Congress Takes On College Sports: NIL, Media Rights, the Big Ten/SEC, and the Fight Over Athlete Pay

Galen Clavio reacts to the first day of Senate hearings on the Cruz-Cantwell college sports bill and explains why the proposal, at least in its current form, seems unlikely to solve the biggest problems facing college athletics.This episode digs into the Big Ten and SEC’s joint response, the push for pooled media rights, the politics surrounding the bill, and the testimony from figures like Nick Saban, Gordon Gee, and Pete Bevacqua. Galen also walks through why transfer restrictions are legally and ethically complicated if athletes are still treated as students, why Olympic sports funding has become such a difficult issue, and why real collective bargaining with athletes may be the only way to build a sustainable future for college sports.