Student Athlete Pay and Safety Face Scrutiny from Senators

College leaders told a U.S. Senate committee that Congress should preempt state laws that create a “hodgepodge” of standards for athlete compensation, which they say trigger antitrust concerns and violate laws that require fair revenue for less lucrative women’s sports programs.

The call from university leaders comes amid a racial justice movement that has shed a new spotlight on perceived financial exploitation of the players, the majority of whom are Black, while largely White coaches make multimillion-dollar salaries and their athletics budgets swell.

“It’s clear that student athletes are being exploited. Congress needs to address these injustices,” Sen. Patty Murray ...