Saving College Sports—Landmark New Legislation that’s a Massive Win for Athletes, Colleges & Fans

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[00:00:01]Welcome. It is Verdict with Senator Ted Cruz, Ben Ferguson with you as well. And it's so nice to have so many of you listening on the radio around the country. We've got a lot that we're going to be talking about. But before we even get to the topics, I I I got to say, Senator, I I know you. I feel like I know you well. I feel like you're one of my best friends. The idea that for 25 years, there is one woman who has put up with you for 25 years is truly incredible. I don't know if this is a rapture alert. I don't know if you've gotten really good at gift giving, but congratulations. 25 years.

[00:00:37]Uh you have been married. That is incredible. Well done. Well, thank you.

[00:00:41]We celebrated our 25th anniversary on on Wednesday this week and and uh you know it's it's Heidi says 25 years of marriage. It's been 21 of the happiest years of her life. So So I I I'll take I'll take that ratio that that that's not bad. I'm I'm I'm >> You're not asking for which four years she's describing as the other ones.

[00:01:00]Right.

[00:01:01]>> She didn't say they were contiguous.

[00:01:02]It's just you know it's it's I'm betting well over 500. I'm happy with that. Um we we had actually a fabulous anniversary. We we started the day. We went and had brunch together. We we spent the day just kind of we look through our wedding albums. I it it's unbelievable. Was 25 years ago, May 27th, 2001.

[00:01:22]And my god, we were kids. Like like it really >> I mean, you know, you're you're still young in the Senate, but you're not young anymore when you look at your wedding pictures. That's the best way you can describe it, right? So, so I'll tell you the weird thing, Ben, is is Heidi's parents >> were my age when we got married and and we thought of them as like unbelievably old.

[00:01:42]>> Oh, yeah.

[00:01:42]>> Um, and you know, 25 years is a long time, but but it was uh, you know, our our nephews and nieces were two and four and they were like the the flower girl and the little uh ring bears and they were they were so cute >> and all four of them now are grown and married. They're great kids, but uh you know, 25 years added to two and four gets you old enough to be grown and married and and and and a full-on adult.

[00:02:08]So, we spent the whole day together just reflecting on kind of what the last 25 years were, what surprised us on the good side, what surprised us on the bad side. And then, uh Wednesday night, we went out and had a nice romantic dinner together. Um it was funny. We each got cards and we both wrote the same thing in the card to each other. We both wrote, "I can't wait for the next 50 years together." And >> there you go.

[00:02:36]>> And when I read Heidi's note, that's how she closed it. I just started laughing because she hadn't read my card yet. And that's how I closed mine.

[00:02:43]>> I was going to say, "Was somebody cheating? Did someone leave their card out? The other person saw the card." So that was genuine, authentic. It wasn't Okay. No cheating involved there. I love that.

[00:02:51]>> Turns out 25 years, you kind of know how each other thinks. And uh okay, I'm going to tell you a quick funny story and then we're going to get to substance. But but I you know I went to get her I got her two dozen roses for 25th anniversary and and so I'm at at Whole Foods right down the street from us. Bought the roses.

[00:03:06]>> Yeah.

[00:03:06]>> Um I wanted to get 25 but they only had them in 12 uh bundles and and they didn't have any loose roses and there was nobody working the darn counter. So I got I got her 24. I gave her the 24.

[00:03:18]When she said that she said, "Did you get 25?" And I said, I said, "Sweetheart, >> you're the 25th Rose."

[00:03:26]>> Oh, look at you.

[00:03:28]>> And it was a moment. Look, look, I'm usually not very slick, but it was a moment. She just cracked up laughing, and it was like, "All right, that that wasn't bad." Like, I I turned to our girls. I'm like, "Hey, Dad's got a little game here." That that that worked.

[00:03:40]>> Uh, good.

[00:03:41]>> But I I got her a card and it was a card that was in the tray on the little carousel that said blank. in it and it had a really pretty almost like uh silk drawing of a flower that was just really pretty. It was blank and I figured I'd write her a nice note in in it.

