Congressman August Pfluger (TX-11), member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, questioned witnesses during yesterday's Subcommittee on Commerce, Manufacturing, and Trade hearing titled "Moving the Goalposts: How NIL is Reshaping College Athletics."

The witnesses included:

·     Coach Shane Beamer, Head Football Coach, University of South Carolina

·     Mr. Josh Whitman, Director of Athletics, University of Illinois

·     Ms. Emily Cole, All-American Track Athlete, Duke University ‘24 

·     Mr. Anthony Egbo Jr., Football Athlete, Abilene Christian University ‘24

·     Mr. Justin Falcinelli, Former College Athlete, Clemson Football, and Vice President, College Football Players Association (Minority)

Watch the hearing in its entirety HERE.

Watch Rep. Pfluger's full line of questioning HERE, or read the highlights below.

Rep. Pfluger asked Coach Beamer for his thoughts on conferences aligning themselves with NIL, given no current federal standard, and his perspective on how NIL will affect non-revenue-generating sports and women's sports. Read their interaction:

Rep. Pfluger: I'll get right into it, and thank you all for being here. Five minutes is not enough to ask questions, but Coach, I'll start with you. Do you think that the conferences have aligned themselves as a result of no current federal standard for NIL?

Coach Beamer: First of all, thank you for your service to our country as well. I believe the conferences are certainly, as a whole, trying to align themselves for the betterment of the student-athlete experience and college athletics. But within that, there are individual states within those conferences that are trying to find a competitive advantage to better their individual states, as we've discussed here.

Rep. Pfluger: One thing I'm worried about is just having, East Coast, West Coast, you know, you've got UCLA and Rutgers in the same conference, and as a student athlete, I mean, that's, that's tough, especially if you're playing multiple games, that's a very tough thing. So lack of federal standard, I think, is an issue. And then I'll go a step further and get your thoughts on the threat to the non-revenue-generating sports, the threat to women's sports, you know, talk to me about is there such a thing as too much market share for one conference or another? We're seeing a lot of domination, and does that then affect how the Title IX sports and how the non-revenue Olympic sports are able to actually exist?

Coach Beamer: Yes, certainly. With the upcoming settlement next month, it would better the situation for the non-revenue sports because they would all be part of a roster cap that they're all on scholarship as well. And I'm all for that as those sports continue to advance. I mean, these are three fantastic athletes right here, and I know two of them ran football, but with Emily from track and field as well, we want those opportunities to continue for all student athletes, and you've seen what the student athlete experience can do for people. With these three being here today, I know as a guy that's going to be 48 at the end of the month. I was nervous as heck coming in here today and to see what they've been able to do as young people because of their experience as student athletes. I have so much respect for and want the continued advancement of all student athletes in all sports.

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Rep. Pfluger then thanked Mr. Egbo for representing Abilene Christian University, a school in West Texas, and asked him what his pros and cons of being a student athlete were. Read their interaction below:

Rep. Pfluger: Mr. Egbo, I will go to you because I am 90 miles south of you in my hometown of San Angelo. So, thank you for representing Abilene Christian here. Talk to us about the pros and cons of being a student athlete. Coach. I love what you said about being a student-athlete. That's the most important thing. I was a student athlete, if you can call it that, at the Air Force Academy. It's more of a, you know, military school, but talk to us about the opportunities that you've been provided because of being a student athlete.

Mr. Egbo: It is the greatest experience. I mean, you said there's nothing like it, and it's true, and I'm an embodiment of that. I mean, the opportunity that I got to walk on to Abilene Christian eventually paid for my undergraduate and graduate degrees. It allowed me to work with the president of my university. I was a presidential intern my senior year. I'm going to make the connections I've made with the Student Athlete Advisory Committee at the national level. I mean, you can point to almost every good thing that's happened in the last five years, to some sort of experience as being a student athlete. It's the greatest experience that I think exists in this country. 

Rep. Pfluger: Folks at Abilene Christian would be very proud of you. They are very proud of you for representing so well today.

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Rep. Pfluger then asked Ms. Cole for her perspective on what needs to be fixed first in NIL to ensure female athletes have the same experience as male athletes. Read their interaction below:

Rep. Pfluger: I'll go to Ms. Cole because I have three daughters, and you know, wanting them to have that experience. Wave your magic wand and what needs to be fixed first, from your perspective?

Ms. Cole: Yeah, absolutely. Thank you so much for the question and also for everything you do for the great state of Texas. I'm actually from Houston, so I'm very grateful for everything that you do. But I actually think that there should be a big emphasis on giving these female athletes the same platform and voice that the male athletes have been given. That's something that we've been able to see happen through social media, and all of these female athletes being able to prove that they can sell tickets and they can make money. Obviously, there's still a lot of work to be done, but I really believe in the power that social media has had in helping these female athletes have the platform and voice to show that we can do the work and have the potential to drive the same progress and revenue that men's sports do.