Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti led a bipartisan group of state attorneys general in sending a letter to the chairmen and ranking members of three U.S. House committees urging that the Student Compensation and Opportunity through Rights and Endorsements (SCORE) Act be rejected by lawmakers.
The SCORE Act, filed in the U.S. House as H.R. 4312 earlier this month, would establish a national framework sponsors of the bill claim will “stabilize” the use of student-athletes’ name, image, and likeness (NIL).
The attorneys general, however, warned that the bill is a “misguided effort that will enshrine in federal law the arbitrary and biased authority of the NCAA at its worst.”
Student-athletes have fought hard for a fair share of the billions they help generate. Federal legislation to fix college sports will not succeed if it suffocates student-athletes under the weight of absolute control by an unaccountable NCAA.
Read the letter here:… pic.twitter.com/PSK8oFqfZg
— TN Attorney General (@AGTennessee) July 23, 2025
“Simply put, the SCORE Act consolidates too much power in the hands of the NCAA. The NCAA is a cartel that has consistently abused its monopolistic control even in the absence of a legislative blank check to do so,” the attorneys general wrote in the letter sent to lawmakers Tuesday.
The attorneys general said that while they share the same sentiment as the lawmakers who introduced the bill with regards to the NCAA and its members having yet to “fully ensure fair treatment for student-athletes,” the letter goes on to warn that the SCORE Act “will not redress the persistent power imbalance between the NCAA and student-athletes.”
Among the concerns raised by the attorneys general include the bill’s override of state legislation, which would limit state ability to challenge unfair or vague NCAA policies, including those impacting NIL deals.
The attorneys general also warned that the bill would essentially grant the NCAA’s “private, non-transparent” rulemaking process federal legal backing, which, they said, would further reduce oversight and accountability.
Further, the attorneys general said the bill would create a “broad antitrust exemption that immunizes the NCAA from future legal accountability,” warning, “An antitrust exemption with no accountability is a recipe for disaster.”
“Student-athletes have fought hard for a fair share of the billions they help generate. Federal legislation to fix college sports will not succeed if it suffocates student-athletes under the weight of absolute control by an unaccountable NCAA,” Skrmetti said in a statement.
The attorneys general of the District of Columbia, Florida, New York, and Ohio joined Skrmetti in sending Tuesday’s letter.
The SCORE Act is eligible to be introduced on the floor of the U.S. House for a debate and potential full vote as the bill recently passed both the House Education and Workforce and Energy and Commerce committees.
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Kaitlin Housler is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network. Follow Kaitlin on X / Twitter.
Photo “NCAA College Basketball” by NCAA.
