Senate Passes Protect College Sports Act 77-22, Sends Bill to House

Senate clears college sports bill

The Senate voted to pass the Protect College Sports Act on Monday, approving the legislation in a closely watched 77-22 vote and sending it to the House for debate.

Sen. Ted Cruz, the Republican sponsor of the PCSA, framed the measure as an effort to stop the most powerful and richest conferences from dictating what happens to 500,000 athletes, and he said, “We’re not going to let the most powerful and richest conferences dictate to the rest of America what’s going to happen to 500,000 athletes.”

Sen. Maria Cantwell, the Democratic sponsor, said the bill would secure federal protections for student athletes, and she argued, “We’re not going to let the most powerful and richest conferences dictate to the rest of America what’s going to happen to 500,000 athletes,” following a June hearing on the bill.

The bill would create a national set of rules for name, image and likeness payments, designate the NCAA as the primary enforcer, and set a five-year eligibility standard while limiting athletes to a one-time transfer.

The NCAA endorsed the bill, and President Donald Trump called on Congress to send the measure to his desk, with the White House saying he “believes wholeheartedly that college sports are worth fighting for — for the athletes, the schools, the fans, and America.”

Reporting for this sectionMS NOWCNN

Opposition and competing claims

The Congressional Black Caucus announced its opposition to the legislation, and the National College Players Association, the NAACP and the AFL-CIO oppose the bill, arguing it protects the universities’ and the NCAA’s interests without sufficient protection for student athletes’ rights.

Democratic Sen. Chris Murphy said in a joint statement with labor organizations, “What this bill does, at its core, is protect a system of exploitation,” and he added that it “This bill protects the billions of dollars that coaches and executives are making by suppressing compensation for some of the most highly valued athletes in the world.”

Sen. Cory Booker slammed the bill as “for the large, wealthy interests that have been controlling college sports for a long time,” and the National College Players Association warned the package could block athletes from successfully suing their universities in the case of sexual abuse, catastrophic injury or death.

Sen. Ted Cruz pushed back on the claim that the bill would diminish earning potential, and he argued, “It does the exact opposite, which is it protects student athletes.”

Sen. Maria Cantwell defended the legislation by saying it will encourage colleges to spend money on education and research rather than “having to shell out skyrocketing amounts for their sports teams.”

Reporting for this sectionCNN

House vote and what changes

The bill now moves to the House, but the chamber is on recess until after the November midterms, and it remains to be seen whether it will back the Senate bill. The Protect College Sports Act would grant the NCAA a limited antitrust exemption to restore rules on athlete transfers and eligibility, and it would set a five-year eligibility limit that starts once a player has enrolled in school or on their 19th birthday. The legislation would allow players to transfer once without penalty, and it would limit athletes to a one-time transfer while establishing a five-year eligibility standard.

USA TODAY reported that the measure would expand revenue-sharing from schools to athletes up to approximately $43 to $45 million, and it would also allow schools to spend up to an additional $5 million on revenue-sharing to women’s and Olympic non-revenue sports. The NCAA said in a statement after the vote that “there is much work left to do to ensure student-athlete benefits are codified into federal law,” as the bill heads to the House and then to President Trump’s desk if it survives the process.

Reporting for this sectionCNNUSA Today