Big-time college sports has moved halfway toward the federal bailout they crave. The rest of the journey is unlikely to happen soon.
The U.S. Senate passed the so-called “Protect College Sports Act” on Monday night, by a vote of 77-22. The bill now goes to the U.S. House of Representatives.
Earlier in the day, Pat Forde of SI.com cited an unnamed source who said that there is a “0.0 percent chance” the House will pass the bill before the midterm elections.
With the Democrats widely expected to seize control of the House in November, the question then becomes whether it will do any meaningful business before the next Congress convenes in January.
So there’s still a long way to go before the NCAA and its members get the antitrust exemption and other benefits designed to stave off a catastrophe. Even as college football is more popular and profitable than ever.
There’s chaos, they say. From whose perspective? The players, after years of being exploited by a system that denied them the opportunity to participate meaningfully in the value they generate, are sitting pretty. It’s not chaotic for them; it’s the free market in operation.
But the schools apparently can’t be trusted to balance their budgets, which is bullshit. Every American business faces an ongoing challenge to adapt or fail. In lieu of expecting the administrators to come up with a better way to carve up the pie and/or to spend within their means, they want artificial restrictions on what the players can make.
That’s not how it should be. And, despite the Senate vote, maybe it won’t be.
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