Senators Schmitt, Cantwell Announce Groundbreaking Draft Bipartisan Bill to Help Fix College Sports

Bill would Amend the Sports Broadcasting Act to Address College Sports' Revenue Problem

U.S. SENATE - Today, U.S. Senators Eric Schmitt (R-MO), a former two-sport college athlete and member of the Senate Commerce Committee, and Maria Cantwell (D-WA), Ranking Member of the Senate Commerce Committee, released a bipartisan discussion draft of the College Sports Competitiveness Act that they will be introducing in the Senate next week. The legislation provides a new antitrust exemption allowing college football institutions to jointly sell media rights and makes it optional for conferences and schools to pool their media rights together, allowing for a significant increase of revenue into college sports. The Senators believe this is the first step in an important legislative conversation about how to address the revenue challenges in college sports. They look forward to continued stakeholder engagement and bipartisan Senate collaboration to eventually have a final product that truly addresses the revenue issues harming college sports.

"Colleges, large and small, have reached a breaking point. The current environment of run-away NIL deals, facility arms races and skyrocketing coaching contracts has put pressure on the entire system. If we don't address the revenue problem, college sports, as we know and love them, will slowly disappear. This is a serious problem, and Congress needs to provide real solutions to help alleviate the pressure being put on schools. Allowing conferences and universities to voluntarily pool and sell their media rights together can unlock new revenue streams while preserving the broad-based athletic programs that make college sports the institution it is today. I'm thankful for President Trump's leadership on this issue, and now it's time for Congress to act to protect women's sports, strengthen our Olympic pipeline, and restore stability to this uniquely American experience. Nobody will get everything they want - but everyone will continue to get to enjoy college sports for generations to come if Congress acts," said Senator Schmitt.

"With women's sports, Olympic sports, and other sports losing scholarships and roster slots every year, it is time to reverse the damage. Opening the Sports Broadcasting Act to college sports allows more revenue to be generated from sports viewing, and that new revenue can go toward supporting and growing opportunities in women's and Olympic sports while still protecting consumers from being over-charged by having sports events behind pay walls. Fans should not have to pay extra to watch their home teams play on TV," said Senator Cantwell.

College football consistently attracts large national audiences, yet overall media revenues don't match those of comparable sports leagues. This gap suggests there are real opportunities to modernize and optimize media rights deals in ways that grow total revenue. Too often, revenue shortfalls fall hardest on women's and Olympic sports programs, which play a critical role in developing America's Olympic pipeline and providing opportunities for student-athletes across the country. Schools should not be forced to cut these programs to remain competitive in football and basketball.

The College Sports Competitiveness Act will:

• Unlock collective media deals to potentially generate billions in new revenue for college sports
• Reward conferences and teams that drive the value up while also ensuring every school receives more revenue
• Create a 14-member board that fairly represents the institutions that generate the most revenue and includes athletes, media experts, and academic institutions
• Protect women's and Olympic sports by ensuring teams and scholarships won't be cut
• Allow out-of-market fans to be able to watch their team anywhere

Read the full text of the bill HERE.

Background:

• College football generates twice the national viewership of the National Basketball Association (NBA) (3.7 billion viewer hours vs the NBA's 2.0 billion) yet generates roughly half the media rights revenue ($3.8 billion vs the NBA's $6.8 billion).
• Since 2020, college sports have lost hundreds of roster spots for women and Olympic sports, with more cuts on the horizon unless the revenue equation is addressed, including 40 Olympic sport programs across NCAA Division 1 in recent years.
• Schools across the nation are having issues generating revenues amid rapidly rising costs. Schools from even the largest conferences in the nation are facing multimillion dollar deficits year after year just to stay competitive in the landscape.

###