1

A BILL

To ensure university students receive fair compensation for their

contributions to their respective collegiate athletic teams by

compensating them with a percentage of team revenue in line with

professional equivalents; ensuring their compensation for any

merchandising or advertising related to their personal names,

images, and likenesses; and capping coach, NCAA, and university

faculty salaries consistent with the salary of the U.S. President.

1 Whereas universities have thus far been allowed to defraud

2 student-athletes, which student-athletes gained said

3 universities millions of dollars through television contracts,

4 merchandise revenue, and increased student enrollment

5 revenue by improving university prominence, but were not

6 financially compensated in return;

7 Whereas universities and the NCAA have reaped financial

8 advantage from student-athletes, utilizing their names, images

9 and likenesses to achieve substantial profit, as in the case of

10 O’Bannon vs. NCAA which dealt with EA Sports using Ed

11 O’Bannon’s name and likeness to sell video games with

12 compensation accordingly paid to the university and NCAA

13 but not student-athletes like O’Bannon;

14 Whereas Nike arranged deals worth millions of dollars with

15 university athletic teams to put student-athletes in Nike shoes,

16 substantially enriching both Nike and universities, with no

17 financial compensation provided the student-athletes;

18 Whereas the NCAA President Donald Remy recently received a

19 pay raise to $1.7 million and collegiate football coaches like

20 Nick Saban ($7.16 million) and Mark Dantonio ($5.64

21 million) receive salaries in the millions of dollars;

22 Whereas forty-two universities paid their presidents over $1

23 million annually and seventy-five universities paid their

24 football coaches over $1 million;

25 Whereas Notre Dame football coach Charlie Weiss is being

2

26 compensated with nearly $17 million in severance pay to not

27 coach for the university;

28 Whereas the President of the United States receives less than

29 $600,000 in annual compensation;

30 Whereas universities and the NCAA should not be able to claim

31 non-profit status if compensating their leadership at higher

32 rates than the U.S. President, even though they receive federal

33 financing in the form of financial aid;

34 Whereas universities and the NCAA by not fairly compensating

35 student-athletes are reducing income equality, and stealing the

36 profits of the student-athletes who labor for them without any

37 compensation apart from, perhaps, a scholarship;

38 Whereas universities have been allowed to void the scholarships

39 of players injured in the course of playing for the universities,

40 taking advantage of the aforementioned benefits provided by

41 student-athletes such as Texas Christian University’s Kent

42 Waldrep, while refusing to pay for the medical injuries

43 incurred;

44 Whereas universities have thus engaged in false advertising and

45 forced labor, by promising a benefit (education) without

46 fairly compensating student-athletes in return;

47 Whereas universities receive federal funds in the form of

48 taxpayer-funded subsidies via financial aid and should thus be

49 held more accountable when it comes to executive

50 compensation, given that their funds are derived from

51 taxpayers;

52 Whereas NFL teams spend between 24% and 62% of their

53 respective team revenues on player expenses, NBA teams

54 between 30% and 63% of their respective team revenues on

55 player expenses, MLB teams between 37% and 75% of

56 their respective team revenues on player expenses, and NHL

57 teams between 31% and 79% of their respective team revenues

58 on player expenses;

59 Be it enacted by the people of the State of Nebraska,

3

1 1) University athletic teams are henceforth required to spend no less

2 than 30% of team revenue upon their respective team’s players in the

3 form of direct financial compensation. Both team revenue and player

4 compensation are to be reported to the IRS for purposes of financial

5 accountability.

6 2) Universities, along with the NCAA, are prohibited from using

7 a student’s name, image, and/or likeness in merchandising

8 without the student’s express written consent, or

9 allowing/consenting for such exploitation to take place.

10 Violation is subject to a fine of at least $5,000, half of which

11 shall be paid to the student, and the other half of which shall go

12 to the state treasury. Such fines shall not exclude additional legal

13 and financial penalties.

14 3) Any commercial deals which generate financial revenue from

15 the use of a student’s name, image, and/or likeness in

16 merchandising must compensate the student in question with

17 at least 10% of gross revenue from the use of their names,

18 images, and/or likenesses.

19 4) Coaches, NCAA, and university faculty salaries are hereby

20 capped at $500,000 with such cap indexed to increase according

21 to inflation every 5 years.