Press Releases

Today, Congressional Black Caucus Chair Yvette D. Clarke (NY-09) and members of the Congressional Black Caucus issued the following statement:

“We can all agree that college athletes need stronger protections. Unfortunately, the SCORE Act doesn’t provide them. It would permanently strip college athletes of labor and employment rights, including the right to unionize; prevent them from challenging harmful or anticompetitive conduct; and grant the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and conferences sweeping immunity when their actions jeopardize athletes’ education, health, safety, or financial well-being.

“It is a shame that organizations like the NCAA, who last year touted $1.4 billion in revenue — a $91 million increase from the prior year — have for so long been able to benefit from college athletes’ hard work and sacrifice while the athletes themselves are often exploited and mistreated. To make matters worse, in 2023, Division I schools spent over $3.6 billion on coaches’ salaries — by far the largest spending category in these schools’ athletic finances.

“We cannot lose sight of the human impact here. At the center of this issue are the college athletes, many of whom are Black students and who may not come from sizable financial means. College athletes too often report struggling with injuries, food insecurity, poverty, and homelessness. It is wholly unfair that universities and coaches are lining their pockets while leaving so little, if anything, for the college athletes who make those profits possible.

“The CBC will continue fighting for legislation that elevates and protects college athletes, not the athletic conferences that profit from them.”