Senate passes Protect College Sports Act, sends bill to House
The Senate passed the Protect College Sports Act (PCSA) by a 77-22 vote on Monday night, sending the bipartisan bill to the House, which would usher in
**Senate passes Protect College Sports Act, sends bill to House**
- Thread starter Richie O
- Start date
From what I have read, this bill will face much more stringent opposition in the House, from both the left and the right. It won't be voted on there until the lame duck session after the election. This is far from a done deal.
This is what is called Congress inaction. Wish the last word was two words.
Apparently, Sen Blumenthal from Connecticut made a push for the 20 team cap from 19. 20 makes logical sense, I suppose.
Booker's proposals made some sense but they were never going to fly.
Not Congress's fault. Speaker Johnson sent the members home last week.
Yup. Massie had called for a vote on Hegseth impeachment. To avoid the vote, Johnson sent everybody home. By Congressional rule, the first thing that the House must do when it reconvenes, is take up Massie's impeachment resolution. Johnson is not going to allow that to happen before the midterms. Hence, the House will not reconvene.
Last time I checked. The House and the Speaker are part of Congress. It's Congress's fault because . . .
None of this is in support of or against the usual antics in Congress of Massie or Speaker Johnson.
This thread is going off the rails quickly. None of the above matters. Congress would not have taken up the bill so quickly and dealt with it. There are more pressing issues anyway to deal with.
Back to the topic at hand, if accurate, good summary:
If you’re a college football fan, here’s what you NEED to know:
- Players are guaranteed ONE free transfer. Transfer again and you sit out a year
- Schools could have access to as much as $27.5M in additional retention spending on top of the House settlement revenue-sharing structure
- The NCAA gets limited antitrust protection to enforce rules around eligibility, transfers and compensation (so the ncaa doesn't get taken to court every day)
• 5 years of eligibility becomes the national standard
- Coaches would be restricted from leaving for another FBS job in the middle of the season (finally)
- NIL stays, but there would be one national framework with tighter rules around booster/associated-entity payments
- Players get federal protections for scholarships, healthcare and NIL rights
If you’re a college football fan, here’s what you NEED to know:
- Players are guaranteed ONE free transfer. Transfer again and you sit out a year
- Schools could have access to as much as $27.5M in additional retention spending on top of the House settlement revenue-sharing structure
- The NCAA gets limited antitrust protection to enforce rules around eligibility, transfers and compensation (so the ncaa doesn't get taken to court every day)
• 5 years of eligibility becomes the national standard
- Coaches would be restricted from leaving for another FBS job in the middle of the season (finally)
- NIL stays, but there would be one national framework with tighter rules around booster/associated-entity payments
- Players get federal protections for scholarships, healthcare and NIL rights
Sen. Cory Booker's amendment to cap coaching salaries at $5 million and require coaches to sit out a season before making another job move fails 51-47.
I'm not a lawyer but how can this be constitutional??
I'm not a lawyer but how can this be constitutional??
Excellent article detailing why this will have a slim chance passing through the House
That and the Epstein Transparency Act II. Hopefully they won't take it up until the next Congress.
-- For the first 6 years after becoming law, teams moving from 1 Power Conference to another Power Conference must spend 3 years as an independent before they can join their new conference. Call this the ACC Protection clause.
Probably the same way they can prevent coaches from leaving their job (ala Lane Kiffin), but the Universities can fire coaches during the season. There are likely quite a few things in the bill that will get overturned by the courts.
What’s amazing is nearly everyone believes the current no rules, free for all, Wild West we have today is a good system - particularly for fans.
So the most bipartisan bill proposed to date is up for a vote but still may not passing the house
instead if supporting an imperfect but a “move the needle in the right direction” bill, House factions will push for amendments that will not pass and even if they do, probably won’t pass in the senate and then nothing will happen
Congress doesn’t get the “don’t let the wildest get in the away of the good” mantra and alas, the free for all, Wild West, craziness we have today will persist
So the most bipartisan bill proposed to date is up for a vote but still may not passing the house
instead if supporting an imperfect but a “move the needle in the right direction” bill, House factions will push for amendments that will not pass and even if they do, probably won’t pass in the senate and then nothing will happen
Congress doesn’t get the “don’t let the wildest get in the away of the good” mantra and alas, the free for all, Wild West, craziness we have today will persist
It's representative of the state of affairs. Without derailing the thread, have mentioned that there are more pressing issues than college sports, namely, the insanely out of control spiraling cost of health insurance.