[00:03:56]>> Yeah.

[00:03:57]>> And I'm at the checkout counter and as I'm paying for it, it flashes up on the screen and suddenly it says sympathy card >> and I stop. [laughter] I'm like, "Wait a second." And I go look at the thing and even though it was in the blank shelf, it it said in it, "I'm so sorry for your loss and I'm hurting with you for all your suffering."

[00:04:18]>> And I cracked I I didn't actually end up giving it to Heidi because she's pretty literal. And I don't know that she would have thought it was very funny, but Caroline, our eldest daughter, I told her that tonight, and she cracked up. Caroline thought it was funny. I I would I would give Caroline a a a sympathy card, but but Heidi would would find it less amusing. and and so instead I went and got an actual blank card and wrote it out.

[00:04:41]>> So many times I hate cheesy cards Valentine's Day I will actually get two cards. I'll get the cheesy one and then I'll get the humorous fun one that's like you know a cartoon or something and I'm like this is the one I really want to get you. Here's the one I know you really want. And so we it's now become a thing where we give two. So 25 years I got to ask you one last question. I'm assuming a 25 year gift is like I'm a you you know me my my my love language is gifts. I'm a jewelry person and Anna benefits from that. What did you get for the 25 year anniversary and I hope it was good because everyone's judging you otherwise right now.

[00:05:16]>> Yeah. Look, I I got Heidi some earrings.

[00:05:18]We actually went to the jewelry store together and got the earrings and she really likes the earrings. They're they're nice earrings and and and and she really likes them and and and I for for a lot of vacations, jewelries is sort of my like like for birthdays and Christmas, you know, I'd get bracelet or a jewelry or something and so it uh I think she picked out the earrings and she really liked them.

[00:05:40]>> There you go. See, you know, you didn't go wrong if she picked it out. It's on her at that point.

[00:05:44]>> Heidi has strong opinions and it is dangerous. I would say fully half of the gifts I've gotten her that she didn't see, she returns. And and the first, I don't know, 5 10 years of marriage, I'd get kind of hurt. My feelings would be hurt. And then I was just like, look, this is an opinionated lady. She knows what she thinks.

[00:06:04]>> I I take a shot sometimes and and if I get something that I think's really nice and she's like, no thanks. I just Here's the gift receipt. Go take it back. Get something you want. and and uh >> f and and and you got it. Final question. I' I've been let's see 16 years in. So I'm I'm behind you clearly.

[00:06:23]I don't think Yeah, I'm I'm behind you here. What is your one piece of advice for everyone?

[00:06:28]>> By the way, how old are you right now, Ben?

[00:06:30]>> 44.

[00:06:31]>> 44. So nine years from now, you'll be 53. So just two years behind me when you hit your 25th.

[00:06:37]>> Yeah. When I hit my 25th. Exactly. So what is your one piece of advice? like what is the advice you have? What the whole day of the ups and downs? What's the one thing you would give for people on on how to make it to 25 years?

[00:06:48]Besides the fact that you need to almost always be wrong all the time.

[00:06:52]>> Yeah. Look, I mean there there are lots of things that are that are trit. I mean I mean marriage is work. It's it's hard work. It's a decision we're going to go through that there are times I will say this something I wrote in my car that there are times when when the highs exceeded anything we could imagine and there have been times when the lows exceeded anything we could imagine and and it's you know I remember as a kid I used to watch soap operas and think soap operas were overstated and and the longer I lived the more I've realized man is a fallen creature and this journey there are times when you're grieving there are times when you're weeping there are times when you're celebrating and and look part of going the distance is don't get too excited at the highs. Don't get too sad at the lows. Uh you know that this is a marathon, not a sprint. But I remember also when we got got married, the the the pastor who married us, we got married in California, Santa Barbara, California at at the Museum of Natural History, because Heidi's a native California. She grew up in San Louis Abyispo, just north of there. And and we got it was an outdoor wedding. Heidi's theme was was uh Midsummer Nights evening. It was a beautiful wedding. I had nothing to do with designing it. She designed everything. But but the pastor who married us, he said up there, he said, "Look, there going to be times when you have fights and and sometimes knock down dragout fights." And he said, "If you're thinking maybe I'm the one should who should apologize, you're right. You should."

