If you’re going to be watching college football this weekend (and who isn’t?), get ready to become familiar with Cody Campbell.
According to Front Office Sports, the billionaire Texas Tech booster has purchased ad space during both ESPN’s College GameDay, Fox’s Big Noon Kickoff, and “pretty much all of the games on Saturday.” Campbell’s mission: to lobby Congress to adjust the Sports Broadcasting Act of 1961 to allow for a national college sports TV package.
In its current iteration, the law gives professional sports leagues an antitrust exemption to sell their media rights as a single bundle, as opposed to splitting them up by team or division. A potential amendment to the Sports Broadcasting Act would overrule a 1984 Supreme Court decision, which determined the NCAA has an illegal monopoly over TV rights, shifting such media packages into the hands of the schools and their conferences.
But while the multibillion dollar deals have generated significant revenue for the leagues and their schools, they have also played a key role in the current state of the college sports landscape and its constant conference realignment. Campbell argues that giving the NCAA the ability to sell a national TV package would lead to a deal worth more than all of the current conference agreements combined, increasing the ability to fund women’s and Olympic sports that could otherwise be in danger.
“Dramatic changes are causing nearly every athletic department to operate in the red, forcing cuts, putting women’s sports and Olympic dreams in immediate danger,” Campbell says in the ad. “The solution: Congress must modernize the Sports Broadcasting Act. That single change will generate the funding needed to protect all sports at all schools.”
Campbell’s ad includes a link to a petition and his SavingCollegeSports.com website. The ads were paid for by his self-funded 501(c)(4) organization “Saving College Sports,” which he says has already spent six figures in Congressional lobbying.
While the idea of a national college sports TV package might seem like a lofty goal, Campbell clearly has significant funding and is well-connected politically via his work with the America First Policy Institute. As for the likelihood of such change, legislation regarding the matter has yet to be introduced, although Saturday’s onslaught of ads figures to give the issue its most visibility yet.
About Ben Axelrod
Ben Axelrod is a veteran of the sports media landscape, having most recently worked for NBC's Cleveland affiliate, WKYC. Prior to his time in Cleveland, he covered Ohio State football and the Big Ten for outlets including Cox Media Group, Bleacher Report, Scout and Rivals.