SACRAMENTO Calif. — California will become the first state to mandate financial protections for student athletes who suffer career-ending injuries in some of the state’s top college sports programs under a bill Gov. Jerry Brown announced signing Thursday.
SB1525 protects athletes at the four universities that receive more than $10 million annually in sports media revenue the University of Southern California, UCLA, Berkeley and Stanford.
They will have to give academic scholarships to students who lose their athletic scholarships if they are injured while playing their sport. They also will have to cover insurance deductibles and pay health care premiums for low-income athletes, among other provisions.
The legislation requires the universities to pay future medical costs for on-the-field injuries, providing student-athletes with the kind of guarantees that even some professional athletes don’t receive.
“Neither personal injury nor poverty should dim the dreams of a student-athlete pursuing a college degree, particularly when their performance has enriched their college,” Sen. Alex Padilla, D-Los Angeles, said in a statement.
Padilla cited a 16-year study by the NCAA and the Journal of Athletic Training showing that each year thousands of students are hurt while training or playing sports, with many of the injuries ending their chance to continue participating.
Of the four schools immediately affected, only Stanford objected to the final version of the bill, saying it is unfair to include only the top money-generating universities. Padilla said his bill eventually could affect San Diego State University because it recently switched to a different conference with more lucrative television rights.