[00:08:14]And he said that to me and he said that to her. He said, "It doesn't matter who's right or wrong. It's up to you, the husband. It's up to you, the wife.

[00:08:22]even if you're totally in the right and she's totally in the wrong, go and say I'm sorry and make the peace. Now, we don't always do that, but I remember his words, and that's really good counsel uh for for a long and and hopefully another 50 years of marriage. All right, Senator, before we get into this legislation, I do want to take a moment and just talk about something that's really important and some of you listening, I think, are going to want to know about, and that is Americans United for Life. For over the past 50 years, AUL has filed more than 200 legal briefs and helped create at least 400 prolife bills in over 50 states. They're writing model legislation and consulting with the state legislators and defending their own laws and other pro-life statutes in court. Now, Americans United for Life has a dual front approach of not only writing but then defending legislation, and it's proved an effective one that could become even more impactful as pro-life state legislatures are moving to enact protections for pre-born babies after the downfall of Roie Wade. They're also protecting the mothers and now they are also doing everything they can to fight on the legality of abortion that is returned to the states. And that's where you come in. You now have the opportunity to overturn pro-abortion laws and advance pro-life legislation that attacks the most vulnerable in our society from the womb to the tomb.

[00:09:54]Together, we can shape the future of our nation through lifeaffffirming legislation in every state. A gift of just $25 helps hold abortion providers accountable and helps protect women and unborn children across the country. And now through a match, your gift is doubled. You can donate securely at a.org/verdict.

[00:10:21]That's a.org.

[00:10:23]org/verdict. Sponsored by Americans United for Life Center. It I got to say I have never felt like you had my back more than watching you do sports talk radioes shows over the last 24 hours and you you you did something that desperately needed to be done if you care about sports, if you love sports.

[00:10:47]Uh, and and you you did something that dealt with Lane Kein in his name, the guy who used to be at my alma mater Miss and then screwed us and went down to LSU. Uh, I have lots of animosity there, but the Lane Keifin rule is now going to become an actual thing hopefully. Let's break down the NIL. Explain why this matters and and this is really I truly believe about saving college sports. I played in college. It was broken system for a long time. The pendulum swung a law a far far the other way and now we're trying to find a happy medium here. Well, listen, you're right. I spent much of this week doing Sports Radio, Sports TV, doing interviews with Sports Illustrated, ESPN, Stephen A.

[00:11:29]Smith, and and talking about college sports and and and this week, I believe, was was a really consequential week for for college sports. Uh I I introduced a major bipartisan bill uh that I wrote alongside Maria Canwell. Maria Canwell is a Democrat from Washington State. Uh I'm the chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee. Maria is the ranking member, the senior Democrat on the Senate Commerce Committee. And this is a bill that that I've spent three years working on and thousands of hours trying to bring Republicans and Democrats together. And and we introduced it this week. I got to say most observers thought there was no way Republicans and Democrats could find common ground on saving college sports. We managed to do it. and and and so I want to break it down and and and on this pod we're going to go into a little bit of depth because I think this topic really matters. But let's start with look sports is is an amazing and college sports is an amazing institution in America. It's something that no other country has the equivalent of of college sports in in in their nation. You know, today that there there are more than 500,000 college athletes right now competing >> and and and you look at that and college a athletics and sports generally is something that brings us together in an era where we're so divided. We're so angry. You can go and root for your team and and and we come together and it doesn't matter. You can be from different parties. You can be different races. You can be different religions. It doesn't matter. You're you're all cheering for the home team.

