A Democratic U.S. lawmaker sent a letter to leaders at the more than 350 Division I schools across the country Monday, warning of a two-tier college sports system with haves and have-nots if a proposed bill to regulate the industry passes without changes.<\/p>\n
In the letter, Sen. Maria Cantwell of Washington, the ranking member of a committee that oversees college sports, says the SCORE Act would \u201cincentivize a Power 2 conference system that will create inequities for other conferences and leave behind small to mid-sized schools.\u201d<\/p>\n
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The \u201cPower 2\u201d she references is the Big Ten and Southeastern Conference, which share the decision-making power for the future of the College Football Playoff, which with its $7.8 billion media-rights deal is the single-largest financial driver of all college athletics.<\/p>\n
The House is expected to vote on the SCORE Act next month<\/a>. It would provide the NCAA a limited antitrust exemption, override state laws designed to regulate name, image, likeness payments and prevent athletes from becoming employees of their universities.<\/p>\n Cantwell argued against those parts of the bill, while also focusing on language that she said would lead to the removal of the 22% cap on revenue-sharing implemented by the recently approved lawsuit settlement. This school year, the 22% cap equals $20.5 million that can be paid out to players, but some schools will be able to exceed that using third-party deals that have to be approved by the newly created College Sports Commission.<\/a><\/p>\n “If passed, the SCORE Act will entrench the current arms race to recruit and retain athletes and leave small and mid-sized schools unable to compete for championships and postseason games, along with the inability to earn the increased revenue that comes with those opportunities,” Cantwell wrote.<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n Though crafters of the bill have touted bipartisan support in the House \u2014 Reps. Janelle Bynum, D-Ore., and Shomari Figures, D-Ala. are among the backers \u2014 Democrats have largely framed it as a giveaway to the NCAA, which supports it, at the expense of athletes, who would lose the right to challenge the system on a number of fronts.<\/p>\n Cantwell noted media reports that Pac-12 schools that were previously part of what was then known as the Power Five will receive 63% less in revenue from TV rights than before the latest round of conference realignment.<\/p>\n