‘Only Congress Can Fix It’: Ted Cruz Pushes Protect College Sports Act

Yesterday, the Senate voted 70-21 to clear a motion for a substitute amendment in Senator Ted Cruz’s (R-TX) Protect College Sports Act to advance consideration of the legislation.

The bill, one Sen. Cruz has continued to advocate for over the last three years, would establish national rules for college athletics, including protections for student-athletes’ name, image and likeness (NIL) rights, while creating rules governing transfers, eligibility, recruiting and revenue sharing. The Senate is expected to vote on the bill in its entirety later this week.

Ahead of the vote, Sen. Cruz took to the Senate floor to urge his colleagues to support the bill.

“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,” Sen. Cruz said. “And it starts with federal law.”

Sen. Cruz said antitrust laws, meant to protect competition, are wrongfully applied to college athletes and their schools. He said this continues to fuel constant “litigation” and “uncertainty” for the young men and women competing.

“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,” he said.

In 2021, the NCAA allowed NIL to become a reality for college athletes. Sen. Cruz said his bill “embraces this new reality” by codifying and protecting student-athletes’ rights to earn money from their name, image and likeness.

Although he said this new NIL era benefits athletes, it also needs rules to function properly.

“Real NIL is not the same as a disguised recruiting payment,” he said. “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.”

Some Democrats in the Senate argue there is no “crisis” in college sports, pointing to high TV ratings and fan turnout.

“Popularity does not demonstrate that the system is healthy. It simply proves that the system is worth saving,” Sen. Cruz countered.

Sen. Cruz said his bill is supported by all major athletic conferences, over 370 universities, including HBCUs. The NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL, the NFL and NBA players’ associations, and the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee have also endorsed it.

“Student athletes, conferences, coaches, universities, professional sports leagues and Olympic organizations know that the status quo is unsustainable,” Sen. Cruz said. “They know that the Protect College Sports Act is the change college sports so desperately need.”