[00:13:00]That that is an awesome thing. And and the the over the years, college sports has been an avenue for millions of young men and women to get a college education, many of whom might never have had a chance to do that before. And and right now, I believe college sports is an absolute crisis. Right now, we have chaos in college sports. So, so we've got the transfer portal. you you've got athletes that are transferring two, three, four, five times going every year to a different school. You've got at the end of the season you your your school's team can be blown up as as all the star uh players are recruited to other schools. Uh the kids who are doing that ended up end up not getting a very good education. You you you've got kids challenging every eligibility rule. So you have players playing seven years.

[00:13:53]You have players playing college sports when they're 27, 28 years old. You have pros coming back to college sports. It it is messed up. And what is happening, Ben, every week a a different college program across the country, announces they're cutting a sport. They're they're cutting women's sports. They're cutting track and field. They're cutting Olympic sports. They're they're cutting tennis.

[00:14:17]They're cutting non-money-making sports, which by the way, to be clear, is the overwhelming majority of college sports.

[00:14:24]Just so people understand that the economics of this in most schools, they make money off football. Um, if it's division one, it's they make money off basketball. And then the the scale is just nosediving after that. And there's so many sports that don't make money.

[00:14:39]And that's why Arkansas this year, they decided to get rid of the tennis team.

[00:14:42]And then luckily, somebody came in last moment said, "We'll fund it for you."

[00:14:46]But they had shut down men and women's tennis and it was just like, "Sorry, it is what it is."

[00:14:50]>> Yeah. That that was just a few weeks ago. Arkansas canceled both men's and women's tennis. I texted that to you and and as a former SEC uh varsity tennis player, you you you shed a tear.

[00:15:01]Thankfully, a booster came in and saved tennis for them.

[00:15:04]>> But but it gives it gives a sense of of what's going on. And and and and if anything, you understated where the revenue comes from. The overwhelming majority The vast majority is is is men's football. That that is the driver of revenue. Second place is basketball, but it is it is basketball makes a little bit of money. It is football that feeds the entire beast and virtually no other sport is a money maker across college athletics. All of the other supports are sur sports are surviving on the revenue from football. And what is happening is we're in a non-stop spending war where the budgets are going up and up and up and and I believe if Congress doesn't act in 3 to 5 years we will see 30 to 50 colleges across America that will still have football teams and and it'll basically be a mini NFL. It will be a pro- football league. Kind of the the G-League for the NFL >> and and the rest of the sport. By the way, many of the athletes make more money playing in college now than they do if they get drafted.

[00:16:14]>> If they're not a top draft pick, you actually can make more money. And that's part of what people don't understand is a lot of these athletes are staying around, as you mentioned it, like till they're 27, 28 and playing five, six, seven years and transferring all the time. They're making more money than going pro because the cash is so big to play in college now that they're like, why would I go to the pros unless I'm a top 10 draft pick after that? the e the economics of it say stay in college longer and and listen I don't begrudge the athletes making money and I think it's important I think it's fair that they make money that they be fairly compensated and this bill that we drafted does that but but the system is broken what is happening is there's a bidding war where the vast majority of schools right now are losing millions and in some cases tens of millions of dollars on sports and and it's why they're cancelling all the other programs because they're just pouring money into football trying to stay competitive and you've got these schools that that that are very rich institutions that have big alumni donor bases that can fund that constant arms race, but but everyone else is losing.

[00:17:18]So, for example, let's take you're in my home state of Texas. If the system continues on the path it's on, there are only two schools that I am certain would survive. University of Texas and Texas A&M. They have a big enough donor base that no matter what happens, those two survive. But but if we're sitting here three, five years from now and the other schools, University of Houston, Baylor, TCU, SMU, Texas Tech, Rice, if the other college programs in Texas go under, that's terrible for Texas. It's terrible for athletes. It's terrible for the sport. But but let me be clear, this this is not a done deal by by any means.

[00:17:52]We still have a long road to go. We introduced the bill this week, which shocked people. They didn't think we could get a bipartisan bill and we introduced it with two Republican senators, two Democrat senators. So, Maria Canwell and I introduced it. We were joined by Eric Schmidt, Republican from Missouri, and Chris Coons, Democrat from Delaware. So, four of us introduced it. We're going to have next week, I'm going to chair a hearing on the bill, and we're going to hear from witnesses about what's happening in college sports. And then my intention is is very shortly thereafter that to mark up the bill, hopefully to vote it out of committee. But for this bill to pass, we've got to get at least seven Democrats. We got to get to 60 senators.

