The University of Alabama and Auburn University are urging the U.S. Senate to reject the proposed Protect College Sports Act, saying the laws would create extra issues than it solves for college athletics.
In a joint assertion Monday, the colleges stated they oppose the bill in its present type, arguing it could undermine current reforms established beneath the House settlement governing college sports whereas rising authorized uncertainty and federal oversight.
University leaders stated the laws would weaken enforcement instruments designed to make sure applications observe the identical guidelines, enable for extra lawsuits by offering what they describe as insufficient antitrust protections, and increase the federal authorities’s function into areas corresponding to roster choices, scheduling and inside governance.
The universities additionally criticized provisions they are saying may gain advantage non-public fairness companies by encouraging the redistribution of media-rights income in a means that “punishes success rather than rewarding it.”
While opposing the present proposal, Alabama and Auburn stated they help congressional efforts to create a nationwide framework that protects student-athletes, preserves ladies’s and Olympic sports, and promotes honest competitors.
The assertion was signed by University of Alabama System Board of Trustees President Pro Tempore Scott Phelps, Auburn University Board of Trustees President Pro Tempore James H. Sanford, University of Alabama President Dr. Peter Mohler and Auburn University President Dr. Christopher B. Roberts.
The universities stated they’re ready to work with Alabama’s congressional delegation and lawmakers from each events on laws they imagine would supply a more practical long-term resolution for college athletics.