Updated Sept. 12, 2026, 10:50 a.m. ET
“College GameDay” panelist Nick Saban has been one of the most outspoken proponents of the “Protect College Sports Act,” and the show brought Texas Sen. Ted Cruz on ahead of Texas-Ohio State on Sept. 12 to rally support for the bill.
It didn’t go as planned.
Cruz drew a chorus of boos from the Austin crowd upon his appearance with Rece Davis, and a myriad of jeers throughout his segment. Cruz touched on everything from the Lane Kiffin situation in LSU to Brendan Sorsby’s offseason as why the bill should pass, labeling it as “chaos.”
Though he didn’t conduct the segment, Saban has appeared in advertising spots professing the importance of the bill, as has Colorado head coach Deion Sanders. Cruz sponsors the bill, as does Maria Cantwell (D) out of Washington. Though the crowd petered out a bit toward the end, it obviously wasn’t keen on having Cruz on the dais. Cruz spoke for a little under eight minutes.
What is the Protect College Sports Act?
The Protect College Sports Act is a bipartisan bill meant to wrangle some of the offseason chaos that has permeated college sports since the emergence of Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL).
It allowed student athletes to be compensated by NIL while requiring reporting of agreements over $600. It also bans agreements outside of NIL meant to circumvent fair market value. The bill further places restrictions upon agents, forcing them to be registered with their state, and it allowed for one transfer without losing any eligibility and a second transfer with a year of lost eligibility. It gives five years of eligibility for athletes.
There are other things specified in the bill, but the things fans will care about the most surround NIL rights and eligibility rules, two of the most talked about topics in the sport. The fans apparently, however, don’t care as much when there’s a marquee matchup against a non-conference opponent later in the day.
Criticism of Protect College Sports Act
“College GameDay” did not give opposition of the bill a platform, with a vote upcoming this week.
Senator Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) has been one of the more outspoken critics of the bill, writing on his website in May that the antitrust exemption in the bill will keep the athletes underpaid alongside the hard cap.
