Congress is currently working to push through legislation to save college sports because those who used to hold the power no longer do and they want it back.
The Senate Commerce Committee is scheduled to hold a hearing Wednesday about the bipartisan bill which was originally called Save College Sports Act and was changed to the Protect College Sports Act. (Feel free to make your own deductions about that change.)
Nick Saban brings up the current Clemson-Ole Miss tampering situation.
“We have nothing to control tampering. You know, Clemson had a player that was on campus for a whole week, and they (Ole Miss) come and got him off the campus and took him someplace else” pic.twitter.com/NwWxbS7mvr
— Trey Wallace (@TreyWallace) June 3, 2026
For the thousandth time, college sports doesn’t need saving.
College sports benefitted and profited for decades while committing more antitrust violations than SMU recruiting violations in the 1980s. Those violations came in the form of limiting a players’ ability to change schools and earn income for what they do on the field. Everyone else, like coaches and athletic directors, weren’t limited at all.
You know, those same things and fields that earned those in power millions and, for the NCAA at least, billions of dollars.
Those people aren’t earning money like that anymore and hold far less power. ProFootballTalk’s Mike Florio, as he usually does, said it best in a recent article.
“In lieu of finding a way to comply with legal standards that has been in place for more than a century, the folks who previously used the NCAA as a tool for denying compensation to players now want Congress to wave a magic wand that will turn the clock back, at least partially, to the days when athletes couldn’t participate in the free-market principles on which the nation was founded.”
Are college sports perfect? No. When the transfer portal windows open is one example. Basketball and baseball windows open before the sport’s NCAA Tournament is over. That doesn’t make any sense.
Senator Cruz Opening Remarks on The Protect College Sports Legislation. " In 2024 Marshall withdrew from the Independence Bowl because their coach left, 25 players in the Transfer Portal." #ProtectCollegeSports #cfb pic.twitter.com/obwXxT8w4C
— CFB Nation 🏈 (@TheCFBNation) June 3, 2026
The simple, right solution
There’s a way to fix things like that but it involves some scary words: have the players form a union.
If there was a players’ union, like in every other professional sport, things like how many times a player can transfer, how much revenue can be shared with players, rules regarding NIL deals can be made and many other things can be worked out. They can be negotiated.
But that would require the NCAA, CSC, conferences or whoever to make concessions to players. They don’t want to bargain with the players. They want to go back to the days where they could make decisions and tell players “too bad” when players don’t like something.
It’s simple. The NCAA and its members want all the power and the players to have none. And they want the federal government to bail them out of the mess they benefitted from for decades.
That’s what the Protect College Sports Act is, a bailout.
The NCAA and its members want to have their cake and eat it too. They want to limit what players can earn and how many times players can transfer. They also don’t want to give the players anything meaningful in return. They want a handout from the government to give them a free pass from the same antitrust laws every other business has to follow.
WVU President Emiritus Gordon Gee Opening Remarks on Protect College Sports Legislation "College Football has twice the viewership of the NBA but half of the Media Revenue." Also adding " College Sports will lose 5 Billion this year." #wvu #cfbnews #collegefootball pic.twitter.com/PTC2aMLAs0
— CFB Nation 🏈 (@TheCFBNation) June 3, 2026
They don’t want the players to have any say at all. They just want players to silently make billions of dollars for others while taking on all of the risk.
That’s why the NCAA is running to Congress.
Statements before Wednesday’s Hearing
For what it’s worth, the two biggest conferences don’t support the current legislation.
“The Big Ten Conference and the Southeastern Conference support a sustainable national framework for college sports — one with an effective transfer portal, clear eligibility standards, and protections and benefits for student-athletes,” the Big Ten and SEC said in a joint statement. “While we appreciate the leadership of Senators Cruz and Cantwell in pursuing these shared goals, we do not support the Protect College Sports Act as drafted.
“The bill leaves critical issues unresolved. It does not meaningfully preempt the patchwork of state laws or provide the protections needed to make and enforce consistent rules, both essential to long-term stability in college athletics. It also shifts ongoing rulemaking to Congress, limiting the ability to adapt quickly as the landscape evolves. Rather than reducing litigation, the bill likely expands it without offering clear alternatives for dispute resolution. Finally, the bill alters the House settlement revenue sharing framework in a way that may result in fewer student-athletes receiving direct revenue share payments.
“We are committed to working with Senators Cruz and Cantwell and other members of Congress to improve this legislation so that it can provide lasting stability for college athletics.”
The Senate Commerce Committee did issue a written response to the SEC and Big Ten’s joint statement.
“The SEC and Big Ten agree the current system is broken and that college sports needs a national framework,” the Committee said. “That’s significant. We look forward to receiving constructive feedback from both conferences, but it’s vital that Congress fixes the court-induced chaos now rather than allow litigation, NIL bidding wars, and Power 2 consolidation to further destabilize college sports. Inaction will mean the shuttering of storied football and basketball programs across the country and the cancellation of many more Olympic sports, which will rob opportunity from thousands of student athletes.”
Committee’s statement is laughable
There’s a popular chant during WWE shows that’s one word, eight letters long and is another way of saying something isn’t right. That’s what should be played while reading the committee’s response.
“Cancellation of many more Olympic sports” is the cover those who support Congress action go hide behind in their private planes, expensive dinners, yachts and second homes.
When schools want to fire a football coach, suddenly the money exists.
In 2025, power-conference schools owed fired coaches roughly $170 million in buyouts by early November, according to Front Office Sports. A Washington Post opinion piece later cited $228 million in buyouts to 15 fired football coaches, with LSU’s Brian Kelly owed $54 million and Texas A&M’s Jimbo Fisher previously owed $76 million.
Sen. Maria Cantwell references Washington State University during the Protect College Sports Act hearing.
“The bottom line is WSU had a $35 million hole blown in their $85 million college budget.” pic.twitter.com/Tl39RvDmoI
— Jason Krump (@JasonKrump) June 3, 2026
That makes it hard to take the “Olympic-sports might be cancelled” argument seriously.
It’s also not “vital that Congress fixes the court-induced chaos” that’s the direct result of the NCAA and schools violating federal antitrust laws for decades.
But instead of grabbing some paper towels and cleaning up its own mess, it’s gone running to an entity that is a beacon of doing things the right way.
Because that’s easier than doing what’s right: Have the players form a union and negotiate a Collective Bargain Agreement.
