SEC's Greg Sankey Says There's 'Urgent Need' for US Congress to Resolve NIL Issues

Only the United States Congress can fix the name, image and likeness concerns in college sports, at least in the eyes of SEC commissioner Greg Sankey.

Sankey told reporters Monday that there is an "urgent need" for Congress to enact a national standard for how schools handle NIL.

"The reality is, only Congress can fully address the challenges facing college athletics," he said. "The NCAA cannot fix all of these issues, the courts cannot resolve all of these issues. The states cannot resolve all of these issues, nor can the conferences. Whether congressional action is achievable is a matter of debate. Much debate.

"But educational opportunity, supporting equitable opportunities for men and for women, ensuring the United States' continued success in the Olympic games, providing medical care, nutritional support, academic support, mental wellness counseling," he said, "these are non-partisan issues that deserve a non-partisan solution."

These sentiments are nothing new.

The Power Five conference commissioners, including Sankey, sent senators letters in 2022 asking for national rulings and uniformity.

While the implementation of NIL rules provides greater access for student-athletes to make money, there are concerns from commissioners and others regarding issues such as a lack of uniformity with different states having different rules.

Others, such as legendary Alabama head football coach Nick Saban, have raised concerns about collectives and groups taking advantage of student-athletes and impacting recruiting.

"Our student-athletes want to know their competitors on the opposite line of scrimmage are subject to and governed by the same rules and policies by which they are governed," Sankey said.

The SEC commissioner also revealed there has been some discussion about topics such as agent registration, but not much national progress has been made.

Sankey, Saban, LSU head football coach Brian Kelly and other SEC coaches and administrators visited Washington, D.C., in June to push for national legislation from Congress. It should be noted that many of these SEC decision-makers haven't begrudged players the opportunity to make money but rather have asked for rules to make enforcement easier across different states.

For now, there hasn't been much progress from Congress despite repeated efforts from Sankey and others.