As members of Congress launch yet another effort to wield control over college athletics, advocates for student-athletes are making it known that they strongly oppose new legislation being considered.
Sens. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., held a hearing Wednesday for the bipartisan Protect College Sports Act, which would give the NCAA an antitrust exemption so it could enforce several rules that have been legally challenged.
It’s just the latest proposal aimed at changing the rules that allow college athletes to make money off their names, images and likenesses, or NIL. The SCORE Act has stalled, having been roundly criticized for potentially harming student-athletes. And so has, it seems, the more player-friendly Student Athlete Fairness and Enforcement Act.
The latest legislation comes as President Donald Trump pushes to return college sports to the pre-NIL era, in which many former players have said they were exploited. The president has hardly been able to contain his displeasure over the new system, which has led to some rather awkward moments.
The new bill would allow schools to establish caps on how much they can pay athletes, as ESPN explained, and also limit players’ eligibility to five years and the number of times they can transfer.
Former Alabama football coach Nick Saban, who has suggested current players are too entitled and now show “less resiliency,” spoke in favor of the Protect College Sports Act on Wednesday, calling it a way to ensure “the system has integrity.” Trump has turned to Saban as an adviser as he tries to impose his will on college sports.
Sports Illustrated writer Bryan Fischer explained that Saban’s comments at the Senate hearing, in which he bemoaned the current system’s supposed financial strain on athletic departments, conveniently ignored the eye-popping contracts that he and other coaches have received.
The Southeastern Conference has already joined the Big Ten Conference in opposing the Protect College Sports Act as currently written. And a players association for college athletes, Athletes.org, issued a scathing statement last week, saying the group “vehemently opposes” the legislation.
The statement included a warning to student-athletes:
College athletes: this bill ultimately says your talent can generate billions for schools, conferences and television networks, but the people running the system, not the athletes driving it, will still control where and how long you can play, when you can transfer and how much you can earn. It gives legal protection to the NCAA and conferences to enforce athlete restrictions while athletes still have no true seat at the bargaining table and no independent mechanism to protect their rights.
Ja’han Jones is an MS NOW opinion blogger. He previously wrote The ReidOut Blog.