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LSU officials say they did not authorize use of their name to support Ted Cruz and Maria Cantwell's college sports bill

Andy Staples head shotby: Andy Staples06/02/26AndyStaples

The chair of LSU’s board of supervisors and and the school’s president are listed among the signers of a letter sent to lawmakers Monday in support of the Protect College Sports Act.

The only problem? They say they don’t support the bill introduced last week by senators Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.).

Board chair Lee Mallett told On3 that he supports a bill that House majority leader Steve Scalise (R-La.) had championed. That bill, the SCORE Act, has yet to reach a vote in the House. Mallett said he is not offering public support of the Protect College Sports Act, which has drawn sharp criticism from officials at SEC schools. Mallett thought he was being asked to voice his support for the SCORE Act. “I support the Scalise bill,” Mallett told On3. “If there was any miscommunication, I apologize.”

An e-mail obtained by On3 contains the text of the letter with a request for Mallett to offer his support. Mallett replied “Yes, thanks” to that e-mail.

Meanwhile, LSU president Wade Rousse told Ross Dellenger of Yahoo! Sports that he did not authorize his name to be used in the letter from a group called Saving College Sports. The letter includes 85 names as signatories. Most are from ACC, Big 12 or Group of 6 schools.

The only current Big Ten or SEC names on the list belong to Mallett, Rousse and Penn State trustee Anthony Lubrano. The inclusion of anyone from the Big Ten or SEC would be notable because those leagues have reason to oppose the bill.

While the Cruz-Cantwell bill does grant longstanding requests from the Big Ten and SEC to memorialize the terms of the House v. NCAA settlement into law and would make it easier for schools to enforce eligibility standards, transfer rules and a cap on revenue sharing with athletes, it also includes language that would allow an antitrust exemption for leagues to pool their media rights if more than 75 percent of FBS members agree to the plan. The Big Ten and SEC, which have the most valuable media rights, would have less to gain by pooling. The SEC’s presidents and chancellors released a statement last week saying they have no intention of pooling rights with other leagues.