I appreciate the opportunity to testify on behalf of (name of institution) and to express our strong support for (bill title), the Uniform Athlete Agents Act.
In today's society, professional athletes are highly compensated and most have agents that perform valuable services.
Unfortunately, the illicit practices of some of these agents, would-be agents and their runners have caused serious problems for student-athletes and educational institutions as these agents aggressively pursue the substantial fees that accompany the representation of professional athletes.
These agents, motivated largely by financial considerations, are willing to use any means necessary to represent a student-athlete who has even a remote chance of playing professional sports. They frequently employ tactics that involve secret payments or gifts (goods, autos, cash, clothing) to the athlete, undisclosed payments to friends and relatives who may be in a position to influence the athlete, unrealistic promises, and considerable arm twisting.
There can be significant damage that results from these impermissible and oftentimes illegal practices. Impermissible benefits provided by agents violate NCAA rules and may result in the following:
Student-athlete ineligibility for participation in NCAA competition.
Harsh penalties on the team and the university (including the imposition of NCAA sanctions that have resulted in the repayment of monies received from NCAA championship competition, forfeiture of contests and other penalties).
Student-athletes may be enticed to pursue a professional career and leave school early only to later realize that their agent gave them bad advice.
Example of Problem: You may want to tell a short story of a student-athlete who became involved with an agent and/or an example of a student-athlete who left school early but never realized the dream of playing professional sports).
Bill No. ___ has many important features:
The adoption of the Act will help achieve a uniform set of athlete agent regulations that will establish a clear, single set of standards for agent conduct.
The act is designed to provide protection for student-athletes (act outlines improper agent conduct) and institutions (act provides institutions with the right to pursue a civil lawsuit against an agent who causes a school to suffer damages as a result of the agent's violation of the act.).
The act will provide important consumer information for student-athletes, parents and institutions, as they will have access to the detailed information contained in the agent application.
The act provides for strong penalties. Bill No. ___ contains criminal, civil and/or administrative penalties that can be imposed against those who violate provisions of the act.
The Uniform Athlete Agents Act is strongly supported by the NCAA and its 1,000 member institutions. I think I speak for all my coaching colleagues in (name of state) when I say that we strongly urge the legislature to adopt Bill No. ___ as quickly as possible.
Will this be a panacea for all athlete agent problems? No. However, there is no question that the act will provide protections for student-athletes and institutions while also providing a consistent, uniform, cost-effective regulatory system for agents to conduct their business.
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