Protect College Sports Act gets renewed push and fresh opposition as college football returns

With college football in full swing, proponents of the Protect College Sports Act have launched an all-out blitz to push the legislation through the Senate before the chamber breaks in the coming weeks.

The bill aims to put guardrails around escalating spending in college sports as the industry struggles to adapt to a new model in which schools can pay players. Major conferences, Senate leadership and President Donald Trump have backed the bipartisan bill, yet it still faces pushback that could sink it before the chamber breaks this fall.

“This bill protects the billions of dollars that coaches and sports industry executives are making over the suppression of compensation for some of the most highly valued athletes in the world,” Democratic Sen. Chris Murphy of Connecticut said on a call with reporters Monday. “What we’re being asked to do is to basically allow colleges and conferences and the NCAA to illegally collude.”

Murphy’s opposition followed a high-profile weekend push by Sen. Ted Cruz, a co-sponsor of the bill, who appeared Saturday on ESPN’s “College GameDay” to make the case for its passage. Cruz, a Texas Republican, spent nearly 10 minutes explaining why he thinks the legislation is important as loud boos rang out from the University of Texas crowd behind him.

Launched by Cruz and Democratic Sen. Maria Cantwell of Washington in late May, the bill that has been discussed all summer is back in focus with a vote possible before Congress goes back into recess for the midterm elections.

Cruz, at a news conference in Washington alongside Cantwell, college athletes, coaches and other members of Congress, said he expects the Senate to vote on the bill this week or next. He is hoping it passes with resounding support from both sides of the aisle.

“I believe we are going to get this done,” Cruz said. “I have a very high level of confidence that the House will pass this bill, and one of the best ways to do that is get a big bipartisan vote coming off the Senate.”

High-profile supporters include billionaire Texas Tech alumnus Cody Campbell, former Alabama coach Nick Saban and current Colorado coach Deion Sanders, who have been featured in commercials across the country as football season begins.

“The Protect College Sports Act ends the NIL chaos in college athletics by protecting our student-athletes and teams and safeguarding women’s sports and Olympic programs,” Saban says in an ad.

Basketball coaches John Calipari of Arkansas, Mark Few of Gonzaga and Kelvin Sampson of Houston are also among those in favor.

“I think this clears up about 75-80% of our issues,” Calipari said in Washington. “Nothing is perfect. This is a bite out of the apple.”

Echoing Calipari, Few said: “This bill might not be perfect, but it’s far, far away the best thing we got out there right now.”

High-profile support hasn’t been the issue for the bill since it was introduced months ago. After months of negotiations, the Big Ten and Southeastern conferences got on board with the bill in late July. But it remains unclear whether the legislation has the support needed to clear the Senate’s 60-vote threshold.

Republicans currently hold a 53-47 majority in the chamber. Democrats are trying to flip the Senate in November’s midterms, which can complicate the legislative agenda.

Murphy has been among the most outspoken, saying he will work with those in the Senate who oppose the bill to do everything in their power to ask colleagues to step back and take another shot at legislation that would institute reforms but not make the current system permanent at the expense of athletes’ health and safety.

“This bill doesn’t stop billionaires from spending money on athletic facilities,” Murphy said. “This money doesn’t stop billionaires from directly subsidizing the salaries of coaches. No, the only thing this bill does is to limit the relatively small slice of money in the system that goes to athletes.”

Murphy took issue with the concept of the situation being chaotic, now that athletes are getting paid for name, image and likeness rights. He said coaches and colleges are the ones most primarily affected, arguing the bill would not fix any of the broader problems when it comes to spending.

Joined by NAACP CEO Derrick Johnson, Murphy pointed out that many of the most valuable athletes are Black and those protecting the billions of dollars in the system are white. The Congressional Black Caucus opposes the bill.

“This bill has nothing to do with protecting college sports,” Johnson said. “Any college sports legislation must protect the whole ecosystem, including student-athletes, universities, conferences and historically Black colleges and universities by guaranteeing athletes have a real voice, fair economic rights, long-term health and educational security.”

In a separate effort by Congress to regulate college athletics, two Republicans – Rep. Tim Walberg of Michigan and Sen. Jon Husted of Ohio — introduced a bill Monday that would limit international athletes to no more than 20% of each varsity sports team.

“American colleges and universities should first and foremost provide opportunities for American students,” Walberg said.“America has built the strongest collegiate athletic system in the world, and we should make sure it continues to develop the next generation of American students and American Olympians.”

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Associated Press reporter Joey Cappelletti contributed to this report from Washington.

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AP college sports: https://apnews.com/hub/college-sports