Cruz: Protect College Sports Act Saves the Games that Fans Love, Opportunities for Student Athletes 

WASHINGTON, D.C. – In his opening statement during today’s Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee hearing, Chairman Ted Cruz (R-Texas) emphasized how the Protect College Sports Act – introduced alongside Ranking Member Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), Senator Eric Schmitt (R-Mo.), and Senator Chris Coons (D-Del.) – creates a national rulebook aimed at restoring order to one of America’s most sacred institutions: college sports.  

Chairman Cruz emphasized that Congress must act to end the legal chaos surrounding college athletics on behalf of millions of fans and thousands of student athletes nationwide.  

Witnesses testifying during the hearing include Nick Saban, Former Head Football Coach, The University of Alabama; Pete Bevacqua, Director of Athletics, University of Notre Dame; Gordon Gee, President Emeritus, West Virginia University; Teresa Gould, Commissioner, NCAA Pac-12 Conference; and Lance Holtzclaw, Student Athlete, The University of Utah.  

To read a one-pager, click HERE.   

To read a section-by-section, click HERE.    

To read the bill text, click HERE.    

Chairman Cruz’s remarks, as prepared for delivery, are as follows:  

“College sports are one of the few institutions left in America that still bring entire communities together. Families plan Saturdays around kickoff. Students pack arenas on winter nights. Alumni come back to campus every fall to see friends, sing old fight songs, and cheer for the same colors they wore decades earlier. Rivalries are handed down through generations. They become part of family traditions, part of lore and stories that span decades and connect generations. In every corner of the country, college sports carry a sense of place and identity that few other institutions can match.

“But today, the foundation underneath college sports is cracking.

“Fans see what’s happening. Rosters turn over every year. Schools fight to keep pace with out-of-control NIL spending. Coaches have to re-recruit their own locker rooms each off-season. Eligibility disputes are decided by lawsuits and emergency injunctions. Historic rivalries are sacrificed. Pro athletes are returning to try to play in college. The richest conferences keep pulling farther away, and mid-major programs become farm teams for the blue bloods.

“In 2024, Marshall withdrew from the Independence Bowl after its coach left, and 25 players entered the transfer portal. UNLV fans watched their 3-0 team lose its starting quarterback midseason after an NIL dispute. And the Pac-12, one of the most historic conferences in college sports, collapsed under realignment.

“These things only happen in a broken system.

“To be clear, this problem wasn’t caused by student athletes profiting from their name, image, and likeness. The problem is that the old system was dismantled without a durable replacement.

“College athletics is being torn apart from every direction. State laws compete with each other. Agents, collectives, boosters, and media companies make decisions without care for the student athlete or the greater good. And when national organizations try to create some structure, they are repeatedly sued, forced to change the rules again, or blocked from enforcing them.

“As a lawmaker, I did not come looking to insert Congress into college sports. College sports came to Congress because changing the law is the only way to fix the legal chaos. Congress in fact helped create the legal environment in which college sports now operates. Federal antitrust, broadcasting, and interstate commerce laws shape what schools, conferences, and governing bodies can do. If college sports cannot enforce basic rules because of laws Congress wrote, then Congress has a responsibility to adjust them.

“That is exactly what the Protect College Sports Act — legislation Ranking Member Cantwell, Senators Schmitt and Coons, and I introduced — would do.

“For the fans, the Protect College Sports Act creates a national rulebook that restores order to a system overwhelmed by transfer chaos, recruiting inducements, tampering, eligibility lawsuits, and unchecked bidding wars.

“It preserves legitimate NIL opportunities for student athletes while making clear that college sports should not become unrestricted free agency, where programs are rebuilt every offseason through payroll instead of coaching, player development, and fair competition.

“It puts education back into college athletics. Most student athletes will never play professionally. They play to compete, earn a degree, gain discipline, become leaders, and build a foundation for life beyond the field or court. This bill puts student athletes on a path to a degree and protects their scholarships regardless of injury or performance.

“The bill also brings accountability to the NIL and agent marketplace. It requires standard terms and legal protections in NIL contracts and prevents agents from charging outrageous fees. Young athletes and their families deserve clear contracts, honest representation, and protection from people who make promises they cannot keep.

“It establishes strong health and safety protections and restores clear eligibility standards, so rules are not written by local judges or a G League player coming back to swipe a roster spot from an 18-year-old.

“The Protect College Sports Act also gives universities the option to pool media rights — the same authority given to professional leagues like the NFL. I want to make clear, this provision is entirely optional. It also is not a statement on the current use of the Sports Broadcasting Act as I know many of my colleagues have expressed concerns that the antitrust exemption given to professional sports leagues is not serving consumers in today’s landscape. This new option exists so schools can make TV money work for college sports by helping to generate revenue to support Olympic and women’s sports, preserve traditional rivalries for fans, and keep games accessible.

“Some critics ask, with everything going on in the world, why is Congress focused on college sports? Let me explain.

“If we do nothing, the current trajectory will concentrate more power in fewer hands and widen the gap between the richest programs and everyone else.

“In a few years, we could lose dozens of historic football and basketball programs, not to mention tens of thousands of Olympic sports at colleges dependent on revenue from football and basketball. Is that what our country wants? To allow federal law to kill off everyone but the SEC and Big Ten?

“If we do nothing, a few years from now college football in Texas could be reduced to Texas and Texas A&M. I love them dearly, but as a fan, I also want to see Baylor fighting for championships. I want to see another historic TCU national run. I want SMU, Rice, and other storied programs with communities that believe in them to have a future.

“Our system of college sports is unlike anything else in the world. For more than a century, it has connected campuses, alumni, families, and communities in a uniquely American way. It is beloved because it is tied to school, tradition, education, and opportunity.

“That is worth saving.

“I look forward to today’s testimony and to working with every member of this Committee to give college sports the stable framework it urgently needs.”

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