Chairman Cruz: Let’s Protect College Sports for the Thousands of Student Athletes Navigating ‘the Wild West’
To watch Chairman Cruz’s remarks on the Senate floor, click HERE
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, with a vote of 70-22, the Senate cleared the motion to invoke cloture on the Cruz-Cantwell substitute amendment for the Protect College Sports Act. Ahead of the vote, Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Ted Cruz (R-Texas) spoke about the bill, encouraging support from his Senate colleagues as the upper chamber advances consideration of the bill ahead of an expected vote on final passage later this week.
Chairman Cruz on the floor stated: “Student athletes, conferences, coaches, universities, professional sports leagues, and Olympic organizations know that the status quo is unstainable. They know that the Protect College Sports Act is the change college sports so desperately need. 32 conferences, more than 380 schools, and the Student Athlete Advisory Committee, which represents half a million student athletes across the country, all enthusiastically support this bill. Just last week, more than 30 students and coaches took time out of their days and flew to Washington to make that very point on the grounds of the Capitol. To my colleagues, listen to your constituents, listen to the student athletes, listen to the fans. And listen to the sponsors of this bill, just as I have listened to you.”
Chairman Cruz’s full remarks, as prepared for delivery, are as follows:
“For the past three years, I have worked to find a way to bring order to the chaos consuming the new era of college sports.
“I think it’s helpful to understand why college sports are in this mess and why university administrators, athletic directors, coaches, and student athletes have not been able to bring order to the chaos.
“And it starts with federal law. Our nation’s antitrust laws were written more than a century ago and were never designed to regulate NIL, transfer portals, billion-dollar media contracts, and the realities of modern college athletics.
“Yet today, those laws are being applied in ways that have fueled constant litigation and uncertainty across college sports. There’s nothing sacrosanct about antitrust law that makes it unassailable. It’s not the eleventh commandment. It’s not in the Constitution. And when the Supreme Court applied it to college sports, it drew a legal conclusion. It didn’t cast a value judgment. In fact, it said the opposite. Justices said that perhaps Congress might want to revisit whether this is an appropriate fit, noting that Congress has amended the antitrust laws for certain situations and entities in the past, and it may choose to do so again in the future to address college sports.
“It would be nice if college sports could somehow magically fix itself, but this is a matter of law, federal law, and only Congress can fix it.
“Now I know some argue that college sports are doing just fine. They point to high television ratings, enthusiastic fan bases, and packed stadiums.
“But popularity does not demonstrate that the system is healthy. It simply proves that the system is worth saving.
“Fans cannot merely hope that this problem will correct itself. The Courts can decide cases. Conferences can make their own rules. The NCAA can change its policies.
“So if we’re going to have national competition, then it is only Congress that can establish a clear and enforceable legal rulebook. There’s no other option.
“That is what the Protect College Sports Act does. And this is what student athletes, coaches, universities, and conferences have repeatedly come to Washington asking Congress to provide.
“The NIL era is here. The Protect College Sports Act embraces this new reality by codifying and protecting the rights of student athletes to earn money from their name, image, and likeness, and establishing the rules necessary to end the chaos.
“But a system that protects student athletes’ ability to earn NIL also needs rules.
“Real NIL is not the same as a disguised recruiting payment. Revenue sharing is not the same as unlimited cap evasion. Athlete mobility is not the same as permanent roster free agency. And legal certainty does not mean a blank check.
“The Protect College Sports Act draws these lines.
“It establishes national rules while giving student athletes the benefits and protections that do not exist in federal law today.
“Student athletes, conferences, coaches, universities, professional sports leagues, and Olympic organizations know that the status quo is unstainable. They know that the Protect College Sports Act is the change college sports so desperately need.
“32 conferences, more than 380 schools, and the Student Athlete Advisory Committee, which represents half a million student athletes across the country, all enthusiastically support this bill.
“Just last week, more than 30 students and coaches took time out of their days and flew to Washington to make that very point on the grounds of the Capitol.
“To my colleagues, listen to your constituents, listen to the student athletes, listen to the fans.
“And listen to the sponsors of this bill, just as I have listened to you.
“We have heard our colleagues’ concerns, and the bill before us today is not the bill we started with.
“We sat down at the table, with Republicans and Democrats, and made changes.
“This was not done in the 11th hour. During the Commerce Committee markup in June, we addressed concerns about the potential formation of a Super League. We clarified the bill’s Sports Broadcasting Act provisions. And we added additional representation for mid-sized conferences. These are just three of the many amendments and adjustments that were made.
“We did not stop there.
“Before the bill made it to the floor, we heard the concerns from Big10 and SEC schools and worked towards finding a solution. We earned their support. We tightened the revenue sharing rules, made sure student athletes got their fair share of revenue, strengthened NIL transparency, further addressed tampering and recruitment, and made clear that participation in pooled media rights is voluntary.
“Negotiations did not stop.
“In getting the bill to the Senate floor, we enhanced NCAA oversight and accountability, gave states the ability to impose stronger health and safety protections, protected existing broadcast contracts, and softened conference realignment restrictions in certain cases.
“Now, some of my colleagues remain concerned that this bill gives too much legal protection to the NCAA.
“Let me be clear: legal certainty is not immunity from accountability.
“The latest text preserves existing legal claims and makes clear that the bill’s notice-and-cure process cannot shield institutions from damages claims involves serious misconduct such as sexual assault and abuse.
“We must not let the perfect be the enemy of the good.
“Not everyone got everything they wanted. Frankly, I didn’t. And neither did my counterpart, Ranking Member Maria Cantwell. But this is what legislating means. It means Republicans and Democrats listening to each other and finding middle ground. It means compromising to reach an agreement. It is the way our founding fathers designed the legislative process for the good of the whole.
“For those few who remain unmoved, where is your common sense alternative?
“What are you suggesting can stop the legal chaos? The threat of the wealthiest programs breaking away for a Super League? The scholarships being cut week after week after week?
“We can avoid all of that.
“Let’s protect college sports for the thousands of student athletes who feel like they are navigating ‘the Wild West,’ as Boston University swimmer, Gannon Flynn, put it during our College Sports Roundtable.
“Let’s fix this for the coaches who feel like college athletics are “truly under attack,” as Middle Tennessee State University Head Football Coach Derek Mason said.
“This not sustainable. College sports is a unique American tradition that’s worth protecting.
“I want to remind my colleagues that the Protect College Sports Act has the endorsement of all major athletic conferences, more than 370 universities, historically black colleges and universities, the United Negro College Fund, the Thurgood Marshall Scholarship Fund, the NFL, the NBA, Major League Baseball, the National Hockey League, the NBA Players Association, the NFL Players Association, the US Olympic and Paralympic Committee. The list goes on.
“The support for this bill is overwhelming.
“Time is of the essence. Let’s get this done.
“I urge my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to support this bill.”
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