Ted Cruz

Collegiate athletics is one of the pillars of American culture.

From tailgating to March Madness brackets to people’s personal allegiance to their alma maters or just love of the home team, it all creates something uniquely American.

But we all know college sports is changing now in ways that are likely to change our traditions and relationships with our teams. New rules on name, image and likeness, the transfer portal, and the House settlement have created issues that have shaken the foundation of a century-old establishment.

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Whatever is happening now is not sustainable. The NCAA, once an all-powerful overlord of college sports, is a whisper of its old self in the NIL age. Student athletes, meanwhile, are more commodities than ever.

These issues together have created a system of chaos, and it has reached a level where change must arrive to protect college sports. We’re thankful that one potential solution is on the table.

Last month, Sens. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and Maria Cantwell, D-Wash, introduced the Protect College Sports Act (PCSA). In an attempt to control the volatile nature of collegiate athletics, this act provides a solution to some of its biggest problems, from guardrails on the transfer portal to ensuring the longevity of women’s and Olympic sports.

The bill would put restrictions on how athletes are allowed to transfer between institutions, prevent college football coaches from leaving midseason, and ensure that non-revenue-generating sports remain intact.

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Jared Mosley, the vice president and director of athletics at the University of North Texas, believes that this bill is necessary for creating stability across the industry.

“College athletics is at its best when it provides meaningful opportunities for student-athletes while fostering the traditions, rivalries, competitive excellence, and campus connections that generations of fans and supporters have come to value,” he wrote to us. “We are encouraged by efforts to establish a more sustainable framework that supports student-athletes, institutions, and the long-term health of college athletics.”

The takeaway from the PCSA should be that there is bipartisan recognition of how problematic the new age of college sports has become. There is still work to be done, but the bill is a start in the right direction. An era where the well-being of student athletes, women’s and Olympic sports are put first is a step toward protecting the traditions that made college athletics great.

A bipartisan bill in 2026 also shows just how urgent a national issue this is. In a time where political agreements have become increasingly rare, we have come to the realization that there needs to be change. Not just for the sake of the student athletes but for the long-term prosperity of collegiate athletics.

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