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The ongoing public outcry over pro athletes attempting to come back to college sports is boosting the Senate’s bipartisan college sports bill.
A series of summer headlines about professional football and basketball players trying to get back in the college game are landing ahead of the Senate’s return in September — when the body plans to take up the Protect College Sports Act.
Tim Buckley, an NCAA spokesman, told Semafor that public “outrage” over the issue has “really changed some minds on Capitol Hill about the need for this legislation” and could help shore up support.
“The events over the past week have been helpful to help us drive home the point. You don’t need to take our word for it or the conference’s word for it,” Buckley said. “This piece of legislation gives senators the ability to fix this problem for their constituents.”
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The Big Ten and the Southeastern Conference moved this week to bar players who have signed pro contracts from playing college sports, a sign of how touchy the issue is as the college football season starts this weekend. But those decisions face the constant threat of litigation, which fuels uncertainty for college athletes each season and furthers fan apathy. The Protect College Sports Act would settle that landscape by making clear that pro athletes are ineligible to compete in college sports.
Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Ted Cruz, R-Texas, wanted to pass the sports bill on the Senate floor before the August recess, as did President Donald Trump, but senators pushed back consideration of the complex bill until September. That delay might just improve the bill’s fortunes by helping it accrue 60 votes as the pro player controversy builds.
“The polls are really clear about this and you don’t need to be a political genius to understand it is wildly unpopular … to use college sports as a fallback,” Buckley said.