John Joyce Presses Witness On States' Reforming Tax Laws To Gain Advantages In College Sports

4 days ago

During a House Commerce Committee hearing prior to the congressional recess, Rep. John Joyce (R-PA) spoke about states reforming their tax laws to incentivize NIL deals and gain a competitive advance over other state colleges.

Fuel your success with Forbes. Gain unlimited access to premium journalism, including breaking news, groundbreaking in-depth reported stories, daily digests and more. Plus, members get a front-row seat at members-only events with leading thinkers and doers, access to premium video that can help you get ahead, an ad-light experience, early access to select products including NFT drops and more:

https://account.forbes.com/membership/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=display&utm_campaign=growth_non-sub_paid_subscribe_ytdescript

Stay Connected
Forbes on Facebook: http://fb.com/forbes
Forbes Video on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/forbes
Forbes Video on Instagram: http://instagram.com/forbes
More From Forbes: http://forbes.com

Transcript

00:00Vice Chairman of the full committee, Dr. Joyce, for your five minutes of questioning.

00:04First, I want to thank Chairman Bill Arrakis for holding this important hearing

00:08and for allowing me to wave on. I also want to thank the witnesses for appearing.

00:13The unique nature of college athletics is something that's firmly embedded in American

00:19sports, in our psyche and in our culture. Millions of Americans have been able to attend college

00:25and excel both on and off the field because of the opportunities that the NCAA and their

00:30member institutions offer. In the wake of the Alston decision in 2021 and the changes in the

00:37NIL policy, we recognize that the amateur model that had existed at colleges across the country

00:44must evolve. In the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, steps have already been taken to ensure that

00:51student-athletes can navigate the evolving NIL landscapes responsibly. Penn State has been a

00:58leader in ensuring that NIL opportunities are both beneficial and sustainable by offering robust

01:05financial literacy programs and prioritizing student-athlete well-being. This year,

01:12Penn State Athletics announced the creation of the ROAR Solutions, a powerful and dynamic

01:17group of resources assembled to deliver the best student-athletes endorsements and support in the

01:24country. This collaboration between the University and the world-class student-athletes at Penn State,

01:30like NFL player Mike Kosicki, sports commentator Adam Brenneman, and 2025 Super Bowl champion

01:38Saquon Barkley, will help to tell the unique stories and propel their careers forward.

01:44Besides my alma mater of Penn State, Pennsylvania hosts 14 other D1 schools. These universities

01:51range from large universities like the University of Pittsburgh and Temple to smaller colleges like

01:57Bucknell and St. Francis University. The experience of being a student-athlete not only prepares

02:04great academic opportunities but allows young adults to enter the world after college.

02:12In my own congressional office, we have an outstanding example of this. Lily Benzel,

02:18a former St. Francis University basketball superstar and three-point specialist whom I

02:25am proud to have as my Director of Operations. As we consider NIL as legislators, we must examine

02:32this issue and the impact that any action will not only have on big teams like Penn State,

02:39but also the ripple effects that this might have on St. Francis University women's basketball team,

02:44the Shippensburg baseball team, the Juniata College Volleyball National Championship team,

02:50and the thousands of athletes who compete and go to school every day in Pennsylvania 13.

02:56Mr. Whitman, in 2021, Pennsylvania's NIL law went into effect, and subsequently,

03:02they have had to amend their law several times, largely to respond to other states seeking a

03:07competitive advantage in the recruiting of athletes. Additionally, states are now looking

03:12to other laws, as we have discussed, to do the same regarding tax law. What are the dangers

03:19to this approach when states are creating and amending tax laws to seek competitive advantages

03:24in college sports? Thank you, Congressman. I think your question strikes at the challenge

03:33that we confront. The reason we're all here today is the need to identify a standardized

03:39playing field for college athletics. As states have become increasingly active in passing

03:45legislation to benefit their hometown institutions, that's a new phenomenon. That's not something we

03:49have experienced in college athletics in the past. I believe it's antithetical to the purpose

03:54of college athletics, which again is to educate our student-athletes, but also to provide them

03:58a world-class competitive opportunity on the most fair and even playing field that we can create.

04:05The only way, at this point in time, for us to be able to do that is to get some support

04:09from the federal government and ultimately to preempt those state efforts. Ms. Cole,

04:14as a student-athlete who has to deal with the ever-evolving situation,

04:18in your opinion, what are the greatest misconceptions that the public has about NIL?

04:23That is a great question. I think the main misconception that I've seen is people really

04:30only think of football and collectives whenever this conversation comes up. It's really under

04:34two different buckets. There's also the whole legitimate NIL side of actually working with

04:39brands separately on these different brand deals. There really are two different buckets. I think

04:45a lot of people get them confused, but a lot of my experience and expertise is totally within the

04:51more working with companies to do brand partnerships, which is separate from the

04:57collective conversation. Coach Beamer, with the remaining time, I wanted to see if there's

05:02anything that we haven't discussed today that should be brought into this conversation regarding

05:07NIL from your perch. No, I think it's been very beneficial for all of us without a doubt that

05:14we're all pro-student-athlete, but making sure that we understand it's still about the education

05:20experience. It hasn't been mentioned, but there's a lot of rules that have come up. There's a lot of

05:25laws that have been changed and talked about. One thing that hasn't changed is student-athletes

05:31still have to go to school to be eligible to compete in college athletics. Just making sure

05:37that we don't get too far away from the educational model as it stands right now. Coach Beamer, I'm

05:42glad that you put that exclamation point on the question because the educational model,

05:47the experience is important, but to walk away with a Class A educational experience is what

05:55student-athletes should want to achieve. Mr. Chairman, again, I thank you for allowing me

06:00to wave on and I yield back. Thank you.

John Joyce Presses Witness On States' Reforming Tax Laws To Gain Advantages In College Sports

Category

Transcript

Recommended