Cody Campbell: The moment to save college sports is here. Congress must act
With college football and fall sports back, I am reminded of what a special time of the year it is for student-athletes who have sacrificed so much for this moment, and classmates, alumni and fans who passionately cheer them on. Stadiums spread across every community in the nation are filled with excitement, providing hope for students and creating an economic boom for large and small college towns. Sadly, behind the scenes, the system is broken with these programs facing a historic financial strain that has led to cutting women’s and Olympic sports just for athletics departments to stay in business … but this is just the beginning of a downward spiral that will lead to the destruction of college sports.
As Congress returns from August recess, it has a historic opportunity to end this strain and put the system back together. Currently, the U.S. House of Representatives is fast-tracking a very narrow bill, via the Student Compensation and Opportunity through Rights and Endorsements (SCORE) Act. The SCORE Act is a good starting point for some of the key elements of the discussion, and it is encouraging that this issue is finally gaining traction in Washington. However, as the the legislation is currently drafted, it does not achieve President Trump’s clearly-stated objectives of saving women’s sports, protecting Olympic sports, and looking out for the interests of smaller schools. The President, and the American public (over 85% of them, as shown in recent polling) feel stronly that ALL of collegesports and ALL of the schools continue to provide opportunity to the 500,000 student athletes that they do today.
After years of studying this problem, we know Congress will need a comprehensive solution that not only addresses the splashy items, such as NIL and the Transfer Portal, but also tackles massive issues of the need for a new independent body to oversee collegiate athletics, address cavernous revenue shortfalls all college programs (big and small) are facing, and, for the first time in the history of college sports, provide student-athletes with a meaningful voice in how rules are made and enforced.
We have said it before and we will say it again: we need a new governing body to accomplish this goal. It cannot be the NCAA, which, for years fought tooth and nail against any rule that would benefit student-athletes and protect the most vulnerable schools and sports. The NCAA is now lobbying Congress and the public for the ability to override the multitude of court cases they have lost (including a 9-0 loss at the U.S. Supreme Court), so that it can re-take control of rule-making and crack down on the athletes and the schools.
Of course the NCAA wants to re-gain power. Of course it wants to go back to raking in billions at the expense of the student-athletes and the schools it is ostensibly charged to represent. The NCAA’s version of the SCORE Act ensures that the powerful colleges stay powerful and relegates the lesser-advantaged schools to permanent irrelevance. The SCORE Act also does not address the fact that there will not be enough money to pay for sports, like track, swimming, volleyball, soccer and softball. Through sneaky and strategic drafting, the SCORE Act does not explicitly grant the NCAA direct power, but the implications are clear – they will regain control if this bill becomes law.
Language should be added to the bill that allows the entire college sports system to come together and form a new governing body that represents everyone. Big, small, Women, Olympics, revenue sports, non-revenue sports – ALL of them!
This new governing body will be especially necessary if Congress were to make the economically necessary move to modernize the Sports Broadcasting Act (SBA), a law that was written in 1961 – a lot has changed since then. With the rights under this act, we will need smart and savvy media minds that can create the value necessary to make sure that all of the sports continue to be funded, and that revenue is fairly allocated. Doing this would open a massive spigot of revenue that will solve many of the critical problems facing college sports today and will keep the enterprise in business.
An antitrust exemption is necessary to allow fair rules to be made and enforced, and to stop the disruptive onslaught of litigation. But providing an antitrust exemption is a HUGE legal concession that vests a tremendous amount of power and should not be given without the utmost thought, care and intentionality. We cannot trust the NCAA with this level of power. The NCAA has proven for decades that it cannot effectively manage such authority. Giving them this power will allow a return to their old ways and roll back the progress student-athletes have fought for, shielding the entity from lawsuits and allow them to resort to their collusive practices. The NCAA is a voluntary membership organization that is funded by revenue generated by all of its member institutions and is now almost completely controlled by the biggest and most powerful schools (Power 4 Schools now get 65% of the votes). Because of its governing structure, the NCAA is too conflicted to put student-athletes first and to represent the interests of its entire membership.
It is absolutely critical in the future governance of college sports to give student-athletes a true seat at the table. They need a voice in crafting policies on payments, health, and workload — things they’ve been left out of for the entire history of college sports. And women and Olympic athletes should have the same seat and the same influence that football players and men’s basketball players do. Their voices should be heard!! After all, athletes in these non-revenue generating sports, usually played by athletes who will not see serious profit from their NIL, represent the vast majority of students who have an opportunity to get a leg up in life because of an athletic scholarship. We must not leave these student athletes behind by focusing on the small percentage of athletes who are seeing record NIL profits.
As we all cheer on the college programs we love passionately, all fans and communities must recognize that the entire system is at great risk. As we cheer from the stands, or our living rooms, we must use that same passion to ensure Congress doesn’t forget about any of the student-athletes. Remind them of the students who will have the opportunity of a lifetime by playing a sport, but also to get an education that will return dividends far greater than the small amount of NIL money they will receive. Congress cannot leave these women, men, and future Olympians behind.
We invite Congress to join us in meeting President Trump’s mandate by modernizing the Sports Broadcasting Act, dismantling the NCAA’s outdated model, and building a governing body where student-athletes aren’t pawns but partners. By recognizing the TRUE problems in college sports and taking action to solve them, we will protect every program, every student-athlete at ALL schools, big and small, and protect ALL of the communities and institutions that rely on college sports as the center of our economy and culture.
This is our fight, and we cannot let up until we win. I hope you will join us at www.savingcollegesports.com.
Cody Campbell is co-founder and co-CEO of Double Eagle Energy Holdings. He is also chairman of the board of regents of the Texas Tech University System and a former Texas Tech football player.