Why did ESPN give Ted Cruz 10 minutes to talk about a bill on College GameDay?

With “College GameDay” in Austin, Texas, ahead of Saturday’s much-anticipated showdown between No. 1 Ohio State and No. 4 Texas, ESPN gave Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas ample airtime to discuss his bill on college sports.Cruz is the co-author of the Protect College Sports Act, a bipartisan bill before the U.S. Senate that aims to address a number of disruptive issues in college sports. The bill, as currently written, would allow the NCAA and member conferences to establish new rules on athlete eligibility, transfers and player compensation, and limit conference realignment and a future super league.Cruz was interviewed on set by GameDay host Rece Davis for nearly 10 minutes during the show’s first hour, with Cruz wearing a burnt-orange blazer and Longhorns lapel pin while being booed loudly by the Texas-heavy crowd.“What we have right now is chaos. There are no rules,” said Cruz, who endured chants of “Ted, you suck!” and “Get him off!” during the interview.

ESPN had Ted Cruz on 'College GameDay' in a conversation with Rece Davis for nearly 10 minutes.

Cruz was heavily booed by the crowd — and heard "Ted, you suck!" chants — in Austin. pic.twitter.com/npQesiYMsG

— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) September 12, 2026This is the second consecutive week that GameDay has dedicated a segment to discussing the PCSA, with co-hosts Nick Saban and Pat McAfee advocating for it during the Week 1 show in Baton Rouge.GameDay did not feature a discussion or interview for dissenting viewpoints on the PCSA, and ESPN declined to comment on the matter through a spokesperson.Cruz got more airtime than Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian, who joined the set for about eight minutes during an earlier segment ahead of his team’s Saturday night kickoff against the top-ranked Buckeyes.Saban and Colorado head coach Deion Sanders have also appeared in recent commercials supporting the PCSA that are sponsored by the Saving College Sports organization run by Texas Tech booster and board chair Cody Campbell, who has been an integral proponent of college sports legislation.