At long last, there is genuine momentum in the U.S. Congress to establish guidelines for athlete compensation, and the SAFE Act, recently introduced by Democrats in the Senate, would also modify the rules surrounding college sports broadcasting.
According to Ross Dellenger at Yahoo Sports, the SAFE Act would amend the 1961 Sports Broadcasting Act, allowing college sports conferences to pool their broadcast rights together. This provision would provide a lifeline for small conferences at a time when athletic programs are increasingly expected to pay athletes directly.
The SBA allows pro leagues to pool their broadcast rights, but college conferences have always struck independent agreements with broadcasters. This is part of how the SEC can generate significantly more revenue than, say, the Big Sky Conference. In recent months, Commerce Committee chair Ted Cruz has pursued changes to the SBA.
Per Dellenger, the SAFE Act would also require conferences to air football and basketball games locally, free of charge. Any network or streaming platform that signed on with a conference would also be required to air women’s and Olympic sports.
A separate, narrower House bill, called the SCORE Act, is also in motion, and a Republican-sponsored Senate bill is reportedly being drafted. The SCORE Act does not amend the SBA; instead, it focuses on regulations in NIL.
The SAFE Act faces steep odds of passing, and the presence of multiple bills indicates that Congress is still in the early stages of revising the laws surrounding college sports. However, the formal introduction of a bill that would amend the SBA is a significant development, and one that could ultimately alter the way we watch college sports forever.
About Brendon Kleen
Brendon is a Media Commentary staff writer at Awful Announcing. He has also covered basketball and sports business at Front Office Sports, SB Nation, Uproxx and more.