I agree with much of this. However, I would push back on the idea that athletes alone built the value of college sports. The value was created collectively by the athletes, schools, conferences, coaches, and the broader ecosystem, just as the NFL's value is built by both players and owners.
More importantly, before anyone argues that college athletes aren't professionals, that's not the point. The point is that the student-athletes whose lives, careers, and earning opportunities are directly impacted by these decisions deserve a meaningful voice in the process. The conversation can't be limited to politicians, athletic directors, conference commissioners, and coaches while excluding the very people at the center of the system.
If we're going to create guardrails for the future of college sports, student-athletes deserve a seat at the table.
I've had some time to consider yesterday's Senate hearing on the Protect College Sports Act.
It framed robust
#NIL and collective activity as threats to competitive balance and Olympic sports.
But NIL is not the crisis. It's not the culprit of "chaos." It doesn't require anyone to "save college sports."
It is the market correction to decades in which institutions and the NCAA profited from athletes without providing them meaningful compensation.
Any federal legislation must strengthen, not constrain, athlete NIL rights and mobility.
Preempting strong state laws, imposing artificial distinctions between "legitimate" deals and market arrangements, or layering new transfer restrictions cannot and must not be done in the absence of bargaining with athletes.
Athletes built the value. People seem to be missing that point. They believe coaches deserve riches and athletes should be pleased with whatever pittance they're provided. No. Athletes deserve a framework that treats them as the principal stakeholders and not as afterthoughts.