Press Releases

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

“The Congressional Black Caucus cannot support advancing the Protect College Sports Act in its current form.

“The Congressional Black Caucus is clear that this debate is about much more than college athletics. It is about an industry that has a profound impact on the sports culture and entertainment enjoyed by American society. It is about who has a voice in shaping the economic future of Black athletes, coaches, agents, Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), and the communities that have helped build college sports into a multibillion-dollar enterprise.

“At the very moment that Black political representation is under attack across the country, we will not be complicit in efforts to further exclude the interests of Black people by advancing legislation that will determine the economic future of Black athletes, their families, and their communities without their meaningful participation and engagement.

“Several months ago, before the Senate ever reached this moment, the Congressional Black Caucus made clear that Congress should not rush to provide sweeping new federal protections and legal certainty to powerful athletic institutions while those same institutions remained largely silent as Black voting rights and Black political representation came under unprecedented attack.

“The legislation before the Senate has evolved. However, the fundamental concerns of Black collegiate athletes, coaches, agents, HBCUs, and the communities we represent have not.

“As states across the country continue taking aggressive steps to dismantle Black political representation and erode decades of hard-won protections secured by the Voting Rights Act, Congress is preparing to rewrite the economic rules governing college athletics. In doing so, it is assigning authority to various entities across this growing industry and establishing rules that will shape earning opportunities, representation, and long-term economic mobility for generations of Black athletes. Those issues cannot be separated.

“Black athletes have transformed college athletics into one of the most successful enterprises in America. Yet the people most affected by this legislation have not been meaningfully included in shaping it.

“Despite months of negotiations and multiple Senate hearings, the legislative process has failed to meaningfully incorporate the perspectives of Black athletes, Black coaches, Black agents, HBCUs, or the Congressional Black Caucus, despite the disproportionate impact this legislation will have on those communities. Meaningful engagement is measured by results, not meetings.

“No legislation that disproportionately affects Black athletes should move through Congress without meaningful participation from the communities it will most directly affect.

“The Congressional Black Caucus has consistently advocated for stronger rights, protections, and economic opportunities for Black athletes and the broader ecosystem that supports them. We have sought stronger athlete protections, greater transparency and accountability, meaningful representation in the governance of college athletics, and policies that expand—not limit—opportunities for Black athletes, Black coaches, Black agents, Black entrepreneurs, and HBCUs. Those priorities are not meaningfully reflected in the legislation before the Senate.

“Instead, the so-called Protect College Sports Act grants sweeping new legal protections to powerful institutions while failing to adequately protect the athletes whose talent fuels this multibillion-dollar industry. It falls short of providing Black athletes with the rights, representation, economic opportunities, and meaningful safeguards they deserve, while also failing to adequately recognize the interests of Black coaches, Black agents, HBCUs, and other professionals whose futures will be shaped by this legislation. Those concerns have also been echoed by the NAACP and a broad coalition of athlete advocates, labor organizations, civil rights organizations, and public interest organizations urging the Senate not to advance this legislation in its current form.

“We will not be a party to strengthening powerful institutions while they remain silent as Black political representation is decimated. Congress should not determine the economic future of Black athletes without ensuring they and the communities they come from have a meaningful voice throughout the process.

“Senate Democrats now have both the opportunity and the responsibility to insist that this legislation reflects the interests of Black athletes, HBCUs, and the communities it will most directly affect. We urge our Democratic colleagues to use their leverage to ensure these concerns are addressed before this legislation advances any further.

“Our communities have done their part in strengthening and advancing our democracy. While many in this debate view this as a matter of collegiate athletics, the Congressional Black Caucus maintains that this is about political representation. It is about economic opportunity. It is about whether those whose talent built college athletics will have a meaningful voice in determining its future.

“Nothing about us without us.”