[00:18:29]And my goal is to get a lot more than 60 to have a big bipartisan vote, but we got to get it out of the Senate and then then move it over to the House and have the House pass it. And and so the bill is designed to to to number one to to to find common ground and build a broad coalition. So what does it do? It starts out by protecting athletes and and their right to be compensated. And and listen, the old system that was around for a long long time, athletes could not get any compensation. And and it was really unfair. It didn't make sense. Lots of people were getting rich off college athletics. Everyone except the athletes.

[00:19:03]And and and I think >> as a conservative, I I think you ought to have a right to enjoy the fruits of your labor. That if you work hard, you develop a skill, you ought to be able to benefit from it. And and >> I've said this on this show before, student athletes were before we had NIL, they were modern-day slaves. that you could be lied to by a coach. You signed with that university. They owned you and if you wanted to transfer and they didn't give you a release, they then made you sit out for a year which made you completely irrelevant because a younger person would come along and they've been playing and they had stats and you weren't on the sidelines. You you had to fix that. And and that's what the NIL did is that it was like, okay, we're going to give some freedom, but then as you mentioned, should you be able as a student athlete transfer every single year? you you lose the team aspect of sports as well.

[00:19:51]>> Well, so so what this bill does, it protects number one the right of every athlete to to to to get compensated for real NIL for name, image, and likeness.

[00:20:00]So if a quarterback is selling tennis shoes and and if that quarterback can sell millions of tennis shoes, that quarterback should be compensated millions of dollars. If you're producing that value, those contracts should be fully honored. This bill protects that.

[00:20:13]Uh it also protects the rights of athletes to participate in revenue sharing. and and there was a big litigation over college sports and a settlement that that agreed to a revenue sharing agreement so that universities now can pass on uh significant portions of the revenue that is being earned to the athletes. And so that's protected.

[00:20:32]But what it doesn't allow is is fake NIL deals. What it doesn't allow is a booster handing a bag of cash to an athlete in in a dark alley just to get that athlete to pay at their play at their school. And so it draws a line between real NIL and and and just fake boosters trying to game the system. What else does it do? You you you mentioned uh transfers.

[00:20:55]>> By the way, to be clear, what you just described, there's a lot of that happening. And that's that's the that's the that's the the the dark world of sports that I don't think people understand until they actually see it. I I I tell the story. I I had a a buddy of mine who played football and his mom traveled to every game and his brothers came to every game and I knew their financial situation. I just asked him and we were friends like, "How does it work?" He was like, "You want to see how it works?" Like, "Yeah." He goes, "Watch." He goes, "After the game Saturday, walk with me afterwards. Meet me at the lockers and I'll show you how it works." And and I don't blame him. I want to be clear. This is how it worked at every SC school in the country. You had a bag. He had his bag and it was his locker room bag and it was about, you know, this big and you throw your sneakers and stuff in there. He would walk into a booster's tent, put that bag down the corner. We'd eat a little food.

[00:21:45]We'd leave, he'd pick the bag up and there was cash in the bag. He was then knew which booster to go to next. They were told the boosters to go to and they would go to the next booster. They put a little cash in that bag. Same thing and work it. And then we went back to the to the dorm room and we're counting cash.

[00:22:01]He's like, "Yeah, this is going to get my mom's plane ticket, my brother's plane ticket, my grandmother's plane ticket. Otherwise, they'll never see me play a game. It covers their hotels and their meals, and that's how the system works." So, like cleaning that up is is great and but it's still happening as you described it. There's still bags of money coming in dark alleys.

