College Athlete Pay Patchwork Sparks Drive for Federal Standard

Collegiate sports conferences want Congress to set rules for how student athletes profit from their fame, but lawmakers are signaling a split over the path forward.

The absence of federal standards on how college athletes benefit from their names, images, and likenesses opened the door to a confusing array of more than 30 different state laws, creating confusion for college athletics and spurring calls for Congress to intervene.

The patchwork of laws is untenable, members of the Senate Judiciary Committee said at a hearing Tuesday, with Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) likening it to “the wild, wild West.” Getting congressional consensus ...