No Club may unreasonably refuse to permit a player to endorse a product. Notwithstanding the foregoing, and without affecting interpretation of the preceding sentence, no player will be permitted to be a party to any endorsement arrangement of any kind with a company associated with the production, manufacture, or distribution of a substance that has been banned by the Policy on Performance-Enhancing Substances (formerly known as the Policy on Anabolic Steroids and Related Substances). The NFL and the NFLPA will agree each year on a list of such companies.

The placement of a sponsor’s logo on a jersey does not constitute endorsement by any player of that sponsor. Players shall not challenge or refuse to wear jerseys with sponsor logos.

Neither the NFL nor any of the Clubs may have any rule prohibiting or limiting the type of footwear or gloves which may be worn by players on the field, except to the extent such rules or limitations are based on safety or competitive considerations as determined by the NFL; the parties reserve their respective positions on whether the NFL or any of the Clubs may have any such rule relating solely to image considerations. The foregoing notwithstanding, the NFL and Clubs shall have the right to regulate any third party branding or other commercial identification that may appear on any footwear or gloves worn by players on the field or its environs on game days and/or at any Club’s official mandatory minicamp(s), official preseason training camp, and all Club practice sessions.

On game days, prior to the game and continuing until 90 minutes after the whistle ending each game (preseason or regular season), as well as at any Club’s official mandatory minicamp(s), official preseason training camp, and all Club practice sessions, players: (i) shall wear any uniforms and/or related items (e.g., practice jerseys) required by the NFL or Club (regardless of any third party branding that may appear on such uniforms and/or related items as may be determined by the NFL or Club), provided that no individual player and/or discrete group of players will be required to wear attire with thirdparty branding that is different from the branding on the attire of other players and further provided that no third-party sponsor will depict any player in advertising or promotional materials in a manner that constitutes an “Endorsement” as defined in Paragraph 4(a) of the Player Contract absent consent from the player; and (ii) will be prohibited from wearing, displaying, or orally promoting equipment, apparel, or other items that carry commercial names or logos of companies in any televised interview on Club premises, unless such commercial identification has been approved in advance by the League office. In addition, players may not wear the logo(s) or brand designations of any commercial entity that is a direct competitor to an NFL sponsor at any time a player is on-field during an NFL game or 30 minutes prior to kickoff of an NFL game, or during NFL-designated media availability periods following an NFL game.

Notwithstanding Subsection (b) above, players will be permitted to wear apparel bearing the logo “Players Inc.” and/or the logo “NFLPA” during televised interviews in the locker room following preseason and regular season games, provided that such apparel does not display the names, logos, or other identifying marks of any other entity or product that is licensed by or associated with Players Inc. or the NFLPA, including, but not limited to, the manufacturer of the apparel or any sponsor or licensee of Players Inc., the NFLPA, or any individual player. The parties reserve their respective positions on the applicability of this provision to apparel bearing the logo “NFL Players.” (d) The provisions in Subsections (a)–(c) above shall not be used or referred to in any dispute between the parties over prohibition by the League and/or any Club of the wearing of unapproved commercial items in circumstances other than as expressly addressed in those Subsections.

During NFL games and for the express purpose of creating NFL programming, NFL Films will be permitted to put microphones on any players that NFL Films selects. During the regular season each starting quarterback will be required to wear a microphone at least once, and no player will be required to wear a microphone for this purpose more than four times during the course of any regular season. There will be no limitation with respect to the number of times a player can be required to wear a microphone during the preseason or postseason. None of the sound captured for this purpose can be used during the game in which the player is mic’d without the player’s prior permission, and, unless such prior permission is given, none of the captured sound can be used until viewed and approved by the player or his selected team representative who will have the right to embargo any material he deems to be extremely sensitive or inappropriate. Players may also embargo for a limited time material deemed to be confidential or that might place the player or team at a competitive disadvantage. Players or their selected team representative must advise NFL Films of any material they wish to have embargoed within 24 hours of receiving the material.

For the television broadcast of all NFL preseason, regular season and postseason games NFL Broadcasting, on behalf of the League’s network television partners, can require offensive linemen to wear microphones embedded in shoulder pads in order to capture ambient sound from the playing field. The pads will be wired by NFL Filmstrained technicians. Microphones will be opened after the offense breaks the huddle and will be closed a few seconds after the snap of the ball. At no time will the microphones be open when the players are in the locker room, the huddle or the team bench areas and all transmissions will be encrypted. Audio captured in accordance with this provision will be used only in the live ambient audio mix of that particular game. The NFL will require its television partners to agree to use best efforts to refrain from broadcasting any captured audio that contains inappropriate or sensitive content, and that their failure to do so shall result in a loss of the right to broadcast such audio in the future.

