The most consequential thing happening in college sports this week is not a football game. It is a Senate floor vote that could freeze the entire NIL landscape in place.
Sens. Ted Cruz of Texas and Maria Cantwell of Washington held an hour-long press conference near the Capitol on Monday, flanked by three of the biggest names in college basketball: John Calipari of Arkansas, Mark Few of Gonzaga and Kelvin Sampson of Houston.
Cruz said he expects a Senate vote on the Protect College Sports Act “this week or next.”
“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.”
What the bill does
Introduced in late May, the legislation creates a national framework for NIL, transfers, eligibility and athlete protections. It also grants limited antitrust protection to schools and conferences, which is the part that matters most to athletic directors and the part opponents hate.
The Big Ten and SEC formally endorsed it in late July. It is backed by President Donald Trump and Senate leadership. An ad campaign featuring Nick Saban and Deion Sanders, funded by Texas Tech billionaire alumnus Cody Campbell, has been running for weeks.
Saban in one of the spots: “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.”
The coaches on Monday were more measured. Calipari called it a partial fix: “I think this clears up about 75-80 percent of our issues. Nothing is perfect. This is a bite out of the apple.”
Few was blunter: “This bill might not be perfect, but it’s far, far away the best thing we got out there right now.”
The opposition is organized
The Congressional Black Caucus opposes the bill. NAACP CEO Derrick Johnson joined Sen. Chris Murphy of Connecticut on a call with reporters Monday to argue against it.
Murphy did not hedge.
“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,” he said. “What we’re being asked to do is to basically allow colleges and conferences and the NCAA to illegally collude.”
He added: “This bill doesn’t stop billionaires from spending money on athletic facilities. The only thing this bill does is to limit the relatively small slice of money in the system that goes to athletes.”
Johnson’s objection was about who is at the table: “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.”
The math is brutal
The bill needs 60 votes. Republicans hold a 53-47 majority. Seven Democrats have to cross over.
Cruz appeared on College GameDay on Saturday for nearly 10 minutes and was audibly booed by the Texas crowd behind him, which tells you something about how this is landing with actual fans.
Separately on Monday, Rep. Tim Walberg and Sen. Jon Husted introduced a bill capping international athletes at no more than 20 percent of any varsity roster.
If the Protect College Sports Act dies, the courts keep writing the rules. Ask the roughly 90 athletes who just sued the NCAA over eligibility how that has been going.
A longtime sports reporter, Carlos Garcia has written about some of the biggest and most notable athletic events of the last 5 years. He has been credentialed to cover MLS, NBA and MLB games all over the United States. His work has been published on Fox Sports, Bleacher Report, AOL and the Washington Post.