Federal Legislation to Enshrine International Student Athletes NIL Rights Introduced

Congresswoman Valeria Foushee and Congressman Mike Flood introduced the Name, Image, and Likeness for International Collegiate Athletes Act earlier this month to address inequality

Apr 5, 2024; Glendale, AZ, USA; Purdue Boilermakers center Zach Edey (15) during the AP player of / Patrick Breen-Arizona Republic

Earlier this month, Congresswoman Valeria Foushee (NC-04) and Congressman Mike Flood (NE-01) introduced federal legislation that would enable international student athletes the same to share the same opportunities as their peers from the U.S. in the NIL economy. Dubbed the Name, Image, and Likeness for International Collegiate Athletes Act, the bill aims to fix inequity that has existed for foreign student athletes since the inception of NIL in July 2021. 

Apart from very few players, international student-athletes gain legal residence in the United States through an F-1 visa; colloquially known as a “student visa.” This is the standard visa for all international students regardless of their athletic designation. While this visa does grant legal residence to students, it also imparts restrictions on employment that have proved to be a significant hurdle for the ability of international athletes to participate in NIL engagements.

The effects of the disparate treatment are not minimal, and the population of international athletes within the NCAA is not small. According to Congresswoman Foushee, “there are over 25,000 international student athletes nationwide participating across NCAA sports, with over 150 in North Carolina’s Fourth District alone. Since 2021, these athletes have been prohibited from profiting from name, image, and likeness contracts in the same manner as their American counterparts.”

It is a current misconception that international student athletes are completely left out of NIL deals, however, it is true that significant sums of money are left on the table for many of the nation’s brightest international stars. There are two types of NIL activations: active and passive. Active NIL engagements require the work of student-athletes in the NIL activation: creation of endorsement materials, social media posting, commercials, etc.

Notably, the vast majority of “pay-for-play” NIL salaries awarded to revenue sport athletes from NIL collectives use active NIL opportunities as a means of legitimizing player payment. The adoption of the NIL Collective system has created a proxy payroll for football and men’s basketball players at schools across Division I. Put simply, in the current system, American citizens can be compensated for their on-field labor while those on F-1 visas are left with nothing -- for most revenue sport athletes, collective payments are the most lucrative NIL deals they will be offered.

However, foreign student athletes are allowed to participate in passive NIL engagements. These opportunities are characterized by having no work of the athlete involved in the transaction; this is primarily reserved for individual athletes utilizing NIL licensing agreements. Merchandise items like sports cards, appearances in video games, and jersey sales are all examples of passive NIL licensing. 

2023 and 2024 AP Player of the Year, Zach Edey, a Canadian citizen, played for Purdue while on a F-1 student visa. Edey was able to earn money through royalty payments from Campus Ink’s NIL store via a passive licensing arrangement that used his NIL on various merchandise items including jerseys and t-shirts.  While Edey and many others international athletes can at least cash in on the merchandising end of NIL, there remains a large gap; in recent statements at the Final Four Edey stated, "I feel like I'm missing out on a lot of money."

It is important to emphasize that even though international athletes have the ability to collect licensing royalties, Edey and other international revenue athletes are missing out on massive collective payments and brand deals. For a player of Edey’s caliber, the financial loss could reach seven figures.

Outlook for this bill and the thousands of international student athletes across the nation seems positive. A hefty amount of federal legislation has stalled in the walls of Congress due to lack of bipartisan support. Other issues surrounding collegiate athletics raise philosophical differences in antitrust enforcement that have turned NIL legislative efforts into a partisan debate. However, regarding the singular issue of international athlete NIL that this bill addresses, it seems poised to achieve support on both sides of the aisle.