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U.S. Senators Booker and Blumenthal introduced S. 5062 College Athletes Bill of Rights as legislation to be considered by the 116th Congress in December of 2020. At the time, the bill was heralded as extraordinarily progressive legislation. We asked Allen Sack, a co-founder of The Drake Group, to write a first person narrative of the … Read more
Julie R. Sommer is a Seattle attorney, a former collegiate swimmer at the University of Texas and U.S. National Team member and serves on the Board of Directors of The Drake Group, a national think tank dedicated to academic integrity and advocacy on behalf of college athletes. She pens an insightful op-ed on the role … Read more
By Sandy Thatcher, member of The Drake Group Board of Directors, who artfully pens his opinion on NCAA leadership. READ FULL OPINION
The Drake Group commends lead sponsors Representatives Anthony Gonzalez (R-OH) and Emanuel Cleaver (D-MO), for the reintroduction of their bipartisan bill, the Student Athlete Level Playing Field Act, in the 117th Congress that prohibits the NCAA and other national or conference governance organizations or their member institutions from declaring college athletes ineligible for participation because … Read more
The Drake Group President-Elect Andrew Zimbalist and Drake Board of Directors member Julie Sommer wield a mighty pen with a timely critique of the NCAA’s efforts in the courts to protect its profits – revenues derived from the labor of talented, hard-working—and disproportionately Black—college athletes, especially those playing in the women’s and men’s Final Four … Read more
By Jon Ericson Met many sharp people and made many friends. Sure, but a book club, bridge club, or square-dance gathering provides opportunities to meet new people. True, but those I met in The Drake Group believed deeply in something, and they were willing to devote time and energy to work for that cause. I … Read more
A side-by-side comparison of legislation filed in the 116th and 117th Congress to date on the issue of college athlete compensation for their independent monetization of the use of their names, images, and likenesses.
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, … Read more
On August 3, 2022, U.S. Senators Cory Booker, Richard Blumenthal, Brian Schatz, Ron Wyden, and Alex Padilla re-introduced the “College Athletes Bill of Rights” legislation aimed at advancing justice and opportunity for college athletes. “The College Athletes Bill of Rights bill is long overdue and extremely important,” said Andrew Zimbalist, President of The Drake Group. “It protects college athletes’ rights … Read more
The Drake Group reviewed the Collegiate Athlete Compensation Rights Act introduced by U.S. Senator Roger Wicker (R)-Mississippi on December 10, 2020. The stated purpose of Senator Wicker’s bill is to protect the rights of college athletes, to provide for transparency and accountability with respect to college athlete name, image, and likeness (NIL) agreements, and to … Read more