Founder of @HeitnerLegal, focusing on Sports, Entertainment, Intellectual Property & Business Law. Teach NIL at Miami Law. Daddy to Maxx, Aliya, and Jesse.
Fort Lauderdale, FL
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Thank you @FOS for profiling my practice and the state of #NIL law today. Transfer disputes. Eligibility fights. Revenue-sharing litigation. It's all happening, and athletes need counsel before they sign anything. frontofficesports.com/darren…
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Senators Booker and Murphy filed an amendment capping coach pay under the Protect College Sports Act. I don't support it.
But it raises an important question.
If capping what athletes earn is fine, why does that logic stop at the coach's contract? linkedin.com/pulse/newslette…
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Congratulations to Stephen Daley, Kellen Wyatt, and the many other college athletes granted a preliminary injunction in Monroe Circuit Court. They can compete this season after a hard-fought challenge to the NCAA’s eligibility limits. Well earned.
NEW: Indiana's Stephen Daley and Kellan Wyatt have been granted a preliminary injunction against the NCAA, @PeteNakos reports.
Both 5th year players are now eligible for the Hoosiers.
on3.com/teams/indiana-hoosie…
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The Protect College Sports Act is Cody Campbell's playbook. The wealthy co-founder of Texas Tech's NIL collective has become the muscle behind a bill that would give the NCAA an antitrust exemption. It's tough to reconcile with his writings from just a year ago.
When and why did the "free-markets advocate" who said an antitrust exemption is a "Trojan horse" go from believing that the "NCAA is broken" and that "America thrives on competition, not cozy cartels blessed by D.C." to one of the biggest backers of a bill that blesses such a cozy cartel?
Is this really about "saving college sports" or something else? If the mission remains the same, then why did Campbell tell us not to fall for the Trojan horse, only to, one year later, put his full support behind it?
This won't get the same attention as an advertisement featuring Nick Saban or Deion Sanders, but it should. thefederalist.com/2025/03/20…
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The Senate scored its largest procedural gain in the history of #NIL bills. Then the Speaker sent the House home for 6 weeks.
Even a well-funded campaign may not have a real path to a House floor vote before midterms. It could be tabled til January. linkedin.com/pulse/newslette…
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Sen. @CoryBooker, right now, on the Protect College Sports Act: Why isn't one athlete group in this country trumpeting the greatness of this bill? They all know this bill undermines their rights.
This bill takes away rights for athletes to legally challenge anything that the cartel of the NCAA actually does. It undermines their ability to win more court cases in the future.
If transfer sensibility is so important for players, why isn't there transfer sensibility for the coaches? There's 1 standard for players and another standard for coaches.
The bill puts red tape on the ability for athletes to make money, but not the same for coaches. Why are you treating that elite class differently than you treat athletes?
The bill is a threat to college sports and a threat to college athletes.
Booker says he will do everything possible to put on the Congressional record why the bill is a betrayal of college athletes.
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More from Sen. @CoryBooker on the Protect College Sports Act: Why do the things that protect women and Olympic Sports expire? Why are we giving an antitrust exemption to a monopolistic organization that has consistently violated women's rights?
What doesn't seem to be understood by folks is that athletes right now across this country are begging for this bill not to pass. And what we are doing here in Congress is truly exemplary. We are giving a permanent antitrust exemption that conservative justices have said is rarely seen in other areas.
Athletes have been winning in courts, and now we are taking away their leverage and their bargaining power. We are settling issues that are still open.
Nobody can justify why college coaches don't get the same exact treatment in this bill as the people playing on the field. Why are you treating the college kids differently than the coaches if it's all about the money?
Booker says he will come back and read sections of the bill and explain why they are so outrageous before switching to a discussion on AI.
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Sen. @CoryBooker's only intention this morning was to discuss AI, but he felt compelled to respond to Sen. Cantwell's speech on the Protect College Sports Act. She was completely outmatched by Booker, who seems determined to give every ounce of his energy to fighting its passage.
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If Dae’Quan Wright and/or Zxavian Harris were to pursue claims against the SEC and/or LSU, then Lane Kiffin’s conversations with ChatGPT would be discoverable.
Those conversations and others could be quite revealing. Communicating with AI doesn’t create atty-client privilege.
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The big issue now is that the NFL has rendered the 2 players ineligible. Thus, the “whole courtroom drama” may not end “with a fizzle.” Wright and Harris have been damaged. Will they seek relief?
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Big Miami Hurricanes news here:
Scoop: Per sources, UM is returning to Nike for one of the most lucrative deals in college sports history -- a 10-year contract worth more than $200 M. Adidas made a counter-offer but did not match Nike's exact terms. Takes effect with 2027 football season. Will have a lot of behind-the-scene details in a full story momentarily.
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Senate invoked cloture on the motion to proceed to the Protect College Sports Act. 74–24. Big bipartisan margin. Sen. Cruz got what he wanted.
This is NOT final passage. Floor debate continues. Passage and the House calendar are the next fights.
Protect College Sports Act is behind Clarity Act (regulation of crypto). If Clarity fails, PCSA can move this week. Sen. Cruz wants a big bipartisan Senate margin to pull the House. Opposition from the Congressional Black Caucus and a thin pre-midterm calendar are real risks.
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As @JDVance recently stated in another context (AI), don't build Frankenstein and then ask the government to regulate it.
The schools are solely to blame for their poor fiscal policy. If they're building Frankenstein (in the form of massive debts), then stop.
Don't go to the government and ask for regulation.
Congress should make them look inward instead of bailing them out to the detriment of college athletes.
Senator Cantwell, a co-sponsor of the Protect College Sports Act, just issued a report detailing "How the athletics arms race is shifting costs onto universities, students, and taxpayers."
cantwell.senate.gov/imo/medi…
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Listening to @theallinpod (best podcast) and a comment by @friedberg stands out.
He speaks of the common system of human power and control. Tell a narrative of existential threat and leverage that narrative into your solution being the path to protection and safety.
It sells votes.
That’s happening in college sports. A story is being told that college sports will DIE and if Congress doesn’t pass the Protect College Sports Act to give the NCAA the power to control it then college sports can’t be SAVED.
Doomerism at its finest. Cody Campbell and others have used it brilliantly.
College sports isn’t dying, but the concept that college sports needs to be protected and saved has caused fans to support and politicians to vote for bad legislation.
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Protect College Sports Act is behind Clarity Act (regulation of crypto). If Clarity fails, PCSA can move this week. Sen. Cruz wants a big bipartisan Senate margin to pull the House. Opposition from the Congressional Black Caucus and a thin pre-midterm calendar are real risks.
It appears Sen. Thune has enough votes to pass the Protect College Sports Act.
Last night, I contacted many U.S. Senators’ offices to tell them the truth about the bill.
The PCSA is bad for athletes. A lot of money is being spent in an effort to convince people otherwise.
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The relief granted to athletes in the Louisiana 5-and-5 case is NOT stayed by the appellate court.
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College sports on the agenda today. Sen. Murphy with athletes and unions against the PCSA. Sen. Cruz and Commerce allies with coaches and carefully selected athletes promoting the bill.
Would those coaches still support the legislation if it capped their compensation?
Congress is rewriting antitrust law and preempting state NIL laws to restrict athletes.
It could amend federal labor law to allow for collective bargaining.
But the Protect College Sports Act isn’t designed to give athletes a voice. It’s meant to keep them from having one.
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