Representatives of the NCAA, prominent athletic conferences, and athletics administrators have been pacing the halls of Congress asking their Senators and Representatives for federal laws that would negate the patchwork of state laws that gave college athletes name, image, and likeness employment rights outside their education institutions. Such employment is a good thing for athletes, […]

On August 1, 2023, The Drake Group sent its fourth request to the U.S. Department of Education Office for Civil Rights asking that they issue existing Title IX guidance to colleges and universities to address sex discrimination in recruiting, publicity, promotion, and financial aid by name/image/likeness collectives (NIL collectives) they are directly and indirectly supporting.  […]

WESTPORT, CT – July 18, 2023. Prompted by last week’s reports about systemic sexual hazing, harassment, racism, and other abuse in Northwestern University athletics programs, The Drake Group renewed its call for Congressional action on the College Athletes Bill of Rights, sponsored by U.S. Senators Cory Booker (NJ) and Richard Blumenthal (CT). The legislation would […]

On March 9, 2023, a delegation of Title IX and NIL experts from The Drake Group (TDG) met with Department of Education Office for Civil Rights (OCR) staff members to ask for the assistance of OCR to ensure gender equity and compliance with Title IX in the new chaotic environment created by NIL (name, image, […]

The Drake Group believes that the current NIL chaos can be relieved by DOE/OCR clearly and precisely warning institutions, their conferences, and national governance organizations of their obligations under existing Title IX requirements, explaining how those requirements apply to these new NIL-related activities, and warning that actions by “NIL booster collectives” will be attributed to the universities when appropriate. The […]

The Drake Group strongly endorses the Fair Play for Women Act and applauds Representative Adams and Senator Murphy for sponsoring the bill.  The Act would strengthen existing statutes that require colleges and universities to publicly report data demonstrating their compliance with the athletics provisions of Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 and, for […]

The Drake Group has established a new non-profit organization under the fiscal 501(c)(3) sponsorship of the Players Philanthropy Fund – THE DRAKE GROUP EDUCATION FUND. Andrew Zimbalist, Drake President explained, “Doing so will enable two important things to happen. First, The Drake Group will be better positioned to focus on its priority mission of influencing […]

Learn about the mission and purpose of The Drake Group – working for the past two decades on critical college athletics reform issues. See the full story

Real Sports investigates who is responsible for enabling student-athletes with elementary

Andrew Zimbalist, Robert A. Woods Professor of Economics, Smith College; President-Elect, The Drake Group; author of Unpaid Professionals: Commercialism and Conflict in Big-time College Sports (1999), The Economics of Sport, I & II (2001), Unwinding Madness: What Went Wrong with College Sports and How to Fix It (2017) with Gerry Gurney and Donna Lopiano, and Whither College Sports (2021), explains the economics of […]

At the 2022 Allen Sack National Symposium on Advancing Integrity in College Sport, U.S. Senator Christopher Murphy speaks on S.1929 — 117th Congress (2021–2022) College Athlete Right To Organize Act.   Read S.1929 here    See full 2022 National Symposium proceedings here

Did you know that, even 50 years after the passing of the revolutionary gender equity clause Title IX, 75% of colleges and universities are out of compliance with Title IX? Watch Drake Group leaders explain the lagging gender inequities and injustices in college athletics. See the full story

Athletes of color comprise the majority of all Division I football and basketball players and graduate at rates lower than their athlete and non-athlete peers. These athletes make the most money for their colleges and coaches, yet often have the least control over their academic opportunities and overall future success. See the full story

Did you know that colleges are not required to pay for the medical expenses of college athlete and there is no long term disability fund for chronic athletic injuries or the results of brain trauma? See the full story

The Drake Group prides itself on being non-partisan in its review, analysis and decisions to support legislation that will result in positive changes in college athletics. The NCAA Accountability Act of 2021 was authored by U.S. Representative David Kustoff (TN-R) and Representative Josh Harder (CA-D) and others joined as co-sponsors of this bi-partisan bill that […]

The Drake Group is saddened to report that Dr. Gerald Gurney, who served The Drake Group as its President from 2014 to 2016 and as a member of its Board of Directors for twelve years, passed away on February 23, 2022. We extend our deepest sympathies to his wife, Debra Stuart, and daughter Rachel. In […]