Clemson athletic director Dan Radakovich asked Lindsey Graham’s Judiciary Committee hearing Wednesday, in regard to student-athletes being able to profit off of their Name, Image and Likeness (NIL), to focus to the diverse and larger population of students in all sports and not just the football and basketball stars.

“Much of the public debate surrounding NIL is focused on the very few student athletes who are destined to make millions in professional sports,” Radakovich told the committee. “I would encourage this distinguished committee to broaden that focus to the diverse and overwhelmingly larger population of students in all sports. The right balance must be struck between the interest of these two groups. The wrong decisions on NIL policy could be detrimental to all student-athletes, those in and out of the spotlight, and especially for those in sports that do not generate revenue.”

Radakovich represented the ACC, the Big Ten, the Big 12, the Pac-12 and the SEC on one of Graham’s two panels. He said all the Power 5 conferences are asking congress to step in and take nation-wide action.

“Three states have already passed laws allowing third-party payments for NIL and one of them – in the ACC state of Florida – takes effect less than one year from today,” Radakovich said. “Many states are considering similar action and some held off this year awaiting action by Congress. Unless Congress acts, by next winter, we will see a hodge-podge of inconsistent state laws, regulations and enforcement mechanisms. Time is of the essence.”

At Clemson, Radakovich said it has 125 or so student-athletes, but only a handful in each class will ever participate in professional sports. According to the Clemson athletic director, 180,000 students across the country compete at the Division I level in sports and just a few hundred will play their sport professionally after college.

“The rest will embark on professions determined by their interests and by their achievements in the classroom,” Radakovich said. “The provision of educational benefits, across the board to a diverse group of student-athletes, is what makes the American collegiate model of athletics unique – and it is that model that we are asking Congress to preserve, for the benefit of student-athletes, as it considers reforms to laws surrounding NIL.”

Radakovich urged the committee to pass this law so it puts an end to litigation against the universities and conferences who will abide by these rules.

“As you may have heard, last month, our conferences were sued in two new class actions regarding NIL rules that we have yet to even adopt,” the Clemson athletic director said. “In fact, almost every time rules are changed to increase benefits for student-athletes, a parade of lawsuits soon follows.

“Universities and conferences should not face lawsuits for complying with Congress’s mandates on NIL. Our conferences and the NCAA are spending a lot of money on these lawsuits. As an athletic director, I would prefer to see that money shifted to benefits for student athletes. To have a fair and final NIL system, one that benefits both the star athletes and the more anonymous students who play lower-profile sports, we need legislation that enables students to benefit immediately from their NIL rights, without further litigation.”

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