In the second weekend of the college football season, U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz brought a congressional debate over the sport’s future to ESPN’s “College GameDay” on Saturday.
The Texas Republican sat with host Rece Davis for nearly 10 minutes to promote the Protect College Sports Act, a bipartisan proposal he wrote with Democratic Sen. Maria Cantwell of Washington.
Cruz called the current system “chaos,” pointing to lawsuits, conflicting state laws and rapidly shifting rules on athlete compensation, transfers and eligibility. He said Congress must establish a national rulebook or risk a future in which only a few dozen schools can sustain competitive football programs.
Download the Straight Arrow app today to get the stories that matter free from manipulation, bias or agenda.™
Point phone camera here
The appearance marked the second consecutive week that “College GameDay” featured advocacy for the legislation. Former Alabama coach Nick Saban and commentator Pat McAfee backed the proposal during the season’s opening weekend.
Cruz said the Senate, which returns Monday after its summer recess, is scheduled to vote on the measure in the coming week. He described his confidence in its passage as “very, very high.” The bill would need 60 votes in the Senate before moving to the House.
The Senate Commerce Committee advanced the bill 19-9 in June, sending it to the full Senate after years of unsuccessful efforts to establish federal rules for college athletics. The measure also would strengthen athlete health and scholarship protections and create a Commission on the Future of College Athletics to study longer-term reforms.
As Straight Arrow previously reported, the committee action came as the Brendan Sorsby case intensified calls for reform. The former Texas Tech quarterback became the focus of an NCAA gambling investigation after authorities found he had made thousands of wagers totaling at least $90,000, including bets involving Indiana football while he was a freshman there.
Sorsby sued the NCAA and won a temporary injunction that would have allowed him to play in 2026 after a proposed two-game suspension, prompting legal challenges from the NCAA and the Big 12. He later left Texas Tech and entered the NFL supplemental draft rather than continue the dispute.
The proposal would replace a patchwork of state laws with federal standards for name, image and likeness deals, transfers and eligibility. It would give athletes five years of eligibility, generally allow one transfer without an eligibility penalty and grant governing bodies limited antitrust protection to enforce certain rules.
Supporters argue the measure would stabilize a system transformed by court decisions, revenue sharing and the growth of NIL payments. Cruz said it would also protect scholarships, women’s and Olympic sports and athletic programs that do not generate significant revenue.
Critics question whether the legislation protects athletes as strongly as it protects schools, conferences and the NCAA. Dave Ridpath, a professor of sports business at Ohio University, said he is not convinced the proposal would fully safeguard women’s and Olympic sports or distribute revenue equitably.
Ridpath also objected to restrictions placed on players without comparable limits on coaches and administrators. He questioned how regulators would distinguish legitimate NIL agreements from payments designed primarily to recruit or retain athletes.
“The players are the only ones that have restrictions,” Ridpath told Straight Arrow. He said collective bargaining could provide a more durable legal framework and suggested a presidential commission if Congress cannot reach an agreement.
Still, Ridpath said federal involvement is unlikely to disappear because the NCAA and its member institutions have struggled to govern a system reshaped by litigation and athlete compensation.
Round out your reading
- Lawyer says 57 Cornell frat members were in the group chat. Could their silence be a crime?
- Florida county discovers mysterious Flock cameras with no obvious owner.
- Off Script: They won their primaries on one message. Now it’s disappearing.
- Some question whether a popular affordable housing policy is making the nation’s home shortage worse.
- Kelvin wave incoming: Why the US should care.
