{"id":958525,"date":"2026-07-25T15:09:30","date_gmt":"2026-07-25T15:09:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/958525\/"},"modified":"2026-07-25T15:09:30","modified_gmt":"2026-07-25T15:09:30","slug":"protect-college-sports-act-dominates-sec-media-days-deseret-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/958525\/","title":{"rendered":"Protect College Sports Act dominates SEC Media Days \u2013 Deseret News"},"content":{"rendered":"

A gray curtain of clouds lingered over downtown Tampa on Tuesday morning, spitting rain at the streetlight banners welcoming the Southeastern Conference to town for its annual \u201cMedia Days.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

I live about 30 minutes west, across Tampa Bay in St. Petersburg, so I spent the morning puttering around the constellation of enterprises that had sprouted around the SEC\u2019s presence \u2014 food trucks and satellites and TV studio sets, plus the occasional fan braving the brewing storm. <\/p>\n

Inside the palatial Marriott near the mouth of the Hillsborough River, the SEC had welcomed reporters from across the South and from as far away as the United Kingdom. They\u2019d come to speak with the SEC\u2019s 16 head football coaches, plus an address-and-Q&A with league commissioner Greg Sankey. For whatever reason, conference leadership decided the Deseret News did not need to be in that room. All the same. <\/p>\n

Because as the storm clouds rolled, the most important story swirling around SEC Media Days was not to be found inside the Marriott ballroom. <\/p>\n

It was to be found in the gap between Sankey\u2019s words a day earlier<\/a>, when he confirmed conference leaders had discussed breaking away from the NCAA entirely, and legislation currently under consideration<\/a> in the U.S. Senate, which seeks to preserve college football as fans have known it. <\/p>\n

That gap is still under negotiation, but the SEC\u2019s historic instinct to wall itself off \u2014 regionally, financially, lucratively \u2014 is the same instinct informing its reflexive opposition. And it could be the lynchpin that finally breaks college football for good.<\/p>\n

\"\"SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey discusses the upcoming 2026 NCAA College Football season Tuesday, July 21, 2026, at the SEC Media Days in Tampa, Fla. | Hunter Dawkins, The Gazebo Gazette via the Associated Press The Protect College Sports Act<\/p>\n

Back in early June, Sen. Ted Cruz, a Texas Republican, and Sen. Maria Cantwell, a Washington Democrat, introduced the Protect College Sports Act<\/a> to the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee; it quickly became a bipartisan cause c\u00e9l\u00e8bre. <\/p>\n

By the 18th, the bill had been passed out of committee by a vote of 19-9, with 12 Republicans and seven Democrats in support \u2014 including Nevada\u2019s Jacky Rosen, New Mexico\u2019s Ben Ray Luj\u00e1n, Colorado\u2019s John Hickenlooper, Wyoming\u2019s Cynthia Lummis and Utah\u2019s John Curtis. As written, the bill would:<\/p>\n