[00:22:19]>> And by the way, one of the things this bill protects explicitly is the ability of programs to cover travel expenses for the family of players. So, so that's something that that is explicitly allowed under the bill and and carved out as legitimate. This this bill also ratchets up health and safety standards for student athletes and it and it puts in place rules that you can't you can't just ignore a concussion. You got to have health and safety standards. I it requires far more extensive health insurance for student athletes than you have right now, including five years of health insurance after playing for injuries or disease uh from from things that occurred while playing. And and and so that is >> because the day you leave, I I I say this because I witnessed it. The day you leave, I blew up my shoulder. It would have been within the five years. It was clearly damage done during my time playing.

[00:23:09]>> All of that is on me. all the deductible, all the rehab. If you don't have great insurance, it's on you. My buddies that played that had herniated discs, they had back surgeries afterwards, they miss work, they I mean, and then you talk about the the brain injuries of athletes and the concussion that they knew and there was a clear decision made in college sports that we can use up your body and duct tape it to success. And as soon as you either graduated or were off scholarship or walked out of that locker room for the last time, we had zero liability. So I I I mean this when I say it, thank you because that may be the most important thing you guys put in there. 5 years is adequate because I I know my shoulder surgery, the rehab, and everything else out of my own pocket. That was on me.

[00:23:54]And there's a lot of players that have to deal with that. It's unfair.

[00:23:56]>> Yeah. And and look, something like your shoulder injury, this mandates zero out-of- pocket expense for the athlete for those five years that it has to be covered by the insurance with no out-of- pocket expense. Uh it also creates a $60 million medical trust fund so that institutions that don't have the resources to provide that that educa uh that that insurance institutions like historically black colleges and universities that trust fund is there paid for by the giant schools that are generating a lot of money and and so it it improves the standards and and and it also has protections for scholarships, academic protection. So, a coach can't say to a player, you can't take that course. A coach can't make a a player not not be able to go to go to class.

[00:24:37]There are lots of protections that are written in for the athletes. But then the system, you mentioned the transfer portal. What the bill provides is that every athlete is entitled to one free transfer. So, you can transfer anytime, no questions asked. For a second transfer, it lays out specific reasons.

[00:24:54]So, number one, if your coach quits, if your coach quits, you can transfer somewhere else. Number two, if your program is canceled. Well, if your program is canceled, you can transfer somewhere else if you want to play in another school. Or number three, if you're a victim of of sexual assault or sexual harassment, those exceptions are carved out. You can have a second transfer. But other than those exception, if you transfer a second time, you're required to red shirt for a year. You're required to sit out for a year. Because look, my approach focusing on this bill is I didn't spend a lot of time worrying about the superstars. I I didn't spend a lot of time worrying about the Michael Jordans or or or or very few of them the that the Arch Mannings. Uh you know, there are people that are going to make millions in the NBA or the NFL and they're going to be fine. But 99% of college athletes are like you, Ben, that they're folks who played in college but but never played the NFL, the the NBA. 99% of the athletes in college are never going to play pro ball of any kind. And my focus was was on those guys that I want them to be able to to get an opportunity to get an education and and for for millions of low-income kids, many African-American or Hispanic w without athletics, they would not have the chance. They wouldn't be able to afford college and and to get an education, to get a degree, but but also to learn everything you get from sports. hard work, discipline, teamwork, sportsmanship, all of that can can help set them up for success in life, even if they don't earn a paycheck as a professional athlete. And and so, look, for a for an athlete, if you end up going to four or five schools in in four or five years, you're not getting a good education. You're just going from one school to the other and playing and playing and playing at the end of your time. You're done playing an athlete anymore. You're an athlete. You're an athlete that's getting traded from one team to another. So the transfer portal reform is really important and eligibility. We put in clear rules that every athletes entitled to 5 years of eligibility and a hard cap of age 24 is the oldest you can be. And so >> I love that rule.

[00:26:56]>> You know, we're not going to have 27 28 year old guys. It's not it's not fair for a 28-year-old guy to play against an 18y old guy. There's just differences that that make it not fair.

[00:27:07]>> My sports brain's going insane right now. I have a question. What if you serve in the military? Is there a is there a >> Yes, there is.