The Yahoo article I posted goes into grave detail on the House's failed bill to save college sports. Can't see how this bill can be partisan. Instead, it will be territorial, with each faction clamoring to do more for their local constituents, and it will devolve into a bickering match.
Last time I checked. The House and the Speaker are part of Congress. It's Congress's fault because . . .
None of this is in support of or against the usual antics in Congress of Massie or Speaker Johnson.
This thread is going off the rails quickly. None of the above matters. Congress would not have taken up the bill so quickly and dealt with it. There are more pressing issues anyway to deal with.
You’re acting as if Congress is a serious governing body. We both know better.
Not sure - maybe because most are government employees? I don’t think it’s a bad idea though. Kind of insane the salaries taxpayers are paying for football coaches (and buyouts).
If anyone thinks Rutgers has it bad, Matt Rhule is 11-17 in the B1G (yeah, they are 4-0 right now, who cares), and he is making $9.25M per year, and on schedule with increases to make $12M in 2032. His current buyout is $63M.
Yes but I don’t believe in this notion that we don’t do something about X because Y and Z are more pressing. We should always solve what we can when we can or else
Nothing will ever get done.
another example of how nuts DC is: couple years ago the senate astoundingly passed the sunshine protection act 98-0 to made DST permanent but the house never brought it up for a vote.
this year the house passed the act with a bipartisan vote but the senate hasn’t and may never bring it up for a vote
just nuts
There's no Constitutional right to money lol.
If they can cap players, they can cap coaches.
I agree. Examples of how "they," regardless of stripe, are not "for the people." They are for themselves and their fragile egos. There are good ones that try to do the right thing, but they get swallowed up in all the noise. Sad.
100%. Another reason we need term limits. We have it for presidents and governors. We must have it for senators and congressmen. No more life long politicians many of whom don’t evening to compete in their districts/states.
But isn’t it inconsistent with how pro leagues have implemented caps? Or are they capping coaches too?
Couldnt agree more - there are some decent ones, but for the majority, they’re just there for their donors and to go on tv and fancy dinners/trips.
For over 5 decades athletes essentially became indentured servants once they signed the LOI in the previous system. A player gets taken off scholarship if they fail academics or making the team, yet the player had no options other than to quit sports. Transfer to another school will cost you 25% of your eligibility and the coach could reject where the player transferred to. Transfer to another school in conference could result in a 50% decrease in your eligibility. QUESTION: Was that fair?
I love you usage of "Wild West". Did you hear that from someone on the subject or was it all yours? When a politician laments "the Wild West" it is because they don't have the power and control on a subject that they desire. And that is precisely what the issue is with this bill... the players were beginning to become empowered and the coaches and Universities didn't like the loss of their power. (If I am incorrect in this, please point it out and educate me.) The players are not gaining anything. It is all about them relinquishing some of the power they've gained over the past several years.
This is irrelevant in this area because it won't enhance or diminish their power. This is different than most of the Bills proposed.
“The word bipartisan usually means some larger-than-usual deception is being carried out.” -- George Carlin
What is going in the right direction? I have no problem with the "Super Conferences" era. Rutgers benefited from it. (Not intending to hijack the thread) I was going to make a comment on the "UConn, Miami (OH), and James Madison to the American" thread where several people identified UConn's issue with football independence. I remember being on this board when the ACC took Pitt and Syracuse and many here were frustrated enough to believe RU should go independent since we were always getting passed over, which I disagreed with.
This is protecting the ACC and Big 12 and hurting good G6 programs. The 20 program limit means the B1G can add 2 more teams. The SEC can add 4. The ACC can add 3. The Big 12 can add 4. 12-13 teams can now become P4 teams. The clock is ticking Memphis, Tulane, Boise State, USF, North Texas, etc.
Giant waste of time and resources. More political theatre. And of course booker is right in the middle of it.
Maybe at a Public University the salary cap might work, but Notre Dame and private schools might have a constitutional right to pay what they want as long as public funding isn't involved .
As for politicians involvement, left , right, center, GOP or Dem and every other political party member will speak out on issues like this for self preservation .
Because if they don't those that are political opposed will use their silence to claim they are ignoring a issue needing to be addressed and unfit for office.
