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Lawmakers, coaches and player advocates clash over risks of classifying student-athletes as employees
Summary
Witnesses disagreed about proposals and consequences for treating college athletes as employees: coaches warned of taxes, workers’ compensation and program cuts that would harm nonrevenue sports; advocates said employee status or collective bargaining is a pathway to rights and accountability.
The House Judiciary Committee’s antitrust hearing featured extended questioning about whether student-athletes should be classified as employees — and what that shift would mean for scholarships, taxes, workers’ compensation and program viability.
Coaches and athletic administrators warned the committee that employee classification could reduce guaranteed scholarships, trigger state workers’ compensation obligations, create taxable benefits for athletes and force many schools to cut nonrevenue sports to meet payroll and benefit obligations. Chris…
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