With the Protect College Sports Act expected to pass a Senate vote Monday with a strong majority vote, bill co-sponsor Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) is setting his sights on the next steps—and envisioning a boffo ending on live television.
Cruz tells Sports Illustrated he believes House of Representatives Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) will call that body of politicians back from preelection recess to Washington, D.C., to vote on the PCSA before the November elections. Others have been skeptical that the House members would reconvene sooner than their scheduled Nov. 9 return to the Capitol, but Cruz said he expects it to happen and that a House vote could be done in “just one day.”
And if it does happen this fall? Cruz has suggested that President Donald Trump—who is a supporter of the bill—sign it into law live on the set of ESPN’s College GameDay show.
With his home-state loyalties in mind, Cruz said ideally such a signing would happen in Tuscaloosa, Ala., before the Texas A&M–Alabama game Oct. 24. However, with the Aggies 2–2 and on a two-game losing streak, their appeal as a College GameDay draw is limited. Cruz said he originally hoped to have Trump sign the bill into law on College GameDay from Austin, before the Ohio State–Texas game on Sept. 12, but that timing did not materialize.
College GameDay has become something of a political lightning rod this fall in relation to the PCSA. Regular panelist Nick Saban has been an outspoken supporter of the bill and has been a sounding board for Trump on college sports issues. Additionally, Cruz made a 10-minute appearance on College GameDay on Sept. 12, advocating for passage of the bill. No politician opposed to the bill has been given an equal-time opportunity on the show.
GameDay panelist Kirk Herbstreit, the most prominent member of ESPN’s college sports coverage team, subsequently claimed that he did not know anything about Cruz’s political leanings. “I don’t really get into politics,” Herbstreit told media members in the lead-up to the LSU-Mississippi game. “I don’t really follow it.”
Cruz said there still are a number of PCSA amendments to decide on Monday before the expected formal vote, some of which are from Democrats who believe the bill unfairly curtails athletes while insufficiently modifying the coaching market. One of the proposals from Democratic Senators Cory Booker (D-N.J.) and Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) called for capping head coaches’ compensation at $5 million. Cruz said a different proposal from Sen. Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.) that puts some limits on coaches’ compensation could be more viable. He did not provide specifics of that amendment.
