An amended version of the Protect College Sports Act likely won’t garner support from the Big Ten or SEC.
On Thursday, the Senate Commerce Committee will hold a markup of the bipartisan legislation—the first time a college sports bill has made it this far in the Senate. It’s the next step in bringing the bill to the Senate floor for a vote, which lawmakers who introduced it say they want to pass by the chamber’s August recess.
Currently, sweeping legislation to govern college sports, introduced by Sens. Ted Cruz (R., Texas), Maria Cantwell (D., Wash) and sponsored by Eric Schmitt (R., Mo) and Chris Coons (D., Del) in May, doesn’t have unanimous support from the college sports community—notably the Big Ten and SEC.
Both lawmakers and school/conference officials have stated they hope the bill will become amenable to the Big Ten and SEC through the amendment process. But despite multiple meetings between Big Ten and SEC officials and bill sponsors, the amended bill that will be considered does not alleviate some of the Big Ten and SEC’s biggest concerns, according to a copy obtained by Front Office Sports on Monday night.
Additional amendments could be introduced during the markup itself, but it is unclear whether additional changes will be enough to get these stakeholders on board.
