Louisiana Voice

By Paul Spillman, guest columnist

The Senate has begun hearings on the Protect College Sports Act, their version of legislation designed to address the wild, wild west show that is college athletics. The bill is co-sponsored by Ted Cruz (R-TX) and Maria Cantwell (D-WA). Even though hearings have just begun there is already tremendous pressure on lawmakers to pass the bill as it is seen as the last best chance to reform college sports given the complete collapse of the SCORE Act in the House.

The Protect College Sports Act differs from the SCORE Act in several meaningful ways. Where the SCORE Act would have granted the NCAA broad antitrust exemptions to make and enforce rules, the Protect College Sports Act grants only a limited antitrust exemption to enforce rules covered by this legislation only.

The legislation still permits students, athletes, and institutions to sue the NCAA for injunctive relief which critics claim will do nothing to limit the current morass of litigation. But it also permits universities, conferences, and associations to recoup attorney fees and legal expenses from student athletes who lose in court, which will limit litigation as the prospect of owing tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars in legal costs will have a chilling effect on student athletes’ willingness to sue. With this provision only the most egregious of violations will be challenged.

The Senate bill defines a period of college eligibility as beginning upon high school graduation or the athlete’s 19^th birthday, but list several exceptions and allows for the NCAA to determine others. The bill also allows for one transfer without penalty, but imposes a loss of one year of eligibility for any additional transfer. Should the legislation become law both these provisions could be challenged in court.

There is language mandating equal conditions and facilities for men’s and women’s sports. There is also protections for women’s sports and Olympic sports conditional on pooling media rights. More on that in a bit.

Notably the bill does not cap name, image, and likeness compensation nor make any reference to how coaches are paid or prevent entities such as the Tiger Athletic Foundation from playing its proper role. But it does adopt the “Lane Kiffin” rule preventing member institutions from hiring a coach while the season is on-going and penalizing any coach who accepts such an offer.

Interestingly the NCAA just released it’s schedule for the 2026 football season. The championship game is scheduled for January 25, 2027. Under the Protect College Sports Act no school would be able to hire a football coach until after that date. But in 2026 the transfer portal opened on January 2 and closed on January 15, and spring semester classes began at LSU on January 12.

If this rule had been in effect in 2026 LSU would have found themselves beginning a new season (transfer portal open and closed, students enrolled) without a head coach. Even if there had been an illegal, backroom agreement had Ole Miss miraculously made the championship game or even won it all Kiffin might have changed his mind. Leaving LSU where? This provision, if included, is also likely to be challenged in court.

But all that is Title I. What has everyone stirred up is Title II, Sports Broadcasting. This section of the legislation amends the Sports Broadcasting Act of 1961 for application to the college game and permits the “voluntary” pooling of media rights if 75% of the membership votes for it. If that should happen language in the legislation requires establishing a fund smaller and less profitable schools could tap to provide required benefits such as medical coverage and to help fund women’s and Olympic sports. The NCAA divides Division I into the Bowl subdivision (FBS) and the Championship subdivision (FCS).

As an example of how the NCAA seemingly desires to be woefully outdated both subdivisions have had a championship playoff since 1998 but continue to use outdated labels. Currently there are 138 schools in the FBS. The sixteen SEC schools, the eighteen Big Ten schools, and Notre Dame can form a voting block of 25.4% of teams in the Bowl subdivision and prevent the “voluntary” pooling of media rights. But adding two more teams to the Bowl subdivision would keep those schools from forming a voting block equal to or greater than 25% of membership and thus permit the pooling of media rights.

Over the last five years eight schools have moved up from the Championship subdivision to the Bowl subdivision. With the pooling of media rights creating a fund less profitable schools can tap the incentive to add two more schools to the FBS will be tremendous. Proponents argue pooling media rights will increase the total dollars, which may be true, but not for the SEC, the Big Ten, and Notre Dame who will all see some of their media dollars doled out to less profitable schools. The SEC and Big Ten have released a joint statement adamantly opposing the Protect College Sports Act.

Congress is under some pressure to pass this legislation. With the collapse of the SCORE Act in the House and no other legislation in the works this bill is seen as the last chance to rein in college sports since the NCAA refuses to take any steps on its own to do so, except to wait for Congress to write it a “get out of jail free” card. But no legislation is going to adequately address all issues to everyone’s satisfaction. That’s the flaw of Congress compromising on law. Worse though is that Congress becomes the rule making body for college sports. One would be hard pressed to name a more cumbersome, slow, fractious, and clueless rule-making body than Congress.

In this writer’s humble opinion the best solution is for schools that want to live in the 21^st century to break away from the relic that is the NCAA and form a new organization willing and capable of addressing the modern world. Initially this would have its greatest impact on the post-season, with only a limited number of schools involved. But a new organization headlined by the SEC, the Big Ten, and Notre Dame is where the money would be and most other schools would soon follow allowing a new organization to eventually stage post season championships similar to what the NCAA has today. Otherwise The Law of Unintended Consequences will have a field day with college athletics.