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Big Ten, SEC release new statement on Protect College Sports Act after Sen. Ted Cruz meeting

ns_headshot_2024-clearby: Nick Schultz06/04/26NickSchultz_7

After Thursday’s meeting with Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) about the Protect College Sports Act, the Big Ten and SEC said they had a “positive conversation” in a new joint statement. The two conferences reiterated do not support the bill as is currently written.

The meeting came two days after the Big Ten and SEC released their first statement against the bipartisan legislation in its current form. A hearing also took place Wednesday about the bill, which takes aim at coach movement and the transfer portal, as well as media rights.

The Big Ten and SEC said their discussions with Cruz went well during their Thursday meeting. While the two leagues are still not on board with the bill in its current state, they said conversations will continue.

“We appreciated today’s productive conversation with Senator Ted Cruz regarding the Protect College Sports Act,” the statement read. “It is clear that we all share the same goal of stabilizing collegiate athletics for the long term. We praised positive elements of the bill, especially those that support student-athlete wellness and regulate agents. The SEC and the Big Ten have been consistent from day one: reform needs to happen, and we remain committed to working with our government partners towards lasting solutions.

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“Our goal today was to make collaborative progress toward improving this bill. We presented concrete solutions to key unresolved challenges, including providing consistent national oversight, ensuring the ability to make and enforce rules, and guaranteeing that student-athletes can maximize revenue share and NIL. These changes are needed to achieve the bill’s objectives to bring long term stability to all of college athletics. We reiterated that we do not support this bill in its current form, but look forward to continued constructive dialogue with Senator Cruz and his team.”

More on the Protect College Sports Act

Media rights is one of the most important parts of the Protect College Sports Act, introduced last week by Cruz and Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) in a key moment for the NCAA’s quest for federal legislation. The provision gives schools the option to pool media rights if they reach a 75% threshold.

However, the SEC, specifically, pushed back on the provision that gives the option to pool media rights. Commissioner Greg Sankey also told reporters such those supporting the pooling of media rights “have no idea how hard those conversations would be.”

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During Wednesday’s hearing, though, Notre Dame athletics director Pete Bevacqua – who testified as a witness – said pooling media rights might not be the approach to get the maximum value. Instead, he said a “super league” would be the way to do that, though he made it clear he does not support that idea.

But the “super league” chatter continued and Big Ten commissioner Tony Petitti pushed back after the hearing. He told Yahoo! Sports’ Ross Dellenger no such conversations have taken place between the conference and the SEC, or any other league.

“Any statement that suggests the Big Ten is pursuing or wants a super league is a fabrication,” Petitti told Yahoo! Sports. “At no point in time have we discussed such a concept with the SEC or anyone else. Any suggestion otherwise comes from people outside our respective conferences.”