For purposes of this Subsection “Sensors” shall mean any sensor, device or tracking device worn by an individual player used to collect, monitor, measure or track any metric from a player (e.g., distance, velocity, acceleration, deceleration, jumps, changes of direction, player load), biometric information (e.g., heart rate, heart rate variability, skin temperature, blood oxygen, hydration, lactate, and/or glucose), or other health, fitness and performance information.

The NFL may require all NFL players to wear during games equipment that contains Sensors for purposes of collecting information regarding the performance of NFL games, including players’ performances and movements. The NFL may use data concerning players’ performance and movements collected from Sensors during NFL games commercially, including but not limited to, with broadcast partners, subject to providing advance notice to the NFLPA of such use. Such notice shall include (i) type of Sensor(s) to be used and (ii) an overview of data to be shared with third-parties prior to any use of such data. Revenue from such commercial use shall be included in AR. Notwithstanding the foregoing, Sensors of any type shall not be placed on helmets without the NFLPA’s consent.

The NFL and NFLPA shall establish a “Joint Sensors Committee” to review and approve Sensors for NFL and Club use. The Joint Sensors Committee shall consist of three (3) representatives appointed by the NFL Management Council and three (3) representatives appointed by the NFLPA. Unless the parties agree otherwise, members of the Joint Sensors Committee may not have an ownership or other financial interest in any company that produces or sells any Sensor. The Joint Sensors Committee shall be responsible for:

Reviewing any and all NFL or Club use of Sensor(s) for purposes of collecting (i) any player bio-data (e.g., heart rate, heart rate variability, blood pressure, skin temperature, blood oxygen, hydration, lactate, and/or glucose), and (ii) any data and/or information, including player performance and movement, during NFL practices, including, without limitation, considering whether a particular Sensor would be potentially harmful to anyone if used as intended;

Approving or prohibiting the use of any Sensor (i) in NFL practices after review and/or (ii) used to collect bio-data in NFL games;

Monitoring developments in relevant Sensor technology to make recommendations to the NFL and the NFLPA about changes to this Subsection 15 as warranted; and

Evaluating data outputs from relevant Sensor technology for accuracy and potential for manipulation.

The Joint Sensors Committee shall retain such experts as it deems necessary in order to conduct its work, including but not limited to engineers, data scientists, and cybersecurity.

The following Sensor(s) in use by any NFL Club in NFL practices to collect performance-related data (i.e., distance, velocity, acceleration, deceleration, jumps, changes of direction, player load) as of the date of this Agreement shall be exempt from review by the Joint Sensors Committee and may be continued to be used in NFL practices until such time that the Joint Sensors Committee has the opportunity to review those Sensors: Catapult, Zebra, Titan, Polar, Statsports, and Kinexon.

A Club may only require players to wear any Sensor(s) that has been reviewed and approved by the Joint Sensors Committee in NFL practices. Commercialization of any current or future data and/or information collected from approved Sensors used in practices is subject to agreement by the parties.

Should a Club or any employee of a Club knowingly and materially fail to comply with this Subsection regarding the approval and use of Sensors in NFL practices, they will be subject to discipline as set forth below:

The NFL Management Council and NFLPA shall each designate one (1) or more representatives to monitor the enforcement of this Subsection and investigate potential deviations therefrom (the “Representatives”).

The NFLPA, the NFL Management Council, any Club, or any player involved in an alleged failure by a Club or Club employee to comply with this Subsection regarding the approval and use of Sensors in NFL practices shall each have the right (independently or collectively) to bring forward a complaint about such alleged failure to the Representatives, which complaint shall be submitted in writing. The complaint shall be investigated and resolved by the NFL Management Council and the NFLPA as described herein.

Upon initiation of an investigation, the Representatives will have the authority to interview involved parties, witnesses and others reasonably believed to be in possession of information relevant to the inquiry (including players, League employees, Club employees and members of the involved Club’s medical or performance staffs) and, upon request from any Representative, shall be provided, as quickly as reasonably possible, with a copy of any documentation relevant to the investigation of the complaint. Such requests shall not be unreasonably denied. The Representatives shall complete their investigation and produce a report of their findings within two (2) weeks following the filing of a complaint. These reports shall remain confidential. Neither party is required to share its report with the other. These reports shall not be publicly disseminated.

