The U.S. Senate passed the Protect College Sports Act on Monday, a sweeping legislative package designed to protect the NCAA’s multi-billion-dollar television contracts from the unpaid teenagers on the field.
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Senate voted 77-22 on Monday to pass the Protect College Sports Act, a sweeping legislative package designed to safely shield the NCAA’s multi-billion-dollar television contracts from the unpaid teenagers generating them.
Championed by Sen. Ted Cruz, the bipartisan bill aims to preserve the historic traditions of amateurism by legally barring athletes from accessing any portion of the $7.8 billion College Football Playoff broadcasting extension. Lawmakers praised the swift passage as a necessary intervention to stabilize a front office terrified by the prospect of classifying its workforce as employees.
If we are forced to share broadcast revenue with a 19-year-old left tackle, it completely compromises our ability to fund a $17.5 million buyout for a head coach who failed the eye test.
The bill officially classifies collegiate athletes as "civic intangibles" rather than workers, effectively rendering any future collective bargaining attempts illegal under the cap. Proponents of the measure argued that allowing locker room personnel to secure guaranteed contracts would ruin the purity of the sport for the private equity firms currently exploring naming-rights deals for university stadiums.
The Senate’s decisive vote comes just weeks ahead of the fall calendar, providing immediate relief to dozens of athletic directors who can now finalize their upcoming facility upgrades without the looming threat of fairly compensating their depth charts.