The legislation’s principal shortcomings include:
- It does not restore the primacy of education as the governing purpose of intercollegiate athletics.
- It more than doubles the “pay-for-play” pro sports model of the NCAA vs. House settlement, increasing the cost of college athletics programs without expenditure restraints knowing that: (i) 93% of colleges and universities are still not complying with Title IX, (ii) all but roughly 2% of athletics programs are heavily subsidized by student tuition and fees, and (iii) only about a half-dozen to a dozen FBS athletic departments generate a true economic surplus after accounting for all costs, including capital expenditures, debt service, facility maintenance, administrative overhead, and institutional subsidies, all while institutions of higher education are facing huge financial challenges caused by the enrollment cliff. The economic system underlying the proposed Act will produce an unsustainable financial system that will weaken U.S. higher education.
- It institutionalizes the commercialization of college athletics through extensive regulation rather than addressing the underlying incentives driving commercialization.
- It requires some financial disclosure but does not require public disclosure of NIL or other payments by sport.
- It does little to curb the escalating athletics spending arms race that diverts institutional resources from teaching, research, and student success.
- It provides insufficient protections for Olympic and broad-based sports programs that face increasing financial pressure under today’s revenue-driven model.
- It does not meaningfully strengthen institutional accountability for gender equity or address emerging gender disparities associated with revenue sharing and commercial compensation.
- It leaves governance primarily within athletic departments and organizations instead of restoring greater oversight by faculty, academic leadership, and governing boards responsible for institutional educational missions.
- It emphasizes regulation of the existing system rather than structural reforms that would better align athletics with higher education’s core academic values.
