Louisiana Voice

By Paul Spillman

The headlines are all about the Senate recess and Trump’s desire to see the SAVE Act passed, possibly the most inaccurately devised acronym for a piece of legislation ever to come out of Congress. But while Trump is determined to turn the “world’s greatest deliberative body” into a rubber stamp for his agenda, the SAVE Act isn’t the only bill attempting to advance.

After first saying it was unlikely the Protect College Sports Act (PCSA) would come up for a vote before the August recess Senate Majority Leader John Thune then huddled with the legislation’s sponsors and sent out a revised bill to the commissioner of the Big Ten, Tony Petitti, and the commissioner of the SEC, Greg Sankey, with a deadline of 9:00 a.m. today to respond.

Both conferences let the deadline pass without issuing a statement. But both conferences also have been in constant communication with each other, and have meetings scheduled with university presidents and administrators that will likely continue until some agreement on position is reached.

The sponsors of the bill conceded to many of the conferences’ demands, but did not address all their concerns. It did agree to make the pooling of media rights strictly voluntary regardless of how the majority voted, and without penalty or punishment – a necessary concession if Senators had any hope of getting buy-in from the Big Ten and SEC.

The revised bill also permits a fund for retaining athletic rosters above the agreed upon revenue sharing cap and prevents venture capitalists and the like from buying media rights and creating a “super-league,” both sticking points for the conferences.

But they didn’t get everything they wanted and much of the revision sent to the conferences were still in draft form. Also, a third section has been added addressing historically black colleges and universities (HBCU) but was left completely blank in copies sent out.

The Big Ten is in the midst of its annual Media Days event. Pettiti addressed the media and was asked about the revised bill. He said, more than once, the Big Ten wanted to see the final legislation before committing one way or the other. Sankey issued an almost identical statement. Whether the two conferences will speak publicly on it or not they are obviously aligned and in agreement on what reform is acceptable and what options might be considered.

Senate watchers say missing today’s deadline almost eliminates the chance the bill can come up for a vote before the Senate recess on August 7. That may have been the intent of both Pettiti and Sankey. Petitti said when addressing the media, “When you ask for help, you don’t always get the help you ask for.” No truer words were ever spoken about Congress.

Remember Brendan Sorsby, the Texas Tech quarterback who earlier this summer won an injunction against the NCAA to continue playing even though he had been ruled ineligible for gambling? Immediately following that ruling grandstanding Texas Senate candidate and current Texas AG Ken Paxton threatened the Big XII will legal action if they did not allow Sorsby to play. In return the Big XII conference filed a federal lawsuit against Paxton claiming that as a conference with membership in agreement it could enforce its own rules. Well, Sorsby withdrew from college and dropped his lawsuit. But the Big XII did not drop its lawsuit against Paxton. It is still seeking a ruling it can enforce its own rules.

If the Big XII continues this suit and gets a favorable ruling the SEC and the Big Ten will almost assuredly make plans to leave the NCAA, no longer needing Congress for an antitrust exemption. But whatever legislation gets signed into law will bind those schools nonetheless. The SEC and the Big Ten would love to know how the Big XII lawsuit plays out before committing to any legislation, or even committing to the need for legislation. Currently no date has been scheduled to hear that case.

There are no quick fixes or easy answers. Congress is hellbent on forcing one for obvious reasons – college athletics is racing towards out-of-control and Congress is desperate for something it can hang its hat on. It may yet vote on this bill before it goes on recess. But consider how many Senators represent SEC and Big Ten states. Without the support of both conferences the chances of passage are slim at best. And that doesn’t even take into account the stated opposition of the Congressional Black Caucus, opposed to any legislation – especially impacting athletes at southern universities – in protest of recent Supreme Court rulings on voting rights.

LSU coach Lane Kiffin had his last scheduled public appearance today in Baton Rouge before fall practice starts. LSU players report next week. It might not happen before players report, or games begin, or even this season. But something is going to happen in college athletics and it’s going to bring change. A lot of change. On that, at least, there’s no debate.