H.R. 4312 — SCORE Act

This section defines terms for purposes of the Act, including (1) "agent," as an individual compensated to represent a student athlete regarding a name, image, and likeness (NIL) agreement or another compensation agreement related to varsity sports team participation; (2) "antitrust laws," adopting the meaning in section 1 of the Clayton Act (15 U.S.C. 12) and including section 5 of the Federal Trade Commission Act (15 U.S.C. 45) to the extent it applies to unfair methods of competition; (3) "associated entity or individual," with respect to an institution, as entities or individuals promoting or supporting the institution's varsity teams or NIL opportunities, their representatives, donors contributing more than $50,000 (adjusted annually for inflation using the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers), recruitment or retention assistants directed by athletic department employees, and related affiliates; (4) "college sports revenue," as revenue received by an institution from intercollegiate athletics sources such as ticket sales (including suite licenses), media rights, conference distributions, sponsorships, and post-season bowl payments; and (5) "compensation," as any payment or remuneration to a student or prospective student athlete (including for NIL or other intellectual property rights) but excluding grants-in-aid, certain health and disability insurance, academic awards, wages for non-athletics work, financial literacy resources, and employment facilitation programs.

This section prohibits institutions of higher education, athletic conferences, and interstate intercollegiate athletic associations from restricting college student athletes' ability to enter into name, image, and likeness (NIL) agreements (except for prohibited compensation, institutional codes of conduct, or conflicts with institutional contracts), obtain representation from agents, or maintain privacy of NIL agreements (absent the athlete's written consent). It voids any NIL agreement providing compensation greater than $600 that lacks specified transparency requirements, including (1) written form; (2) descriptions of services, parties, term, and compensation amount; (3) termination provisions for athlete non-performance and a unilateral athlete termination right beginning 6 months after leaving the institution; and (4) athlete (or parent/guardian if under 18) signature. It authorizes state attorneys general to enforce these provisions through civil actions in state or federal court, including for injunctions, compliance, damages, restitution, or other relief on behalf of state residents.

This section amends the Sports Agent Responsibility and Trust Act by (1) prohibiting athlete agents from charging student-athletes a fee exceeding 5% of compensation under an endorsement contract and requiring agency contracts to include a provision allowing the student-athlete to terminate the contract 6 months after no longer being enrolled at an institution (as defined in the SCORE Act); (2) replacing the prior warning notice in agent contracts with "Notice to Student Athlete:"; and (3) requiring agents assisting student-athletes with endorsement contracts to disclose in writing their registration status with relevant interstate intercollegiate athletic associations (as defined in the SCORE Act), with unregistered agents needing written consent from the student-athlete (or parent/guardian if under 18 years old) prior to assistance. The section further authorizes state attorneys general as the sole enforcers of the new disclosure requirements via civil actions (without federal notice requirements), treating violations equivalently to those under existing agent conduct rules.

This section requires institutions with any coaching staff member earning more than $250,000 in base salary annually (as adjusted annually on July 1 by the CPI for All Urban Consumers) to provide student athletes with (1) comprehensive academic support and career counseling services covering mental health (including alcohol and substance abuse), strength and conditioning, nutrition, name, image, and likeness rights (including legal advice), financial literacy (including taxes), career readiness, transfer processes, and sexual violence prevention; (2) medical and health benefits including medical care for athletic injuries (covering out-of-pocket expenses during enrollment and at least three years post-graduation or separation, unless due to code of conduct violation), mental health services and resources, an independent medical care structure (including return-to-play decisions), and insurance certification for athletic injuries; (3) maintenance of grant-in-aid scholarships regardless of athletic performance, team success, injury or illness, or name, image, and likeness compensation; (4) degree completion programs for former grant-in-aid recipients who did not graduate, with financial aid based on their average annual grant-in-aid during varsity participation; and (5) at least 16 varsity sports teams, established by July 1, 2027. Institutions may satisfy these requirements in collaboration with a conference or interstate athletic association.

