Bill Text: CA SB206 | 2019-2020 | Regular Session | Amended

NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft

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Bill Title: Collegiate athletics: student athlete compensation and representation.

Spectrum: Moderate Partisan Bill (Democrat 19-4)

Status: (Passed) 2019-09-30 - Chaptered by Secretary of State. Chapter 383, Statutes of 2019. [SB206 Detail]

Download: California-2019-SB206-Amended.html

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Amended  IN  Senate  April 30, 2019

Amended  IN  Senate  April 10, 2019

Amended  IN  Senate  March 25, 2019

Amended  IN  Senate  March 11, 2019

CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2019–2020 REGULAR SESSION

Senate Bill

No. 206

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Introduced by Senators Skinner and Bradford
(Coauthor: Senator Durazo)(Coauthor: Assembly Member Weber)(Coauthors: Senators Durazo and Hueso)
(Coauthors: Assembly Members Cunningham, Holden, Weber, and Wicks)

February 04, 2019

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An act to add Section 67456 to the Education Code, relating to collegiate athletics.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST

SB 206, as amended, Skinner. Collegiate athletics: Fair Pay to Play Act.

Existing law, known as the Student Athlete Bill of Rights, requires intercollegiate athletic programs at 4-year private universities or campuses of the University of California or the California State University that receive, as an average, $10,000,000 or more in annual revenue derived from media rights for intercollegiate athletics to comply with prescribed requirements relating to student athlete rights.

This bill, the Fair Pay to Play Act, would prohibit every California postsecondary educational institution, athletic association, conference, or other group or organization with authority over intercollegiate athletics from providing a prospective intercollegiate student athlete with compensation in relation to the athlete’s name, image, or likeness, or preventing a student participating in intercollegiate athletics from earning compensation as a result of the use of the student’s name, image, or likeness or obtaining professional representation relating to the student’s participation in intercollegiate athletics. The bill also would prohibit an athletic association, conference, or other group or organization with authority over intercollegiate athletics from preventing a postsecondary educational institution from participating in intercollegiate athletics as a result of the compensation of a student athlete for the use of the student’s name, image, or likeness. The bill would require professional representation obtained by student athletes to be from persons licensed by the state. The bill would specify that athlete agents shall comply with federal law in their relationships with student athletes. The bill would prohibit the revocation of a student’s scholarship as a result of earning compensation or obtaining legal representation as authorized under these provisions.

Digest Key

Vote: MAJORITY   Appropriation: NO   Fiscal Committee: YES   Local Program: NO  

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Bill Text

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

SECTION 1.

 (a) The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:

(1) According to a 2012 study by the National College Players Association and Drexel University Sports Management Program, for the 2010–11 academic year, the average annual scholarship shortfall as a result of out-of-pocket expenses for each National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) full scholarship athlete was $3,285.

(2) The study concluded that 82 percent of full scholarship athletes who live on campus and 90 percent of full scholarship athletes who live off campus live at or below the federal poverty level.

(3) The study found that, during the 2010–11 academic year, the fair market value of the labor of the average FBS football and men’s basketball player was approximately $137,357 and $289,829, respectively.

(4) According to the study, in 2009–10, the 10 FBS football players with the highest estimated fair market values had fair market values that ranged from $345,000 to $514,000, inclusive. All of these players were living below the federal poverty line with an average scholarship shortfall of $2,841. In 2010, their head coaches were paid an average of over $3,500,000 each, excluding bonuses.

(5) According to a 2014 report by the College Sport Research Institute at the University of South Carolina, revenue-producing male athletes graduate at a rate of 17.5 percentage points below other male students.

(6) The National College Players Association and Drexel University Sports Management Program study found that, from 2011 to 2015, inclusive, FBS football and men’s basketball players forfeited an estimated $6,200,000,000.

(7) A significant portion of this harm occurs in California, where there are 24 colleges and universities participating in college athletics in Division I of the NCAA, seven of which have football programs in the FBS.

(8) Approximately 40 percent of NCAA Division I and Division II athletes say they do not have enough time to keep up with academics during the athletic season, and about one-third report that athletics prevent them from taking desired classes.

(9) The NCAA limits the amount of time athletes can spend on athletics to 20 hours per week, but it found that college athletes spend 32 to 44 hours per week on their sport.

(10) More than 60 percent of California’s NCAA Division I and Division II colleges and universities have one or more athletic teams with graduation rates below 60 percent, and athletic conferences in California have among the worst academic gaps between regular students and football and men’s basketball players competing in Division I.

(11) California’s African American college athletes are overrepresented in revenue producing sports, and suffer the lowest graduation rates.

(12) California’s postsecondary educational institutions that participate in intercollegiate athletics generate over seven hundred million dollars ($700,000,000) per year, which is revenue that would not exist without the efforts of college athletes.

(13) College athletes face repercussions for obtaining legal representation to protect their academic, physical, and financial well-being.

(b) This act shall be known, and may be cited, as the Fair Pay to Play Act.

SEC. 2.

 Section 67456 is added to the Education Code, to read:

67456.

 (a) (1) A postsecondary educational institution shall not uphold any rule, requirement, standard, or other limitation that prevents a student of that institution participating in intercollegiate athletics from earning compensation as a result of the use of the student’s name, image, or likeness. Earning compensation from the use of a student’s name, image, or likeness shall not affect the student’s scholarship eligibility.

(2) An athletic association, conference, or other group or organization with authority over intercollegiate athletics, including, but not limited to, the National Collegiate Athletic Association, shall not prevent a student of a postsecondary educational institution participating in intercollegiate athletics from earning compensation as a result of the use of the student’s name, image, or likeness.

(3) An athletic association, conference, or other group or organization with authority over intercollegiate athletics, including, but not limited to, the National Collegiate Athletic Association, shall not prevent a postsecondary educational institution from participating in intercollegiate athletics as a result of the compensation of a student athlete for the use of the student’s name, image, or likeness.

(b) A postsecondary educational institution, athletic association, conference, or other group or organization with authority over intercollegiate athletics shall not provide a prospective student athlete with compensation in relation to the athlete’s name, image, or likeness.

(c) (1) A postsecondary educational institution, athletic association, conference, or other group or organization with authority over intercollegiate athletics shall not prevent a California student participating in intercollegiate athletics from obtaining professional representation in relation to contracts or legal matters, including, but not limited to, representation provided by athlete agents or legal representation provided by attorneys.

(2) Professional representation obtained by student athletes shall be from persons licensed by the state. Professional representation provided by athlete agents shall be by persons licensed pursuant to Chapter 2.5 (commencing with Section 18895) of Division 8 of the Business and Professions Code. Legal representation of student athletes shall be by attorneys licensed pursuant to Article 1 (commencing with Section 6000) of Chapter 4 of Division 3 of the Business and Professions Code.

(3) Athlete agents representing student athletes shall comply with the federal Sports Agent Responsibility and Trust Act, established in Chapter 104 (commencing with Section 7801) of Title 15 of the United States Code, in their relationships with student athletes.

(d) A scholarship from the postsecondary educational institution in which a student is enrolled that provides the student with the cost of attendance at that institution is not compensation for purposes of this section, and a scholarship shall not be revoked as a result of earning compensation or obtaining legal representation pursuant to this section.

(e) For purposes of this section, “postsecondary educational institution” means any campus of the University of California, the California State University, or the California Community Colleges, an independent institution of higher education, as defined in Section 66010, or a private postsecondary educational institution, as defined in Section 94858.