Scholarships and Benefits Archives - The Drake Group Education Fund

The Drake Group Releases National State-by-State Database of Athletics Name, Image, and Likeness Legislation

The purpose of updating the 2021 database created by The Drake Group is to provide legislative policymakers, athletics administrators, and college athletes with current knowledge of state laws related to NIL and other third-party employment. School administrators need to understand what laws require in their own states and the states where their teams compete, to best guide their student-athletes, especially when … Read more

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

WEBINAR #9 FOLLOW-UP QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS “Lack of Accountability for Athlete Abuse in College Athletics”

Over the last few decades, reported stories of athlete abuse in college athletics have become more frequent and more egregious. Incidents of abuse – including physical, mental, and sexual – have been swept under the carpet, and perpetrators are often able to resign and find employment at other institutions. The media as a whole is … Read more

Webinar #5 FOLLOW-UP QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS – Title IX and the NIL Marketplace

A regular feature of our webinar series is “Follow-Up Notes/Q&As” which provides a link to the recorded webinar, answers to questions from the audience that panelists did not have the time to address (prepared by Drake Group experts), and information on previous and next webinars. This edition covers audience questions related to panelists’ discussion of … 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

Drake Director Sommer Pens Seattle Times Op-Ed on Senate Athlete NIL Hearing

Julie R. Sommer is a Seattle attorney, a former collegiate swimmer at the University of Texas and U.S. National Team member and serves on the Board of Directors of The Drake Group, a national think tank dedicated to academic integrity and advocacy on behalf of college athletes. She pens an insightful op-ed on the role … Read more

The U.S. House NIL Bill, Student Athlete Level Playing Field Act, Is Improved but Still Needs Further Specification

The Drake Group commends lead sponsors Representatives Anthony Gonzalez (R-OH) and Emanuel Cleaver (D-MO), for the reintroduction of their bipartisan bill, the Student Athlete Level Playing Field Act, in the 117th Congress that prohibits the NCAA and other national or conference governance organizations or their member institutions from declaring college athletes ineligible for participation because … Read more

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.

The Drake Group Strongly Supports “College Athletes Bill of Rights” Introduced in the 117th Congress

On August 3, 2022, U.S. Senators Cory Booker, Richard Blumenthal, Brian Schatz, Ron Wyden, and Alex Padilla re-introduced the “College Athletes Bill of Rights” legislation aimed at advancing justice and opportunity for college athletes. “The College Athletes Bill of Rights bill is long overdue and extremely important,” said Andrew Zimbalist, President of The Drake Group. “It protects college athletes’ rights … Read more

Collegiate Athlete Compensation Rights Act Misses Mark on What is Needed to Protect the Independent Publicity Rights of College Athletes

The Drake Group reviewed the Collegiate Athlete Compensation Rights Act introduced by U.S. Senator Roger Wicker (R)-Mississippi on December 10, 2020. The stated purpose of Senator Wicker’s bill is to protect the rights of college athletes, to provide for transparency and accountability with respect to college athlete name, image, and likeness (NIL) agreements, and to … Read more