This section authorizes interstate intercollegiate athletic associations (i.e., organizations such as the NCAA) to establish and enforce rules with respect to (1) timely disclosure of student athletes' name, image, and likeness (NIL) agreements; (2) public sharing of aggregated, anonymized NIL data; (3) prohibited compensation, including dispute resolution processes under which student athletes retain eligibility during such processes; (4) recruiting parameters for student athletes and prospective student athletes; (5) a pool limit of at least 22% of the average annual college sports revenue of the association's 70 highest-earning member institutions (or all members, if fewer than 70), with monitoring of related payments; (6) transfers between institutions, including at least one immediate-eligibility transfer per student athlete (if academically eligible) and written notice of accepted prior credits; (7) eligibility periods and academic standards; (8) agent registration processes, including qualifications, limits on unregistered agent negotiations by institutions, and agent fees capped at 5% of NIL compensation involving institutions; (9) membership, participation, and championships; and (10) competitions, playing seasons, contest limits, and student athlete time demands. The section conditions such authority on compliance with specified governance requirements (and section 3), including for associations other than conferences: (1) ensuring decision-making boards, committees, or bodies include at least 20% recent or current student athletes (equally representing men and women from different sports) and 30% representatives from non-top-70 revenue institutions; and (2) establishing a council of conference representatives as the primary policy development body.

This section exempts the adoption of, agreement to, compliance with, or enforcement of any rule, regulation, requirement, standard, or other provision established pursuant to section 6 of the Act from liability under federal antitrust laws and similar state laws. It specifies that this exemption does not limit or affect any other provision of federal or state law or common law.

This section prohibits classifying student athletes as employees of an institution, conference, or interstate intercollegiate athletic association based solely on their participation on a varsity sports team or in an intercollegiate athletic competition, notwithstanding any other federal or state law and regardless of rules or requirements for team membership or competition participation.

This section establishes transparency requirements for student fees supporting intercollegiate athletic programs and prohibits their use at certain high-revenue institutions, effective July 1, 2026. Specifically, it (1) requires institutions to disclose in cost-of-attendance information under HEA §485(a)(1)(E) the amount of tuition and fees used to support such programs; (2) requires annual reporting under HEA §485(g)(1) on the total amount of such fees charged to students, their uses (i.e., facilities, operating expenses, scholarships, payments to athletes, coach and staff salaries, and other expenses), and the percentage of total program costs covered by the fees, with such information to be published on the institution's public website by October 15 following each fiscal year; and (3) expands the definition of media rights revenues under HEA §485(g)(1)(I)(ii) to explicitly include revenues from broadcasting, streaming, or digital distribution of intercollegiate athletic events. Separately, the section amends program participation agreements under HEA §487(a) to prohibit institutions with $50 million or more in annual media rights revenues in the prior fiscal year from using student fees to support intercollegiate athletics (including facilities, operating expenses, scholarships, athlete payments, and coach/staff salaries) in the following fiscal year. (As background, HEA §485 requires institutions participating in federal student aid programs to disclose financial and academic information to students and the public to promote informed decision-making and program accountability.)

This section preempts any state or local law, rule, regulation, or similar provision that conflicts with this Act and (1) governs or regulates the compensation, payments, benefits, or employment status of a student athlete (including a prospective student athlete) with respect to intercollegiate athletics—including the right to receive such compensation from an institution, conference, athletic association, or individual, or eligibility periods and academic standards; (2) limits or restricts a right provided to an institution, conference, or interstate intercollegiate athletic association under this Act; or (3) requires a release of or license to use name, image, and likeness (NIL) rights of participants or spectators for intercollegiate athletic broadcasts or distributions. This section does not relieve any person of liability under non-conflicting state laws of general applicability or common law.

This section directs the Federal Trade Commission to study options for, and report to Congress within one year of enactment on, establishing and funding an independent program to set standards, certify compliance, and regulate agents entering agreements with student athletes. It further requires (1) each interstate intercollegiate athletic association to submit biennial reports to Congress on Act compliance issues, trends, and recommendations for student athletes' health, safety, and educational opportunities, beginning 180 days after enactment; and (2) the Comptroller General to investigate compliance and submit reports with findings and recommendations every five years beginning five years after enactment. Finally, it directs the Comptroller General to study the Act's impact on Olympic sports (i.e., sports officially recognized and contested in the Summer and Winter Olympic Games)—including funding, international support models, projected institutional support, coordination needs, and roster size trends at the top 70 highest-earning institutions—and submit a report to Congress within two years of enactment.