WASHINGTON, D.C. — The NAACP has launched the ‘Out of Bounds’ campaign, a national call for Black athletes, families, fans, alumni, and consumers to withhold athletic and financial support from public universities in states that have moved to limit, weaken, or erase Black voting representation in the wake of the Supreme Court’s 6-3 ruling in ‘Louisiana v. Callais,’ which gutted what was left of the Voting Rights Act. The NAACP identified eight priority states (Tennessee, Louisiana, Alabama, Florida, Mississippi, South Carolina, Texas, and Georgia) and targeted flagship public athletic programs generating more than $100 million in annual revenue that continue to recruit Black athletes while their state governments dismantle the political power of Black communities.
“What these states have done is not a policy disagreement. It is a sprint to erase Black political power,” said Derrick Johnson, president/CEO, NAACP. “These actions happened in days, in some cases in hours, of a Supreme Court ruling that gives extremist lawmakers a playbook to erode Black representation. The NAACP will not watch the same institutions that depend on Black athletic prowess to fill their stadiums and their bank accounts remain silent while their states strip Black communities of their voice. ‘Out of Bounds’ is our answer: we are naming the contradiction, and we are calling on Black athletes, families, fans, and consumers to act on it. The same power that built these programs can be redirected. And it will be.”
The economic stakes of the campaign are significant. The flagship universities in the eight targeted states collectively generate billions of dollars in annual athletic revenue.
The ‘Out of Bounds’ campaign focuses on one primary ask, calling on top football and basketball recruits currently being actively recruited by targeted programs to withhold their commitments until the states in question restore fair congressional maps and meaningful Black representation. The campaign also calls on current college athletes (including those who may already be enrolled at targeted programs) to consider their options, including the transfer portal, and to use their platforms and NIL reach to elevate fair maps and voting rights.
“This generation of Black athletes understands something that those who came before them were never afforded the chance to say so plainly: your talent is yours, and so is your community’s political power,” said Tylik McMillan, national director, Youth and College Division, NAACP. “These are not separate issues. The state that is working to erase your grandmother’s congressional district is the same state whose governor will stand on the field and celebrate your touchdown or game-winning shot. We are asking young people (recruits, current athletes, fans) to see that connection clearly and to act on it. The Out of Bounds campaign is about redirecting what has always been ours, power and perseverance.”
The campaign issues calls to action across three audiences.
• Black athletes and recruits are asked to withhold commitments from targeted programs, to ask coaches and athletic directors where their universities stand on voting rights, and to visit and seriously consider HBCUs.
• Current college athletes are asked to use their platforms to elevate the issue, to ask institutional leadership for public statements opposing racial vote dilution, and to consider all available options under the transfer portal.
• Fans, alumni, donors, and consumers are asked to stop purchasing tickets, merchandise, and licensed apparel from targeted programs and to redirect that spending to HBCUs—their athletics programs, scholarship funds, NIL collectives, bands, and alumni foundations.
The Out of Bounds campaign will remain in effect until targeted states adopt state-level voting rights protections, repeal maps that dilute Black voting power, restore congressional and judicial districts that reflect the Black population’s actual strength, and commit to transparent and community-centered redistricting processes. Our sentiment is clear: No Representation: No Recruitment; No Revenue.
