Senators and college officials on Wednesday urged swift action on a bipartisan measure that aims to overhaul a college athletics system they say hemorrhages money and hinders student-athletes — even as two powerful conferences said they would seek changes.
During a much-anticipated Senate Commerce Committee hearing, both the bill’s authors — Chair Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and ranking member Maria Cantwell, D-Wash. — spoke in dire terms about the trajectory of college athletics. Cantwell warned against “an arms race of money” and Cruz said “college athletics is being torn apart.”
The three-hour hearing featured no major criticisms of the bill and appeared aimed at drumming up support for it ahead of a committee markup and possible floor action.
Cruz noted that a related but much different House bill was yanked from consideration twice over the last six months, calling the Senate measure “the only bipartisan bill” in town and “the last, best hope we have to save college sports.”
However, Sen. Bernie Moreno, R-Ohio, signaled that he likely would seek changes for more-targeted antitrust language for the NCAA and a prohibition on men playing in women’s sports.
