Report: NCAA, 2 Power 5 conferences spend nearly $1 million on lobbying
By Adam Spencer
Published:
The NCAA has come out strong against allowing college athletes to receive endorsement money. However, the organization has softened its stance on players making money from their names, images and likenesses.
Still, the NCAA and a pair of Power 5 conferences — the Big 12 and ACC — spent a bunch of money last year lobbying to get their way as bills involving college athletes make their way through state and federal governments.
Per an AP report, a total of $990,000 was spent last year by those 3 organizations:
The NCAA spent $690,000 last year on in-house and outside lobbyists, according to disclosure forms reviewed by the AP. That’s the most the organization has spent on lobbying in any year since 2014. And it got some help from two of the Power Five conferences.
The Atlantic Coast Conference hired lobbyists last year for the first time, giving at least $210,000 to the law firm DLA Piper and another lobbyist, Tom Korologos, to influence Congress on “legislative and regulatory proposals affecting intercollegiate athletes,” disclosure forms show.
The Big 12 Conference has worked with lobbyist Kenny Hulshof, a former Republican congressman from Missouri, for several years, but it paid him less than $5,000 per quarter before ramping up its spending last year, records show. In the last six months of 2019, the Big 12 paid Hulshof $90,000 — some of it specifically to address Walker’s bill.
That’s a lot of money being spent to lobby lawmakers. Will it pay off? We’ll find out as these bills are considered.
Adam is a daily fantasy sports (DFS) and sports betting expert. A 2012 graduate of the University of Missouri, Adam now covers all 16 SEC football teams. He is the director of DFS, evergreen and newsletter content across all Saturday Football brands.
