Power 4 Conference Commissioners, HCs, ADs Lobby Congress for NIL Guidelines

A number of commissioners, head coaches and athletic directors from the Big Ten, SEC, Big 12 and ACC all met with members of Congress on Wednesday to "lobby for federal NIL guidelines," according to ESPN's Heather Dinich.

On Monday, U.S. District Judge Claudia Wilken said she wanted the potentially landmark House vs. NCAA settlement to be reworked before she approves it. If or when approved, the settlement would allow colleges to directly make NIL payments to athletes, alongside approving $2.8 billion in damages that former and current athletes have sought from the NCAA.

College athletics have already been changed drastically by the addition of NIL and the transfer portal. Schools being allowed to directly pay the athletes via NIL packages would be another enormous change to college athletics.

According to Steve Berkowitz of USA Today, Wilken has concerns about aspects of the settlement, such as team-by-team roster limits, putting in place a review system for NIL deals worth over $600 from non-school entities, and the due process for future athletes who weren't a part of drawing up the current settlement (which is set to last for 10 years).

Lawyers on both sides of the settlement are expected to report back to Wilken in a week with alterations to the agreement.

"We're kind of in a seminal moment," ACC commissioner Jim Phillips told reporters on Wednesday. "We're trying to find something that has sustainability to it. It's a modernization of college sports. I think for all of us, we are passionate about access and affordability to higher education... at the heart of this thing is opportunities for young men and women. Times have changed, and whether we like all the things that have occurred, or we don't, we find ourselves in a position where we are major stewards of the future of college sports."

Alongside Phillips, SEC commissioner Greg Sankey, Big Ten commissioner Tony Petitti and Big 12 commissioner Brett Yormark were in Washington D.C. on Wednesday. Auburn men's basketball coach Bruce Pearl and Texas football head coach Steve Sarkisian also were in attendance.

"We've been here repeatedly," Sankey said of the commissioners. "The reality is the timing of the House settlement, the new Congress and when we planned really months ago to be here, there was a nexus of issues. We know there's conversations taking place. We've educated, I think, effectively members of the House and Senate, and we need to keep pushing and to do that with our universities is much healthier than simply doing that as commissioners and doing so in a coordinated way across the four conferences."