Randy Levine to Newsmax: College Sports Will 'Implode' Without Bill
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New York Yankees President Randy Levine urged the Senate to pass a bipartisan college sports bill next month, warning that the current system is collapsing under its own costs.
"What's happening in college sports today, our universities are going broke. They're spending an incredible amount of money on athletic departments, money they don't have," Levine said on Newsmax's "Greg Kelly Reports."
" They've been taking it from their endowments. They've been putting it on student fees."
The Protect College Sports Act, sponsored by Sens. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., Ted Cruz, R-Texas, Eric Schmitt, R-Mo., and Chris Coons, D-Del., cleared the Senate Commerce Committee 19-9 in June.
A floor vote stalled before the August recess and was pushed to September. Levine said he expects it around Sept. 15.
The measure would write athletes' name, image, and likeness rights into federal law, add scholarship and healthcare protections, regulate agents, and let schools pool media rights.
It would also bar the largest athletic programs from cutting women's and Olympic sports below their 2024-25 levels for nine years.
"Most of the money goes to college football and men's basketball," he said. "And because there's not enough to go around, they're starting to cut what we call Olympic sports, women's sports, nonrevenue sports."
He pointed to recent court rulings that have allowed players who turned professional to return to college rosters, singling out two athletes headed to Louisiana State University.
Tight end Dae'Quan Wright is set to join the Tigers after a court order and his release by the Cleveland Browns, and guard RJ Luis was granted an injunction making him eligible this season.
The disputes widened Thursday, when a Dallas County, Texas, judge issued a temporary restraining order blocking a new Southeastern Conference rule barring athletes who played professionally from returning to the league. The case involves more than 40 players.
"Either you're a student-athlete or you're a professional athlete," Levine said.
He said the bill doubles the money available to athletes and levels the playing field. He was named to help lead a college sports commission created by President Donald Trump, who has endorsed the legislation.
"Of course, you have detractors, as you always do. But as we come to the stretch, this whole system is about to just implode," Levine said.
The bill has been endorsed by 267 colleges, the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee, the NFL, MLB, and the NBA.
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