As the controversial Protect College Sports Act prepares to come to a vote in the Senate, some last-minute revisions have reportedly been made to protect existing broadcast deals between conferences and television networks.
According to a report by Ross Dellenger of Yahoo Sports, the revised bill does not require conferences to break their existing media-rights contracts with the College Football Playoff, NCAA Tournament, or television networks should some schools or conferences opt to pool their media rights together, a right that would be afforded to them if the legislation passes.
“This means that the option to pool FBS TV rights is unlikely to happen before 2036,” Dellenger writes, noting that the expiration of the ACC’s current broadcast deal with ESPN is in 2036.
A key component of the PCSA, one that proponents of the bill suggest would dramatically increase the media revenue generated from high-level college football, is the ability for schools and conferences to pool and package their media rights together, similar to how professional leagues sell broadcast inventory under the antitrust exemption granted in the Sports Broadcasting Act of 1961. Critics of the bill remain skeptical that pooling rights together would appreciably change the value these rights generate on the open market.
If Dellenger’s assessment is correct, and the revisions to the bill would make it “unlikely” that any pooling would happen prior to 2036, it would undermine a key talking point for the legislation’s supporters, many of whom have predicated their support on the basis that the bill would generate more revenue for schools. Among the bill’s supporters are the TV networks themselves, which would stand to benefit from the new revisions.
College athletics attorney Mit Winter wrote the following in response to Dellenger’s report:
“One of the big reasons for some pushing the PCSA is the claim it would increase revenue for all schools via pooling of TV rights. But as noted here, that won’t happen anytime soon if ever. So the bill is mostly now just a way to try & limit money being paid to athletes.”
The Senate is scheduled to begin procedural votes on the PCSA on Wednesday evening after senators give floor speeches on the legislation.