WASHINGTON, D.C., USA — Mark Few spoke to the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation on Wednesday morning in support of congress passing a national name, image, likeness (NIL) law.
He spoke multiple times imploring for the need for a national NIL law, instead of the multitude of state laws that will go into effect in a month.
"We need your help," Few said to the senate committee hearing. "This is not an issue the NCAA and individual schools can fix."
He also noted that the NCAA cannot have competitive, fair championships if NIL laws differ across states.
"We absolutely should have addressed these NIL rights a long time ago. I'm embarrassed that we're here having to deal with this right now," Few said.
"All athletes deserve to use their own name, image, and likeness in commercial endorsements and social media. I am very much in favor of them profiting as much as they possibly can from this. They should be to run a camp using their own name, sign autographs for money, or profit off their popularity on Instagram or Tik Tok. That absolutely needs to happen right now," Few said.
He continued on to say that there shouldn't be an artificial cap on what a player can earn and that everything should be judged on fair market value.
Mark Few's comments went past NIL as well though. He also came out in support of institutions covering healthcare for student-athletes post-graduation. He also supports institutions covering the cost of education in case student-athletes return to want to complete their degree.
"At Gonzaga, we provide out of pocket healthcare expenses for two years, after a student athlete's injury, we pay for medical insurance, we provide scholarship if a student-athlete wants to return to school after their eligibility has expired, even if they're playing professionally, and we continue that for as long as they want to try to finish their degree," Few said, as he noted that's something mostly taken for granted around Gonzaga.
The main debate around congress right now is whether or not to pass just an NIL law or pass a law that includes sweeping changes, including healthcare and paying for education.