A couple of nights ago, the bears and I, read through all 30 pages of the ‘SCORE’ executive order, and while most of it is just regulating sports, defining terms, as well as other things. There are still some major things that this ‘SCORE’ act would bring in, if said bill is said to pass.

Sit back, grab a snack, and something to drink, because college sports could very soon change forever.

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In Section 1 of the SCORE act, it defines the terms for AGENTS. Meaning an individual who represents a student-athlete with respect to a NIL agreement, or another form of compensation related to the student-athletes on a team and does NOT include an immediate family member of the student-athlete. Unless the immediate family member receives payment as described in this paragraph.

In Section 3 of the SCORE act, it defines the terms for an ASSOCIATED ENTITY OR INDIVIDUAL, which means

• An entity that is known to employees of the athletic department of such institution to exist, for the purpose of promoting, supporting the team, or student athletes of the institution creating or identifying opportunities for NIL agreements.
• An individual who is or has been a member, employee, director, officer, owner or other representative of an entity.
• An individual who directly or indirectly (including those by an entity affiliated with said individual or an immediate family member of said individual) who has donated more than $50,000
• An individual or entity who is directed or requested by the employees of the athletic department of such institution to assist in the recruitment or retention of prospective student-athletes and student-athletes.
• An entity (other than a publicly traded corporation, for example a company that is traded in the stock market) owner, controlled, operated, or affiliated with individual as described in any section of Section 3 of the SCORE act.

In Section 4 of the SCORE act, it defines the terms and how COLLEGE SPORTS REVENUE can be earned.

• From the sale of admission to sporting events (including monetary revenue by of for the benefit of such institution for a suite license, unless the suite licensed is associated with philanthropy or any reason, not related to sporting events, including a concert)
• Participation in games against opponents, including payments for cancelled games
• Radio, television, internet, digital and e-commerce right, including revenue related to media rights distributed by a conference, to its members.
• From any association, who provides any grants, distribution of revenue and reimbursement relation to travel with respect to a championship and payment for hosting such championship.
• Post-season football bowls; including any distribution of revenue by a conference to members of the conference and other payment related to said post-season bowls, including ticket sales and reimbursement of funds.
• From a conference
• For sponsorships. Licensing agreements, advertisements, royalties and in-kind products and services as part of a sponsorship agreement.
• Any additional form of revenue a college athletic association uses with respect to the pool limit of such athletic association.

In section 5 of the SCORE act, they clarified the terms of COMPENSATION

Any form of payment or remuneration whether provided through cash, benefits, awards, or any other means, including payments for

• Licenses relating to or the use of NIL rights
• Licenses relating to, or the use of any other Federal or Stae intellectual or intangible property right

COMPENSATION does not include

• Grants-in-aid
• Federal Pell Grants (or any other Federal or State grants unrelated to and not awarded with their participation in said athletic program
• Health insurance and payments for the costs of health care, including health insurance and payments for the costs of health care wholly or partly self funded by an institution, conference or interstate intercollegiate athletic association
• Disability and loss-of-value insurance including disability and loss-of-value insurance that is wholly or partly self funded by an institution, conference or interstate intercollegiate athletic association
• Career counseling, job placement services and other guidance available to all students at an institution
• Payment of hourly ages and benefits for work actually performed
• Academic awards
• Provision of financial literacy or tax education resources and guidance
• Any program to connect student athletes with employers and facilitate employment opportunities, if the financial terms of such employment opportunities are consistent with the terms offered to similar employees who aren’t student athletes and such program is not used to induce a student athlete to attend a particular institution.

In Section 18 of the SCORE act, the executive order mentions a POOL LIMIT

The term ‘Pool Limit’ means a dollar amount based on college sports revenue that

• Is calculated and published by an interstate intercollegiate athletic association pursuant to the rules the interstate intercollegiate athletic association establishes under section 6.

Section 6: CONFERENCE

• Has two or more members
• Arranges regular season matchups and championships for their members
• Sets rules with respect to its competitions and championships

• Serves as the annual maximum amount that an institution may provide, in total, to student athletes.

