The Protect College Sports Act is teetering on the edge of a significant milestone, with Sen. Ted Cruz expressing confidence that the legislation will reach the Senate floor this week. However, the path to passage is fraught with procedural complexities and a congested legislative calendar.
Cruz, a co-author of the bipartisan bill, shared his optimism with CBS Sports, highlighting the recent endorsement from the Big Ten and SEC conferences as a major boost. This support has injected new momentum into the legislation, which has been the subject of intense negotiations for weeks.
The Procedural Labyrinth Ahead
The journey from confidence to a floor vote is anything but straightforward. As of late Monday afternoon, the final text of the bill was still being hammered out. A spokesperson for Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., another co-author, noted that ‘final details are still being worked through.’
The procedural step known as cloture, which is required to schedule a vote, could drag on for several days or longer. Even if Senate Majority Leader John Thune filed cloture on Monday evening, the earliest the bill could be scheduled for a vote would be late in the week.
The Senate’s final week before its August recess is already packed with other pressing matters, including a spending bill and a budget resolution. The Senate is tentatively scheduled to recess on August 7, though this date could be extended into the weekend, according to sources.
The Vision for a Presidential Signing
Cruz has a grand vision for the bill’s ultimate passage: President Donald Trump signing it into law before a college football game kicks off later this fall. ‘It is my hope that President Trump will sign this bill into law on ‘College GameDay’ this fall,’ Cruz said, envisioning a bipartisan vote in both the Senate and the House.
Trump, when speaking to reporters on Monday, indicated that the bill, which addresses Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) issues, is ‘very close to getting solved.’ The urgency is palpable, though the bill’s journey has been anything but timely.
The Breakthrough and the Road Ahead
The bill was on life support late Thursday as the Big Ten and SEC grappled with lawmakers over language on associated entities and the revenue-share cap. A breakthrough on Friday provided the conferences with the clarity they needed, with Cruz crediting the White House for playing a decisive role.
‘ The associated entities provision is designed to prevent schools from routing money to athletes through corporate sponsors and multimedia rights partners to circumvent the revenue-share cap.
The final deal raised the revenue-share cap to $48.8 million, including $21.3 million from the House settlement, a $22.5 million retention pool, and $5 million for non-revenue sports. Senate passage this week and a signing ceremony on college football’s biggest weekly stage remain aspirational.
Sen. Eric Schmitt, another author of the bill, appeared on CBS Sports’ College Football Insiders and expressed confidence that the bill could garner 80-plus votes in the Senate due to the Big Ten and SEC’s endorsement. However, the bill still requires at least 60 votes to overcome a filibuster, and if it clears the Senate, it would still need to pass the House before reaching the President’s desk.
Without a Senate vote before the August recess, the chances for passing the bill into law would shrink considerably. Most lawmakers will be focused on the federal budget and campaigning for mid-term elections when the Congressional recess ends.
Cruz acknowledged that the legislation isn’t perfect but emphasized that the Big Ten and SEC endorsement fundamentally changed the bill’s prospects in Washington, D.C. The coalition behind the bill now includes 27 athletic conferences, more than 360 colleges and universities, the NCAA, NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL, the players associations for both the NFL and NBA, and the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee.
The bill would provide a limited antitrust exemption for the NCAA and its schools to enforce a cap on payments to athletes and rules related to eligibility and transfers. It also creates an opportunity for schools to sell media rights as one large entity rather than on a conference-by-conference basis. The Big Ten and SEC do not want to participate in the media pool and sought language making clear that participation is voluntary. Smaller conferences believe that pooling media rights will help fund less-profitable sports and close the financial gap between the rest of college sports and the two biggest conferences.
