The state's biggest rivals are joining teams to push back against U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz's (R-Texas) effort to reform college athletics in the name, image and likeness (NIL) and transfer portal era.
According to the presidents of Auburn University, the University of Alabama, the UA System Board of Trustees and Auburn Board of Trustees, the Protect College Sports Act "is presented as a way to “stabilize” college athletics, but it "would do the opposite by perpetuating the very instability it claims to cure."
In a joint statement, UA president Peter Mohler, Auburn University president Christopher Roberts, UA System Board of Trustees president pro tem Scott Phelps and Auburn Board of Trustees president pro tem James Sanford acknowledge the need to come up with a solution, but they say this new bill does not meet the "standard." The presidents urged the Senate not to advance the bill in its current form.
Full statement as follows:
The University of Alabama and Auburn University oppose the Protect College Sports Act and urge the Senate not to advance it in its current form.
The bill is presented as a way to “stabilize” college athletics, but it would do the opposite by perpetuating the very instability it claims to cure through provisions that would:
- Undermine implementation and enforcement of the rules established under the House settlement, including by narrowing the disclosure and enforcement tools needed to hold every program to the same standards;
- Allow for new litigation undercutting efforts to create uniformity and consistency in rulemaking and enforcement on the national level because of inadequate antitrust protection and preemption standards too narrow to displace the current patchwork of conflicting state laws, while simultaneously creating new forms of liability through expanded private rights of action;
- Establish an expansive federal program—reaching into roster decisions, game scheduling, and internal governance—to micromanage college athletics; and
- Advance private-equity interests, who stand to profit from a redistribution of media-rights revenue, by pressuring institutions to involuntarily pool media rights in a way that punishes success rather than rewarding it.
Auburn University and The University of Alabama both appreciate Congress’s attention to these challenges and share the goals of creating opportunities for and protecting student-athletes, sustaining women’s and Olympic sports, and promoting fair competition through a single, clear national set of rules. But this bill does not meet that standard. In its current form, it solves little of what genuinely challenges college athletics and leaves the central questions to the courts, inviting the very litigation it claims to prevent.
Alabama and Auburn stand ready to work with their Congressional delegation and Members of both parties on a durable solution that protects student-athletes and preserves the ability of universities to compete and operate responsibly.
Former University of Alabama head football coach Nick Saban recently said the legislation wasn't perfect, but he did assert that it would bring "order to a system that badly needs fixing."
RELATED: Saban goes to bat for college sports reform bill in Senate hearing
U.S. Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Auburn) has introduced a college athletics reform bill that would allow student-athletes to play for five consecutive seasons. It would also allow for a one-time transfer without penalty, with any subsequent transfers resulting in the player sitting out a season.
The Protect College Sports Act:
1. Ends the roster chaos with national rules for transfers (one free undergrad) and eligibility (5-in-5)
2. Creates enforceable standards on recruiting, tampering, and NIL disclosures
3. Protects student athletes’ right to earn from their own NIL
4. Enables enforcement of House settlement on revenue sharing and fake NIL deals
5. Sanctions against agents that take advantage of student athletes, facilitate player poaching, and recruit tampering
6. Protects women’s sports, Olympic sports, and scholarship opportunities
7. Preserves historic rivalries
8. Keeps college sports tied to education, so student athletes become successful adults
9. Prohibits football coaches from quitting mid-season to be hired by another program
10. Guarantees safety standards, health care, and an ombudsman for student athletes
11. Makes TV money work for college sports with an option for schools to pool media rights
12. Stops Super League consolidation
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