Republicans in Washington usually want to empower workers and businesses to innovate and thrive. But they are pushing a bill that could create a massive new union that would crush the hopes and dreams of thousands of young athletes around the country.
The bill is the so-called Protect College Sports Act, which claims to “stabilize college sports,” chiefly by bringing order to the chaotic name, image, and likeness landscape. That sounds fine on the surface, but dig a single layer deeper, and it does anything but protect the institution we love.
This issue is deeply personal to me. I was a four-star football recruit from Lakeland, Florida, and I earned a scholarship to the University of Alabama. I played for Nick Saban and Kirby Smart and won a national championship. I also graduated from college, the first in my family to do so. Today, I work with young athletes every day, and I can tell you Congress is focused on the wrong problem.
I didn’t go to Alabama to become rich. I went because football gave me an opportunity my family never had. The athletes I know aren’t chasing eight-figure NIL deals. They’re trying to help mom pay the bills, earn a degree, and build a better life after football. The vast majority will never play what we traditionally call “professional” sports.
They don’t need Washington micromanaging how much they can earn. They need transparent contracts, trustworthy agents, financial literacy, and protection from bad actors.
Instead, Congress is trying to impose the rules of professional sports without the protections that make those rules work.
Start with the obvious: Congress is importing a professional-style salary cap, without any of the bargaining and representation. It’s a bill about controlling money, dressed up as a bill about protecting a system that has outgrown its old rules.
The PCSA borrows the salary-cap concept straight from professional-league collective bargaining agreements, but real salary caps are negotiated by unionized players, who get healthcare, benefits, and a seat at the table in exchange. Student-athletes get the cap with none of the trade-offs: no union, no collective bargaining, no guaranteed benefits. They’re getting the worst part of the pro sports model imposed on them by law, not agreed to by them.
Congress can’t have it both ways: either these athletes are amateurs and not employees who are well outside the professional sports (and professional sports union) framework, or they deserve the bargaining rights and representation that come with professional pay structures.
In pro sports, if players think the salary cap is unfair, they strike, negotiate, or take it to their representation.
In college athletics, the current settlement framework already limits universities to roughly $20.5 million annually in direct revenue sharing with athletes. The PCSA would preserve that cap while eliminating the private NIL deals that currently allow athletes to earn beyond it. Washington would effectively dictate the maximum compensation athletes can receive, without giving the athletes themselves a seat at the table.
My friend Don Malloy, who’s neck-deep in this world, explained at Fox News Digital how the PCSA aims to “federalize” college sports in a flat, one-size-fits-all way. In college athletics, the media and ticket revenue from more popular sports — say, a top football or basketball program — often dwarf whatever smaller programs and sports might produce. A national cap imposed by statute can’t flex the way real pro leagues do, because it’s not tied to negotiated, sport-specific revenue splits. It’s not just economically unworkable. It’s also unfair to the very students the PCSA claims to represent and protect.
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Congress says this bill will protect and stabilize college sports. But stability isn’t created by capping opportunity or forcing professional labor disputes onto college campuses. It’s created by giving athletes clear rules, honest representation, and the tools to succeed long after their playing days are over.
As I said, I made my start in the college sports world. I have a strong emotional stake in these students’ success. I don’t want Washington creating the very labor battles it claims it’s trying to prevent. Congress must address these issues in the PCSA and put the athletes first.
Chris Rogers is an NFLPA-certified sports agent, former University of Alabama national champion, and a Silicon Valley Business Journal 40 Under 40 honoree. Before representing collegiate and professional athletes, he built a career in Silicon Valley, where he led talent and workforce initiatives at one of the world’s largest technology companies.
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[ H/T Washington Examiner ]