In Section 19 of the SCORE act. It defines the term ‘PROHIBITED COMPENSATION’

• Compensation (including an written or verbal agreement) to a student athlete from an associated entity or individual of the institution at which the student athlete is enrolled (or a student athlete who is being recruited) for an license or use of NIL rights of such student athlete or prospective student athlete, unless the license or use if for a valid business purpose related to the promotion or endorsement of goods or services provided to the general public for profit, with compensation at rates and terms commensurate with compensation paid to individuals with NIL right of comparable value who are not student athletes or prospective student athletes with respect to an institution
• Compensation to a student athlete if such compensation is paid by or on behalf of the institution in which a player is enrolled or being recruited for, and results in the exceeding of the pool limit established by the interstate intercollegiate athletic association-collegiate athletic association of such institution is a member.

In the SCORE Act, in mentions the protection of NIL rights and agreements, regulating multiple different scenarios players may find themselves in.

• In general, no institution, conference or interstate intercollegiate athletic association may restrict the ability of student athletes to enter into an NIL agreement
• There are some exceptions, including PROHIBITED COMPENSATION, which means the above paragraph would not apply with respect to an NIL agreement to the extent such agreement provides prohibited compensation.
• Another exception includes CODES OF CONDUCT AND CONFLICTING AGREEMENTS, which an institution may restrict the ability of a student athlete of such institution (including student athletes who have agreed to attend) to enter into an NIL agreement, if
• Violates the code of conduct of such institution or conflicts with the terms or a contract or similar agreement to which institution is a party.
• No institution may restrict the ability of a student athlete athlete to obtain an agent
• No institution may release information disclosed to such entity by a student athlete with respect to a NIL agreement without the written consent of such student athlete

Also in the SCORE act, student athletes must be notified by their agents if an agent is registered with an interstate intercollegiate athletic association or if the athlete agent is registered with an interstate intercollegiate athletic association, whether the athlete agent is registered with the interstate intercollegiate athletic association that has as a member the institution at which the student athletes in enrolled

Agents are also only allowed to help student athletes with endorsement deals if the student athlete is under 18 years of age, or the parent or guardian of the student athlete, or if the agents provide written consent for such assistance after receiving the disclosure.

In the SCORE act, the order defines REQUIREMENTS APPLICABLE TO CERTAIN INSTITUTIONS

An institution shall provide comprehensive academic support and career counseling services to student athletes that include life skills development programs with respect to

• Mental health, including alcohol and substance abuse
• Strength and conditioning
• Nutrition
• NIL rights including related legal advice
• Financial literacy, including taxes
• The process for transferring between institutions
• Sexual violence prevention
• Provide medical and health benefits that include, medical care, including payment of out-of-pocket expenses for an injury of a student athlete in intercollegiate athletics for such institution that is available to the student athlete during the period of enrollment the student athlete with such institution and a period of at least three years following graduation or separation from such institution (unless said separation is due to a code of conduct violation)
• Mental health services and support, including mental health educational materials and resources
• An administrative structure that provides independent medical care, including with respect to decisions regarding return to play
• Certification of insurance coverage for medical expenses resulting from injuries of student athletes incurred during the involvement of such student athletes in intercollegiate athletics for such institution
• Maintain a grant-in-aid provided to a student athlete in relation to the involvement of such student athletes in intercollegiate athletics during the period of that grant-in-aid for such institution without regard to, athletic performance;contribution to team success; injury, illness, or physical or mental condition; receipt of compensation pursuant to a NIL agreement.
• Provide a degree completion program; for each former student athlete of such institution who received a grant-in-aid from such institution who received a grant-in-aid from such institution and did not graduate from such institution; that provides financial aid to such former student athlete in an amount that is based on the average annual grant-in-aid provided to such a former student athlete participated on a varsity sports team of the institution
• If not already established, these must be established no later than July 1, 2027 and thereafter maintain, at least 16 varsity sports teams

In the SCORE act, it also enforces that colleges must establish and enforce rules with respect to