[00:27:15]>> There is an exception for the military explicitly.

[00:27:18]>> Okay. So, if you're over 24, you go serve, you come back, you can play again. All right. I have another question. You said >> it also specifies pros can't go uh go in and play college sports. I got to admit, I I was joking with with Charlie Baker, who's the the head of the NCAA. I said I I said, "Charlie, I for one am really looking forward to seeing LeBron James' college career because right now in the current system, he never played in college. He could go back. Could you imagine being a 17-year-old kid, a freshman in college and and discover that you're you're guarding LeBron James?

[00:27:51]>> Senator, I want to get back into this.

[00:27:52]You mentioned something I want to I want to clarify. You said that you get two transfers. This is the first time in my life I've ever wanted to be a witness in in anything in government in the Senate or the House.

[00:28:01]As a witness, I would ask this question to to the body. So, I'll ask it to you.

[00:28:06]If I go to a school freshman year and the coach that recruits me, he quits, disappears, leaves, whatever. I get to transfer. What if I go to another school and then that coach takes another job?

[00:28:17]Do I get another transfer?

[00:28:18]>> Yes. Anytime your coach quits, it's not fair to you to punish you. If you were recruited for a coach and the coach, just a minimum of one, it's unlimited there.

[00:28:25]>> Right. Right. in in that exception because that's a legitimate reason to to leave and that's not going to happen as a widespread matter. That's not going to lead to you know you know e every starting basketball player being recruited away at the end of every season from a team which is what we're seeing sometimes now.

[00:28:40]>> Yeah. Oh no. I mean I laugh there's football teams now where there was like zero members from the prior year on the football team >> and that's a football team which is huge. So who is against this legislation and where's the push back coming from?

[00:28:54]Well, I have to say, so we introduced it this week and and there's been surprisingly little push back. It has been very wellreceived. As I said, people were astonished that we could get there. Things are so broken down and partisan that they just believe there was no way Democrats and Republicans could come together.

[00:29:10]>> And let's be clear, pretty liberal guy like you and him don't y'all are not usually one in one like this.

[00:29:15]>> Well, actually, Chris and I work on a number of things together. Maria Canwell is my lead partner on this. She's the ranking member on commerce and and we literally have been negotiating for the last month. We've been spending 6 to 8 hours a day in a room negotiating directly provision by provision. It has been painstaking. But but and we had to reach middle grounds where there are provisions in there that don't go as far as I would like but don't go as far as she would like. And and that's how you have to get there.

[00:29:42]>> But but our opposition is coming from two two places.

[00:29:45]>> Number one, the extreme far left and number two, big money. And and let me break that down. The extreme far left to date, only one senator out of 100 has publicly criticized that. That's Chris Mur Chris Murphy, the very liberal senator from Connecticut who's blasted this, says this doesn't do enough for athletes and and it just helps millionaires. And and it's look, the far-left uh is listening to to union bosses and trial lawyers that want a system where number one, they're constant lawsuits. every university is being sued non-stop. Every conference being sued non-stop. Every league is being sued non-stop. And and number two, every uh student athlete is an employee.

[00:30:27]They're unionized. They're union members. They're paying union dues.

[00:30:30]Those union dues are going to to fund Democrat candidates. Both of those are terrible outcomes for college sports.

[00:30:36]And and and a whole lot of the programs, the historically black colleges and universities who said if that happens, they'll shut down their entire athletic department. I mean, that's the consequence that would end up taking away athletic opportunity for over time millions of kids. So, that that's a terrible outcome. But that's one area of push back is the very far left. The other area of push back is is big money.

[00:30:59]And and you know, I mentioned that we're on a path to consolidation in 30 to 50 schools. In college football, there are two conferences that that account for more than twothirds of the revenue, and that is the SEC and the Big 10. that that's where the eyeballs are. They generate massive revenue because look, that's where most of the best football in America is being played is the SEC and Big 10. Not exclusively, but very heavily, those two conferences.

