Democratic Women’s Caucus Members Push for Explicit Title IX Protections for Women Athletes in Name, Image, Likeness Bill SCORE Act

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, Tuesday, July 22, Democratic Women’s Caucus Chair Teresa Leger Fernández (NM-03), Democratic Women’s Caucus Member Lori Trahan (MA-03), and Democratic Women’s Caucus Policy Co-Chairs Deborah Ross (NC-02) and Sydney Kamlager-Dove (CA-37) led 21 Democratic Women’s Caucus Members in a letter to House Committee on Energy and Commerce Chairman Brett Guthrie, House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan, and House Committee on Education and Workforce Committee Chairman Tim Walberg expressing deep concern that the Student Compensation and Opportunity Through Rights and Endorsements (SCORE) Act fails to include any explicit protections or considerations for women college athletes. The letter is endorsed by the Women's National Basketball Players Association, the National Women's Soccer League Players Association, Athletes Unlimited, the National Women’s Law Center, the Women’s Sports Foundation, The Drake Group, and Sports Fans Coalition. 

In their letter, the Members explained that the SCORE Act—a bill to regulate name, image, and likeness (NIL) compensation and college sports—fails to include adequate protections for women college athletes as written. The bill contains zero references to Title IX, the landmark civil rights law that prohibits sex-based discrimination in federally funded educational programs—including athletics. The Members explained that this is a glaring omission, and will reinforce and exacerbate existing disparities for women college athletes, specifically in the NIL space. 

In their letter, the Members explained the urgent need to add protections for women athletes:

“This omission is especially troubling at a time when women’s sports are seeing historic growth, yet female athletes face increasing legal uncertainty about how Title IX applies to name, image, and likeness (NIL) compensation. It is imperative that Congress acts to affirm and clarify that institutions that are recipients of federal aid must continue to provide Title IX protections to women athletes for all forms of financial assistance. We strongly urge you to amend the SCORE Act to explicitly protect women athletes, reinforce Title IX’s authority and application to NIL compensation, and provide clear statutory guidance in light of recent court decisions, including House, Hubbard, and Carter v. NCAA.”

Members also explained this bill would worsen existing inequalities for women in college sports:

“Women college athletes have been consistently shortchanged in the rapidly growing NIL economy, and that disparity is heightened for Black women. The recent rollout of NIL-related settlements has only deepened the inequity, with women athletes expected to receive less than 10% of the total payout. Most colleges have indicated they plan to use the same thresholds outlined in the settlement when creating future revenue-sharing models—setting the stage for women college athletes to face a significant pay gap. This isn’t just unfair. It may violate federal law as multiple women college athletes are appealing the settlement challenging that it violates Title IX.”

To address their concerns with the bill, the Members urged the Committees to consider a list of provisions to explicitly protect women:

“To meaningfully address these concerns and ensure women college athletes are not left behind, we urge you to consider adding the following critical provisions into the SCORE Act: 

• Affirm that Title IX protections fully apply to NIL revenue sharing framework established under the Act;
• Clarify guidance from House v. NCAA to ensure women athletes receive an equitable share of any compensation or settlements;
• Close loopholes that undermine gender equity in athletics, including those that reduce women’s roster spots, scholarships, or competitive opportunities;
• Mandate that collectives and third-party entities offering NIL deals and operating on behalf of their institutions provide equal access and opportunity to women athletes;
• Require robust transparency and reporting, including public disclosure of universities’ NIL revenues, expenditures, and deal distribution by gender, to make inequities visible and enforceable.”

You can read the full letter here.

In addition to letter leads Teresa Leger Fernández, Lori Trahan, Deborah Ross and Sydney Kamlager-Dove, the letter was signed by Rashida Tlaib, Emilia Strong Sykes, Jasmine Crockett, Alma S. Adams, Ph.D., Jill Tokuda, Yvette D. Clarke, Yassamin Ansari, Nikema Williams, Nanette Diaz Barragán, Jennifer L. McClellan, LaMonica McIver, Jahana Hayes, Terri A. Sewell, Hillary J. Scholten, Kelly Morrison, Sylvia R. Garcia, Pramila Jayapal, Julia Brownley, Maxine Dexter, Andrea Salinas, and Angie Craig.