Senator Ted Cruz Introduces Bill To Protect College Athletics

A comprehensive college sports plan introduced by U.S. Senator Ted Cruz (R-Texas) would establish a national standard for name, image, and likeness (NIL), proclaim that student-athletes are not workers, and shield universities, conferences, and the NCAA from legal consequences.

Senator Ted Cruz Introduces Bill To Protect College Athletics

Cruz, the ranking senator on the commerce committee, is about to walk into a packed area. U.S. Senators Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), Jerry Moran (R-Kan.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Cory Booker (D-N.J.), Joe Manchin (D-W. Va.), and Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.) have recently introduced proposals to address NIL and other collegiate sports-related issues.

Although college athletics are a fantastic way to bridge cultures, they are in danger for thousands of student-athletes whose games won’t be shown on national television as well as for spectators.

Student-athletes can now make money off of their own name, image, and likeness (NIL) according to a 2021 Supreme Court decision that went against the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA).

Additional legal disputes and proposed state laws are currently impeding the NCAA’s ability to enforce even the most basic regulations, establish recruitment criteria, encourage fair competition, and punish those who prey on student-athletes. Numerous school officials concur that these changes, together with the rise of player remuneration, will result in the early end of major college football and basketball at numerous institutions.

President Theodore Roosevelt invited university officials to the White House after a string of fatal football injuries endangered the sport’s existence and urged them to develop their own regulations rather than relying on the government. This eventually led to the founding of the NCAA, a system of self-governance free from governmental interference in sports.

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Cruz revealed the legislation in an article that appeared in the Austin American-Statesman.

The Republican senator said on social media that “college sports are a cultural unifier, and they are bigger and better in Texas.”

“My bill codifying name, image, and likeness rights for college athletes preserves college sports by promoting self-governance and limiting federal involvement in the issue.”

Sen. Cruz said in his letter that discussions with athletes, administrators, and other individuals at Texas institutions helped him construct the draft legislation.

“First, my model codifies NIL rights for college athletes,” he wrote. “A man or woman is entitled to profit from their own labor and success as a matter of first principle.”

Cruz acknowledged that Texas already had this situation. However, based on the legislation in other jurisdictions, some of his state’s colleges could find themselves at a disadvantage.

“A national solution for a national market is needed, which is why the Texas State Legislature requested in its NIL law that ‘“’the United States Congress…act on this matter to ensure the competitive integrity of intercollegiate athletics.’” Cruz wrote.

Only two years ago, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled 9-0 in Alston that the NCAA had broken antitrust laws by preventing collegiate athletes from receiving compensation for expenses linked to their academic careers.

A few years previously, in the O’Bannon case, numerous courts found that the NCAA and its members had wrongfully denied college players the opportunity to receive cash for the use of their likenesses in video games without their permission or payment. The NCAA has maybe demonstrated that it requires more, not less, legal scrutiny.

The senator said in his letter that his proposal is not novel. More than 100 years ago, it was attempted and was successful.

“After a series of deaths from football-related injuries threatened the sport’s future, President Theodore Roosevelt brought university leaders to the White House to encourage them to create rules that all parties could agree to rather than rely on the government,” Cruz wrote.

“This became the early stages of the NCAA, an athletic system built on self-governance free from government intervention.”

The senator noted that the NCAA is “far from perfect.” He wrote that his bill would seek to empower “athletic associations to enforce recruiting and transfer rules.”

Athletes would not be considered employees for the purposes of employment law, according to the bill’s final provision. This clause is crucial to maintaining the notion that student-athletes are first and foremost students, and that academics should always come first.

Scholarship recipients would be safeguarded so they could not be “fired” for poor performance, and it would prevent the extreme financial pressure that would probably force colleges to discontinue non-revenue sports.

Influential voices have queued up to endorse Cruz’s pick.

The draft, according to NCAA President Charlie Baker, would assist the NCAA “protect student-athletes from exploitative behavior” and provide a consistent set of regulations “at a time when states are engaging in a race to the bottom to gain a competitive edge.”

The president of Notre Dame, Rev. John Jenkins, echoes this sentiment, claiming that “college athletics is in a crisis” and that “national NIL guardrails” and procedures that “ensure student-athletes are students first” would be “essential.”

Cruz’s proposed amendments to federal law, which also nullify existing state laws, would undoubtedly encounter opposition.

Cruz’s draft also proposes amending the Sports Agent Responsibility and Trust Act of 2005 (SPARTA) so that agents are obligated to reveal if they have registered with the NCAA or a conference, and if not, the athlete must provide written consent they are okay with the arrangement. It’s not clear how effective this change would be, particularly because, as Sportico revealed, the Federal Trade Commission has not enforced SPARTA, and one former FTC deputy admitted he had “never heard” of it.

College athletics significantly contribute to the development of young people. It teaches children the value of perseverance, self-control, humility, and teamwork. That merits preservation. Yet how?

Do we choose to pursue the road of establishing a new federal agency, the consequent regulation of college sports, and the ensuing hyperpoliticization? Do we choose to maintain the self-governance paradigm that Roosevelt and others opted for more than a century ago?

 

 

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