[00:31:24]>> There has been a lot of talk in those two conferences >> about merging and forming a super league. Now, I think that would be a terrible outcome. You'd end up with the rich getting richer, but all of the rest of college sports would be left behind.

[00:31:38]It would basically transform the other schools into into I would describe as division two. You wouldn't be able to compete at the same level. You wouldn't have the same quality players. Anybody that cared about football and wanted to play at the highest level and play for national championship would go to the super conference, right? Like right now, you want to go to the SEC. And if you're from the northnortheast, you may want to go in in other schools. But in general, that's the holy grail. You do what you just described and have them two come together. Every other school in America is a loser now. And by the way, it's even worse than that because they lose essentially all of their TV revenue which funds the rest of their athletic department. So the other schools cancel all the non-revenue stores. They slash athletics altogether. They eliminate scholarships. So you end up with millions of kids over time not being able to go to school uh to play sports.

[00:32:25]Um and and that and and it's not just those kids because an awful lot of eyeballs people learn about a school by watching March Madness, by watching sports and they end up applying to the school and you know a Gonzaga uh you know I I mean and they end up it drives when your school does well in athletics your applications sore your your donations from alumni sore and so you end up badly damaging a bunch of schools not just in sports but altogether and and hurting universities. So, what does this bill do? Number one, it explicitly prohibits a super league. It prohibits the Big 10 and the SEC from combining.

[00:33:02]It just says no, that's bad for sports.

[00:33:05]It's bad for athletes. It's bad for football. That is prohibited. Now, you know what? The leadership of the SEC in particular is not happy about prohibiting a Super League. But, but secondly, so so the way I looked at this problem there there are two elements.

[00:33:19]There's a cost element and a revenue element. On the cost side, you want to slow down the out of control spiraling that is bankrupting most of the programs so that the programs can stay vibrant and kids can keep having these opportunities. But on the revenue side, we looked hard for how do we grow the revenue that is available to fund college sports. And what we do is we allow colleges to to join together and negotiate for media rights jointly. That I believe will significantly increase the revenue. So, for example, uh the number one source of eyeballs and revenue in in TV is the NFL. It's massive. Yep. The number two is is college football. And yet, amazingly, even though a lot more people watch college football than the NBA, the NBA makes billions more in its media contracts. And and and there's a reason the NBA negotiates as one unit. You don't have the Houston Rockets negotiating against the Knicks and fighting each other. And yet, in college conferences, that's what you have. So this allows conferences to come together. It's voluntary, so no one's forced to come together.

[00:34:20]>> Yeah, no one's forced to.

[00:34:22]>> But it lets them come together and negotiate uh jointly for media rights. I believe that would expand by billions of dollars the money coming in, which means there's more money for the other sports.

[00:34:34]And we write in that if you do this, if if you get joint media rights, you must maintain every single roster spot and every single scholarship spot for women's and men's sports, for for Olympic sports, for track and field, for tennis, for all the non-revenue sports, you got to maintain them if you're getting a lot more money through football. And so, it's designed to be a win-win for everyone. But, but look, the the the leadership of of the SEC has said that they're not interested. And and I look, Greg Sanki, I know well, Tony Patiti, who leads the the Big 10, I know him well. I've talked to both of them and I've said, "Listen, this is voluntary. It only works if you guys choose to participate. That means the other schools have to offer you a good enough deal that y'all are making a lot more money and so are they." That is a win-win for everyone. That's the outcome I hope we see because I want to see college sports continue to be an amazing thing for athletes, for students, continue to be an amazing thing for universities and a great thing for fans.

[00:35:32]Look, it it is an awesome thing to cheer on your school. And you asked about the Lane Keifin rule. It provides that coaches cannot be hired away during the season or during the playoffs. We adopt the same rule as the NFL, which is you got to wait till the off season cuz it's not fair to do what happened to the fans of Old Miss to take their coach right going into the playoffs. That's just wrong.

[00:35:54]>> I love it. Don't forget we do this show as a podcast three days a week. It is Verdict with Ted Cruz. Download it wherever you can and we'll see you back here on this radio station as well next week.