06/02/26 10:19:00
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06/02 22:17 CDT Citing 'critical issues,' SEC, Big Ten withhold support for
bipartisan college sports bill
Citing 'critical issues,' SEC, Big Ten withhold support for bipartisan college
sports bill
By EDDIE PELLS
AP National Writer
The two biggest conferences in college sports released a statement Tuesday
saying they do not support the current version of a bipartisan bill designed to
regulate an industry struggling for answers in a quickly changing era in which
some players make millions.
The Southeastern and Big Ten conferences said the "bill leaves critical issues
unresolved," including not "meaningfully" preempting state laws with a federal
one, which has long been considered a key element for a measure to get support
from the NCAA and the conferences.
In an interview last week, Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, who drafted the bill with
Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., told The Associated Press "the bill is drafted to
preempt state laws that conflict with the provisions in this bill."
The SEC-Big Ten statement came out less than 24 hours before a scheduled
hearing about the bill in front of the Senate Commerce Committee. Cruz chairs
the panel and Cantwell is the ranking Democrat.
The legislation has received support from the Big 12 and Atlantic Coast
Conferences, but the Big Ten and SEC, as the two richest leagues that also have
decision-making power over the future of the College Football Playoff, hold the
biggest cards.
One of the bill's key provisions would give conferences an option to pool their
media rights --- an idea the Big Ten and SEC have long claimed would not result
in a financial windfall that proponents suggest. The leagues' statement did not
speak to that issue.
A spokesperson for the Commerce Committee that Cruz chairs acknowledged the Big
Ten-SEC position.
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AP college sports: https://apnews.com/hub/college-sports
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