• Requiring a student athlete or prospective student athlete to disclose, in a timely manner, the terms of an NIL agreement entered into by such student athlete
• Establishing and implementing a process to collect and publicly share aggregated and anonymized date related to the NIL agreements of student athletes;
• Prohibited compensation, including processes for dispute resolution and penalties, if such rules provide that a student athlete does not lose eligibility to compete in intercollegiate athletic competitions while a process for dispute resolution in ongoing;
• Setting parameters for the manner in which and the time period which student athletes and prospective student athletes may be recruited for intercollegiate athletics;
• Calculating a pool limit, if such rules provide that such pool limit is at least 22% of the average annual college sports revenue of the 70 highest earning (with respect to such revenue) member institutions of such interstate intercollegiate athletic association (or, if such interstate intercollegiate athletic association has fewer than 70 members, the average annual college sports revenue of all members), and monitoring payments of compensation related to such pool limit;
• Setting parameters for the manner in which a student athletes may transfer between institutions, if such rules provide that on at least 1 occasion each student may transfer between institutions and be immediately eligible and an institution to which a student athlete is considering transferring shall provide to such athlete, at the request of the student athlete, in writing, and at a reasonable time prior to completion of the transfer, a notice of the previously earned academic credits of such student athlete that such institution will accept, including with respect to the program of study of such student athlete;
• The eligibility of a student athlete to participate in intercollegiate athletics, such as rules with respect to the length of time a student athlete is eligible to compete and academic standards for eligibility;
• Establishing and implementing a process for agent registration, including setting parameters for the ability of member institutions to negotiate with agents who are not registered under such process and limiting the amount of the compensation under an NIL agreement between a student athlete and an institution that may be provided to the agent of such student athlete to not more then 5 percent of such compensation;
• The membership of, and participation in, such interstate intercollegiate athletic association, including and championships administered by such interstate intercollegiate athletic association, under which such interstate intercollegiate athletic association may establish membership qualifications, remove members and otherwise regulate participation
• Intercollegiate athletic competitions and player seasons, including uses with respect to season length, maximum number or contests and student athlete time demands (whether during a playing season or outside of it).

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Alright, now that the boring part is over, let’s talk about what may change in the future for college sports, and how recruiting may also change.

Overall, the SCORE act will bring lots of changes that i always thought from my perspective should be introduced. I’m all for players to get paid what they deserve, but at what point do the NIL deals turn into 30m a year, 40m a year, even 50m a year. We’ve seen the big NIL deals that have already been signed and that could’ve been just the tip of the iceberg.

With the POOL LIMIT, schools will be forced to somewhat work under a salary cap in a way, they won’t just be able to pay as many 5-star recruits as they want anymore. Teams will need to be a lot smarter with how they manage their money, who gets what, and so on.

Revenue sharing was also introduced on July 1st, which we all know how much we love our College Football every Saturday and our March Madness where we can watch games from 9AM till well the end of the night.

Revenue sharing is something that should’ve been introduced a long time ago, but im glad it’s finally making its way around to the NCAA. Another addition is that players will be able to make money off of what the schools post about them and other means.

The SCORE act also defines many terms, including what a college institution has to give their student-athletes, which include mental health services, financial literacy including taxes and even nutrition.

The executive order also mentioned that schools will now have to calculate a pool limit, and adhere to it.

Another thing worth mentioning is that players will now be able to transfer on at least one occasion between institutions, if such rules apply. Before the SCORE act, players were forced to go through a waiting period if they transferred. Universities will also have to send over their student-athletes credits that they had already received.

Overall, reading through the SCORE act, i can’t really find something that upsets me. There is an interesting section where players wouldn’t be allowed to enter into an NIL deal, if the Code of Conduct at said institution or if said student-athlete entered into a contract that didn’t allow them too enter an NIL agreement.

Now that could create some issues if certain colleges implement that rule. It could certainly force players to find different means for their education and the college they choose to enroll in.

The question remains though, should the President of the United States be sticking his nose into college sports? Well probably not, but in this situation, and with the ever-looming cloud of revenue sharing vastly approaching. It was time to regulate the NIL, and this SCORE act does exactly that.

While the SCORE act will definitely hurt some of the work that people spent years trying to get implemented, it’s time to regulate it.