No matter what they do, someone politically apposed to their politics will find fault with the way they are handling the matter.
Congress needs to walk a tightrope in order to find a solution and if petty politics becomes involved, any fix agreed on will be underwhelming because of most involved in finding a solution will have put political agenda ahead of fixing the problem
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Actually, Booker is opposing it.
If someone opposes something that you consider a giant waste of time and resources, that's good, no?
Has nothing to do with what side of the argument he is on. As I said a giant waste of time and resources. It’s political theatre. That’s why I’m upset. And of course because it’s theatre our senior and ranking member is in the middle of it.
I completely disagree with you and sorry but you are in the minority on this - I stand with 3/4 of the US Senate on this
most fans hate the current Wild West system of free for all and new rosters every year
one doesn’t not pass the PCSA because of prior 50 years of problems. We have to address where we are now and try to make progress
Could surprise you and be something you like.
But anything Congress works on will find opposition . even if no one knows what they are proposing and sometime it's teally not the cure they oppose, just who proposed ut
Congress member have to be careful not to upset their constitutes along with the pissing off the powers to be that are in charge of the issue they are working on Knowing whatever they try there will be those who oppose it just because they are involved.
Sometimes political agendas ruin the chances to fix what needs fixing.
I have little hope Congress can come up with a cure unless they keep political ideology out of the discussion and the public gives a fair shake to a good idea coming from someone they are politically opposed to.
My cure would involve anyone signing NIL agreements must stay in the program the NIL supports or lose a year of eligibility while sitting out a year before they can play if they transfer.
NILs will be a 4 year commitment to a program and a buyout for the years left must be paid for any transfer to be approved
Once a player signs an NIL agreement connected to a school no other program
can contact him without permission from the school he's at or have one scholarship a year be taken away from them for the next 4 years .
I do believe the Senate bill is a fairly good one and the HOR needs to act on it once they get back in session.
I won't complain about HOR members not working on it now.
All are campaigning hard to get reelected and feel it's time to be home going after the vote .
I don't really like campaigning over taking care of business , but it's the way the system is set up and I don't know how they can run for office at home while staying in DC to do their job
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Amen. Congress top priorities are always:
1. Get re-elected. Look busy. Get on committees that pander to the deep pockets, big donors!
2. Get home every weekend. Work only T W Th. Great job! Great benefits! Great pension!
3. Occasionally tour around your district to show constituents you are working for THEM!
Some good things on it and some ????? ideas !
A 10-year scholarship guarantee.( bad)
good ones include
- For Division 1 schools, 5 years of post-eligibility medical coverage for sports-related injuries.
- Safety standards for heat exertion, brain injury, sickle cell trait and asthma; enforced by independent officers.
- NIL contract requirements that protect student athletes; contracts must include key terms like what the athlete must do under the contract and how much they will be paid.
- Endorsement rights for athletes so schools cannot restrict athlete NIL endorsement deals, except during organized team activities.
- Whistleblower protections for those who report violations.
- Student athletes can transfer twice without having to sit out for a year.( once is enough)
- Student athletes can transfer without having to sit out for a year if their sport is cut or materially reduced. ( a fair rule)
Senators Cantwell, Booker & Blumenthal Introduce Student Athlete Fairness & Enforcement (SAFE) Act - U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, & Transportation
U.S. Senators Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, Cory Booker (D-N.J.), and Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) today introduced the Student Athlete Fairness and Enforcement (SAFE) Act to codify athletes’ rights and protections in...
www.commerce.senate.gov
I feel protecting the non revenue sports in this bill was a good idea.
(Schools must use the increased media rights revenues to retain the same number of scholarships and roster spots for non-revenue generating and women’s sports as provided during the 2023-24 academic year.)
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the act itself appears to have multiple areas that probably won't stand legal challenge
Would rather there be no government involvement. Outside of maybe forcing the conference heads to sit down and reign in this ridiculous state of affairs. Create real guidelines and sets of rules.
This is all not that important a matter. Very limited portion of the population is affected by this. Nothing our government should be wasting a significant amount of time and resources on. The country has much more important and pressing issues to deal with.
This is all not that important a matter. Very limited portion of the population is affected by this. Nothing our government should be wasting a significant amount of time and resources on. The country has much more important and pressing issues to deal with.
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