Gordon: Hearings May Shed Light on Rogue Agents in College Sports

Press Release

With the NCAA cracking down on improper sports agent activity on college campuses, Congressman Bart Gordon has sent inquiries to the congressional committee that oversees sports law, saying hearings may shed light on the issue.

"The sports pages have been buzzing about recent NCAA investigations regarding sports agents providing payments and gifts to players at high-profile university athletic programs," Gordon wrote in a letter to Rep. Bobby Rush and Rep. Bart Stupak, who chair the House Energy and Commerce subcommittees relevant to the sports law. "As the NCAA investigations unfold, hearings may be useful to assess how well existing laws are working and whether or not more needs to be done to protect students and schools from predatory sports agents."

Recently, the NCAA imposed sanctions on the University of Southern California after finding players had violated amateurism policies by accepting gifts from agents. As USC appeals the sanctions, the NCAA has widened its investigations to include other high-profile schools in the SEC and ACC. Sanctioned schools may be banned from post-season play, lose scholarships and forfeit previous victories, which may amount to millions of dollars in financial losses.

In 2004, Gordon authored the Sports Agent Responsibility and Trust Act. SPARTA acts as a federal backstop to state laws governing sports agent activity. Under SPARTA, the attorney general of any state, or the Federal Trade Commission, can step in and prosecute agents for ethics violations such as plying students or family members with large gifts.

Perhaps more importance, SPARTA also gives schools the ability to see civil remedies against the agent for damages or expenses incurred. Under this provision, if NCAA sanctions result in millions of dollars of damages because an agent took advantage of a player, that institution may be able to use SPARTA to help recover their losses. If current investigations ultimately lead to sanctions and major financial losses, schools may turn to SPARTA to hold agents accountable.

Gordon hopes a congressional hearing this fall could draw attention to the issue and allow lawmakers and stakeholders to discuss additional solutions.
"Sports agents who cross the line while courting college players can do enormous damage to schools, to athletes, and to the integrity of college athletics. Schools can lose big, and they need a way to fight back," Gordon said. "When agents are held accountable for breaking the rules, everyone wins."

Gordon introduced SPARTA in response to concerns raised by Ken Shipp, a Murfreesboro resident and former NFL coach. Tennessee had strong agent licensing laws that kept predatory sports agents at bay, but when the state's teams played away games in states with weak laws, there was little a school could do to hold agents accountable. SPARTA was written to give states and schools one more way of holding unscrupulous agents accountable, no matter where an infraction took place. The bill was co-sponsored by Nebraska Congressman and former coach Tom Osborne, and it was endorsed by the NCAA and a number of college athletic directors. The bill was signed into law in 2004.

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