COSAL Opposes Protect College Sports Act
The Committee to Support the Antitrust Laws (COSAL) led a coalition effort—bringing together national organizations, labor groups, and leading antitrust experts, including former federal and state enforcers—to oppose the Protect College Sports Act (PCSA). COSAL submitted the coalition letter to Senators Ted Cruz and Maria Cantwell of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.
As drafted, the PCSA would grant the NCAA sweeping, unprecedented immunity from antitrust scrutiny and expand its control over college athletics with little to no accountability. The bill’s broad antitrust exemption in Title I, expansion of the Sports Broadcasting Act in Title II, and lack of meaningful enforcement mechanisms together create a framework that places the NCAA above the laws that govern every other industry.
This approach would entrench and amplify the NCAA’s well-documented pattern of exploiting college athletes for financial gain—while stripping those athletes of basic protections against the NCAA’s market power.
COSAL strongly opposes the PCSA as drafted and cannot support the legislation unless these fundamental flaws are addressed.
Signatories include:
American Economic Liberties Project
American Family Voices
Center for Law and Social Policy
Committee to Support the Antitrust Laws
Consumer Federation of America
Demand Progress
Economic Security Project Action
Groundwork Collaborative
Open Markets Institute
P Street
Service Employees International Union
United College Athletes Association
Roger Alford, Former Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General, Antitrust Division, U.S. Department of Justice
William Baer, Former Acting Associate Attorney General; Former Assistant Attorney General, Antitrust Division, U.S. Department of Justice
John M. Newman, Herff Chair of Excellence, University of Memphis School of Law; Former Deputy Director, Bureau of Competition, Federal Trade Commission
Richard Powers, Former Acting Assistant Attorney General, Antitrust Division, U.S. Department of Justice
