Group President-Elect Andrew Zimbalist and Drake Board of Directors member Julie Sommer wield a mighty pen with a timely critique of the NCAA’s efforts in the courts to protect its profits – revenues derived from the labor of talented, hard-working—and disproportionately Black—college athletes, especially those playing in the women’s and men’s Final Four ... Read more
- Eyes of Texas is a “Yes, Coach” Moment - The Drake Group urges reflection on the example of The University of Texas refusing the request of Black football players not to play “The Eyes of Texas” at the end of each football game, because of its offensive and degrading history and impact on these and other students. READ FULL PRESS RELEASE
- Federal NIL Legislation Chart - A side-by-side comparison of legislation filed in the 116th and 117th Congress to date on the issue of college athlete compensation for their independent monetization of the use of their names, images, and likenesses.
- Failure to Act in the Interest of Athletes—The Drake Group Comments on the NCAA’s Decision to Delay Transfer and Name, Image, and Likeness Policy Updates - NEW HAVEN, Conn. – On January 8, 2021, the NCAA was scheduled to vote on two important and long-overdue policy amendments: loosening of NIL restrictions and transfer policies that require certain athletes to sit out a season after transferring schools. However, instead of voting on these proposals, the NCAA delayed amending them, citing a letter ... Read more
- Drake Group Calls for Congress to Enact College Athlete Protections: A Legislative Proposal - On August 3, 2020, U.S. Senators Cory Booker, Richard Blumenthal, Christopher Murphy, Kirsten Gillibrand, Ron Wyden, Mazie Hirono, and Kamala Harris issued a “College Athletes Bill of Rights” statement that sought to advance justice and opportunity for college athletes and promised future legislation to realize their position. On August 13, they were joined by Senators ... Read more
- In Loco Parentis…or Just Loco? - PRESS RELEASE – SEPTEMBER 11, 2019 For immediate release For more information: Dr. B. David Ridpath, Ed.D. President The Drake Group www.TheDrakeGroup.org 740-677-2642 In Loco Parentis…or Just Loco? NEW HAVEN, CONN. – Drake President B. David Ridpath commented, “Normally The Drake Group takes its responsibility to comment on intercollegiate issues with the utmost seriousness and ... Read more
- College Athlete Codes of Conduct and Issues Related to Freedom of Speech and Expression - The Drake Group addresses constitutionally protected speech and expression rights of public college and university students who participate in intercollegiate athletics. The current national debates about the extent to which athletic departments should properly control athlete behavior, especially on social media and in connection with activism require athletic directors to respond to questions such as ... Read more
- Drake Group Co-Sponsors “Athletes Right To Know Act” - In January of 2011, the Drake Group and the National College Players’ Association (NCPA) joined forces with CT State Representative Pat Dillon to pass the College Athletes Right to Know Act in Connecticut. This legislation which was first signed into law by California Governor Arnold Schwartzenegger, requires colleges and universities to publicly disclose, among other ... Read more
- Caveat Emptor and Prospective College Athletes - Absent federal and/or state, Bills of Rights for prospective college athletes, Truth in Recruiting legislation, or NCAA Transparency and Accountability Acts, unwitting recruits face quadruple jeopardy, i. e., double-double jeopardy, when they buy into the recruitment packages proffered by NCAA member colleges and universities. This exploitation is especially hard on the academically disadvantaged. How might this be? ... Read more
