Cruz and Cantwell refuse to bend to SEC and Big Ten concerns in revised college athletics legislation

Are you ready for the next battle in college sports? With Brendan Sorsby officially leaving Texas Tech for the NFL, the spotlight now shifts back from Lone Star State courtrooms to Washington, D.C., where lawmakers are debating the future of college athletics.

When Sens Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and Maria Cantwell (D-Washington) introduced the bipartisan “Protect College Sports Act” earlier this month, the overwhelming thought process centered around the federal government finally presenting legislation that would satisfy both sides of the aisle, along with those within college athletics.

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But, as we’ve seen over the last few weeks, there is plenty of pushback, or finagling going on that has leaders of the SEC and Big Ten jockeying for position.

Would the congressional leaders give in to the ideas presented by both conferences that would eventually lead to their support? Or, would Cruz and Cantwell push forward with their legislation without leaders from both power-conferences essentially putting their support behind the bill?

That question was answered on Monday night, when a revised bill was obtained by Fox News, as there was not much of a pivot to the “Protect College Sports Act” that would lead those to believe that the recommendations from the SEC and Big Ten were fully integrated into the new plan.

Senators move forward without SEC and Big Ten changes

Entering the “markup” phase of the bill, which will take place starting Tuesday night, there was no deviation from the media pooling rights aspect of the legislation.

The revised version of the bill will still allow football teams at the FBS level to voluntarily pool their media rights into one large package, if 75% of the teams come to an agreement on the action.

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This leaves the SEC and Big Ten still holding serve on the matter, with Commissioner Greg Sankey mentioning in a letter to the presidents and chancellors last week that this could still lead to battles within courtrooms.

“The media pooling, as written, exposes the SEC to potential lawsuits forcing the conference into the media pooling practice…It forces the SEC and Big Ten to either play intraconference postseason tournaments or play only other non-pooling conferences or universities in the postseason to replace the CFP (College Football Playoff)”

Yes, this is a holdup for both conferences to get behind this aspect of the bill, even though it would not be the wisest move for either to break off and form their own postseason, at least in the eyes of fans.

Then, there was also the point of contention around the “private right to action” aspect of the legislation, which would allow athletes to take their own schools to court over rules that would be actionable within the bill. And for that part, the legislation does not have a revision for the section in which the SEC emphasized is too broad, allowing the opportunity at more battles within state courts.

Much needed detour for olympic and women’s sports in legislation

But, there was a change to the legislation that many within the college athletics community were vocal about moving. In the previous version of the bill, Olympic and women’s sports were tied to those who choose to bundle their media rights into one pool. Essentially, schools could not cut certain sports on a whim for the sake of revenue.

Now, all schools that report a revenue of at least $80 million per academic year will be required under the bill to keep the minimum number of roster spots for each sport, which also gives peace of mind to those athletic programs that are in the “large size” category. Like for instance when Arkansas decided to cut its tennis program last month, which was then resurrected by donors who came to their rescue at the last minute to keep the sport alive in Fayetteville.

It’s obvious that legislators are not worried about appeasing member institutions from the SEC and Big Ten in hopes of passing this bill. In reality, you’re not going to make everyone happy, so the thought of giving into the demands of the two biggest conferences in college sports is clearly not a roadblock for now.

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Sure, this could change over the coming days as amendments are voted on. But, that would mean rocking the boat with congressional leaders from states outside the SEC and Big Ten boundaries. Sens. Ted Cruz and Maria Cantwell want to see this bill passed, and even received vocal support of NCAA President Charlie Baker last week in the midst of the Brendan Sorsby debate.

There will be plenty of discourse over the next few weeks, and a lot of negotiating on what could be added or subtracted from the legislation to get this off the Senate floor and into the House.

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But, the time is ticking. An August recess for Congress is looming, and we’re about to find out just how much power two of the biggest conferences in college athletics wield in regards to federal legislation.

Here we go, the “Protect College Sports Act” is officially on the clock.