Tennessee Attorney General Leads Multi-State Effort Opposing College Sports Commission Agreement
Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti is leading a coalition of state attorneys general taking aim at the University Participant Agreement recently distributed to colleges and universities by the College Sports Commission (CSC). The CSC has demanded that all Power Four schools sign the agreement immediately despite no opportunity for input and catastrophic consequences if it goes into effect. Skrmetti warns the agreement would harm student-athletes, eliminate transparency, and unfairly punish schools if the CSC is held accountable for violating the law.
Attorney General Skrmetti joined the chief legal officers of seven other states in signing a letter to the CSC, as well as the commissioners of the SEC, Big Ten, Big 12, and ACC, outlining fatal flaws in the Agreement.
Under the proposed Agreement, the CSC could strip schools of all conference revenue and impose postseason bans if any state, state official, student-athlete, or other third party brings litigation “related in any way” to the CSC rules, investigations, or enforcement decisions—even if the CSC is ultimately found to have violated the law. A university could face financial and competitive devastation simply because a student-athlete exercised their legal rights or because a state attorney general investigates illegal conduct.
The Agreement also forces institutions to waive rights to a jury trial and accept mandatory arbitration, which many public universities cannot legally do. It attempts to silence institutions through sweeping gag orders that prevent universities from advocating for changes to the law, voluntarily testifying in legal proceedings, or even consulting with their state attorney general. It further creates an enforcement system with arbitrary penalties and no independent oversight, mirroring the same problematic NCAA enforcement regime that courts have repeatedly found unlawful.
The attorneys general suggest that the Agreement is so bad that it may be designed to fail, perhaps to create more pressure in support of the equally problematic SCORE Act currently under consideration by Congress. As drafted, the SCORE Act similarly seeks to obliterate the legal protections available to student-athletes and schools. And both the SCORE Act and the Agreement aim to create dictatorial authorities insulated from accountability.
“There are real problems in college sports that need to be solved but this Agreement just means more wasted time before we get to a real solution,” said Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti. “The NCAA showed us that power without accountability cannot be trusted. Any rules adopted by the CSC must be based on the input and genuine agreement of member schools, make good-faith efforts to look out for the interests of student-athletes, and comply with the law. The CSC’s blunt-force approach fails on all counts.”
The Attorney General’s Office is calling on the CSC to withdraw the Agreement, engage directly with member institutions, and develop a revised framework that provides transparency, due process, and meaningful oversight.