No later than three (3) weeks following the filing of a complaint, or sooner if practicable, the Executive Director of the NFLPA and the NFL Deputy General Counsel, Labor shall be advised of the status of the investigation and shall attempt to determine if a violation occurred and, if so, the proper disciplinary response. If the parties are unable to agree upon whether or not a violation occurred or the appropriate discipline that should be imposed within three (3) weeks following the filing of a complaint, the matter will be immediately referred to the Impartial Arbitrator (as established by Article 16), who will review the complaint under the authority of this Article, using the following standards and procedures:

• (a) Review. The Impartial Arbitrator shall determine: (1) whether a Club employee or member of a Club’s medical or performance team knowingly and materially failed to comply with this Subsection regarding the approval and use of Sensors in NFL practices, and if so, (2) whether there were any relevant mitigating or aggravating factors present in the incident.
  The Impartial Arbitrator’s review and decision shall be limited to whether or not the relevant party complied with this Subsection regarding the approval and use of Sensors in NFL practices.
• (b) Procedure. The Impartial Arbitrator shall conduct a hearing as soon as is reasonable (but no later than thirty (30) days following the date on which the matter is referred to the Impartial Arbitrator), using the following procedures:
  • (i) The designated Representative(s) of the NFL and the designated Representative(s) of the NFLPA may present whatever documents, or summary they deem relevant to the Impartial Arbitrator’s inquiry. The Impartial Arbitrator is free to request additional information or live witness testimony, should he or she determine that such additional evidence is relevant and necessary to a decision. Any party that is the subject of the inquiry shall have the right to participate in the proceeding and to present a defense.
  • (ii) Within one (1) week of the close of evidence, the Impartial Arbitrator will issue a written report to the NFL Commissioner, the NFLPA Executive Director and the involved parties detailing his or her findings as to: (1) whether a Club employee or other member of a Club’s medical staff knowingly and materially failed to comply with this Subsection regarding the approval and use of Sensors in NFL practices and, if so, (2) whether there were any relevant mitigating or aggravating factors. The Impartial Arbitrator shall not offer his or her opinion as to the appropriate discipline, if any, that should result from the violation.

• (a) First Violation in a League-Year. In the event that the Impartial Arbitrator finds, or in the event that the NFL and NFLPA agree, that a Club employee or a member of a Club’s medical or performance staff knowingly and materially failed to comply with this Subsection regarding the approval and use of Sensors in NFL practices, the Commissioner shall impose discipline by: (a) issuance of a letter of reprimand advising that the relevant party knowingly and materially violated this Subsection, (b) requiring the relevant party involved with the deviation of this Subsection to attend remedial education; and/or (c) a fine in an amount of no more than One Hundred Fifty Thousand Dollars ($150,000); and any other discipline that the Commissioner deems warranted by the violation.
  In the event that the Impartial Arbitrator finds, or the Parties agree, that the violation involved aggravating circumstances, the relevant party shall be subject, in the first instance, to a fine in an amount no less than Fifty Thousand Dollars ($50,000). In this regard, the Commissioner shall consider the Impartial Arbitrator’s findings with regard to relevant aggravating factors in making his determination as to appropriate discipline.
• (b) Second and Subsequent Violation(s) in a League-Year. In the event that the Impartial Arbitrator finds, or in the event that the NFL and NFLPA agree, that a Club or Club employee is responsible for a second knowing and material failure to comply with this Subsection concerning the approval and use of Sensors in NFL practices in the same League Year, regardless of whether, in the case of a Club, such deviation was caused by the same employee and/or member of a Club’s medical or performance staff involved in the first incident, the Commissioner shall impose a fine of at least Two Hundred and Fifty Thousand Dollars ($250,000) plus whatever other measures he deems warranted.
  The Commissioner shall consider the Impartial Arbitrator’s findings with regard to relevant aggravating or mitigating factors in making his determination as to appropriate discipline.

Any fine money collected pursuant to this Article shall be allocated to research programs by this Committee as directed by the Parties.

The Parties acknowledge that, subject to the grant of rights set forth in Paragraph 4 of the NFL Player Contract, each individual player owns his personal data collected by Sensors and wearing Sensors shall not require or cause an individual player to transfer ownership of his data to the Club or any other third-party. No exchange or transfer of player data collected pursuant to this Article will result in a transfer or change of ownership. Players may not, however, use data collected from approved Sensors for any commercial purpose. Members of the Club staff shall have access to data generated by approved Sensors. The NFL Management Council and the NFLPA shall have access to aggregated data collected from such approved Sensor(s).

Data collected from Sensors may not be referenced or cited by any Club, player or player’s representative in contract negotiations.

NFL Clubs shall comply with all federal and state laws regarding the storage, use and privacy of such data.

The NFLPA must provide advance approval for collection of any data from Sensors for players outside of NFL games or practices (e.g., Sleep Studies, as set forth in Article 39, Section 14 of this Agreement).