Re: Protect College Sports Act
The Honorable Members of the United States House of Representatives
U.S. House of Representatives
Washington, DC 20515
Re: Protect College Sports Act
Dear Members of the House of Representatives:
We just had a seismic midterm election. The result was clear: the American people want Congress to act to help make their lives better and more affordable. They want results, not words.
Well, the first test is now upon you.
Almost every university and college in the country, both large and small – about 400 of them – want the Protect College Sports Act (PCSA) passed. Why? Because without it, these schools believe their financial health will seriously continue to decline. They will have to raise tuition and fees, cut scholarships, and eliminate women’s and Olympic sports programs just to stay afloat.
Yes, college will become less affordable for every student. And with fewer scholarships available, fewer students will have the opportunity to earn one.
So too, it is no secret that HBCUs are reeling in financial distress. The PCSA provides a billion dollars or more lifeline to them.
Yet despite the fact that the PCSA received 77 votes in the U.S. Senate – a remarkable and overwhelming bipartisan show of support – as the legislation moves to the House, the same special interests that tried to kill it in the Senate are at work again.
The opposition is small. Folks who have their own pocketbooks and influence to protect. The principal opponents are agents who now call themselves “Athlete Advocates.” They do not want their egregious fees reduced, as this bill would do and they do not want to acknowledge there is a difference between professional and student-athletes.
Why? Because if passed, the PCSA would leave these agents with a smaller buyers’ market.
The agents argue the bill does not give student-athletes a voice. They make this argument knowing that collective bargaining cannot be achieved without changing many federal and state laws.
Even the academics and pundits they use to get their message out concede it is not presently doable when they are asked how collective bargaining can be achieved.
Similarly, an overwhelming majority of student-athletes support the PCSA. They do not want to be employees, file tax returns, keep expense ledgers, etc., they want to be students. So, it is not the student-athletes who are complaining they have no voice, rather the agents who want to be the group running the Union that want the voice.
Now, the argument has taken a new turn: Why pass the PCSA and give President Trump a win. From the start this has been a bipartisan effort. If this bill passes, the American people win. Democrats, Republicans, everyone. Universities win. Student-athletes receive more compensation, better health care, stronger scholarship protections, and better private rights of action. HBCUs who get a billion dollars, win. Olympic and women’s sports which receive important protection, win.
If the PCSA does not pass, there will be no legislation establishing one fair and consistent standard for all. Instead, everyone will go their own way, leaving nothing but chaos, inconsistent court orders, state-by-state player disparities, advantages for some players over others and much more.
This bill is balanced. That’s why polling shows that more than three-quarters of Americans support it.
So, this is the first post-election test. Will Congress pass the PCSA and show America that it really cares about high school athletes who cannot get college roster spots because they are competing against 25-year-old fifth- and sixth-year seniors or will they instead side with agents who recruit high school athletes in junior high school? Will Congress show that it also sees beyond just college football and men’s basketball but also cares about track and field athletes, wrestlers and softball players.
Americans will know soon enough. In fact, we will know that answer within the next month. Will special interests like agents and a handful of influential and insider boosters win? Is it business as usual or do the student-athletes and American people win? Will colleges have an opportunity to make education more affordable, or will special interest groups become wealthier at their expense?
If the PCSA passes, there will be nothing to prevent collective bargaining if the laws are changed in the future.
It is not debatable that if the PCSA passes student-athletes will receive major benefits that they do not have today.
Members of Congress, the ball is in your court. It is the ninth inning, fourth quarter, third period. The nation is watching. Will it be petty politics, anger and division, or will it be a bipartisan consensus coming together for the public good?
History will remember if you choose wrong. Pass the PCSA.
Randy Levine, Vice Chair
President’s Roundtable on Fixing College Sports
