Findings

Congress finds the following: (a) Intercollegiate athletics, when properly governed, promote student development and broad-based participation aligned with educational missions. (b) Institutions participating in programs under title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1070 et seq.) receive substantial Federal support and tax advantages, creating a heightened obligation to manage athletics in service of educational priorities and equal opportunity. (c) Escalating compensation and buyouts for athletics personnel can divert resources from academic priorities and broad-based opportunities, including women’s and Olympic sports, and warrant reasonable, uniform guardrails as a condition of title IV participation. (d) Federal courts have held that the National Collegiate Athletic Association’s caps on coaches’ pay violate antitrust laws—e.g., Law v. NCAA (10th Cir. 1998) permanently enjoining the NCAA’s restricted-earnings coach salary cap rule—and have continued to scrutinize coach-compensation restraints (including rules setting compensation to zero); therefore, any statutory cap must be accompanied by a targeted antitrust safe harbor to permit collective implementation and enforcement.