What’s next, and what does it mean for UW?
Photo by Luke Melinkovich
LARAMIE, Wy. — Ever since the introduction of NIL and the transfer portal, collegiate sports have often been referred to as the “wild west.”
Currently, the Protect College Sports Act (PCSA) bipartisan bill is going through Congress, hoping to wrangle and tame the collegiate rules.
“The PCSA restores common-sense rules to college athletics,” The NCAA said. “The PCSA codifies and enforces important student athlete protections.”
The PCSA is large, and seemingly overwhelming
The first overarching purpose of the bill is to create an equal, level playing field, meaning all teams would follow the same set of rules.
The next issue deals with the eligibility, a common issue with athletes returning back to college after competing professionally. The PCSA aims for a five-year eligibility period that begins when an athlete enrolls in college or the academic year of their 19th birthday. .
But the bill also sets a standard for transfers, revenue sharing, tampering, agents, NIL contracts, and protections for health and safety, academics, and women’s Olympic sports, attempting to seal up every single issue with collegiate sports in one bill.
The question that looms, is whether PCSA can accomplish its goal to “even the playing field” between large schools with wealthy donors and fundraising, and smaller schools that have to squeeze every penny (even if those pennies add up to millions).
For University of Wyoming, Athletic Director Tom Burman thinks that the bill can be a step in the right direction for everyone.
He laid out what he thinks the bill could do for UW Athletics in a September UW Board of Trustees meeting, saying that “the best part of it” is the way in which the bill will “limit the transfer portal to one transfer.”
Burman explained that this allows athletes “one free transfer in college,” with a second transfer requiring athletes “to sit a year.”
“That will help all schools in the group of six. It will significantly help the University of Wyoming, because now you can strategize how to build your roster,” Burman said.
The potential new transfer rule helps UW in two ways.
First, it makes players think twice before transferring, since if a player did not start their career here, they would know that leaving the program means forfeiting a year of eligibility. For players that began their career here, they would wonder if they were using their one transfer correctly.
The second way this rule can elevate UW is in roster building, like Burman noted, since obviously, keeping players for more years should result in better performance.
Since the introduction of NIL, UW has struggled keeping solid athletes due to their receiving irresistible offers from other schools, or simply because players are a free agent each year.
“What we’re good at here is developing players, doesn’t matter if it’s volleyball or football, we do a really good job at developing athletes,” Burman said. “Right now, we’re having a hard time keeping them. If those roadblocks are created, that will help us, because right now every single student athlete in every single sport is a free agent every year. There’s no sport in the world where that is how you do business.” Wyoming is not alone in their support of the PCSA.
Gloria Nevarez, commissioner of the Mountain West conference, thanked “the senators representing states and institutions across our conference who supported the Protect College Sports Act and helped secure its bipartisan passage,” since she believes “the PCSA provides much-needed clarity while establishing meaningful health, safety, medical and academic protections for student-athletes.”
“Just as importantly,” she stated, “it preserves the essential connection between college athletics and education.”
Nunez explained that “student-athletes should have the opportunity to compete at the highest level while earning a degree and preparing for life beyond competition,” and this bill passing the Senate “represents significant progress” towards that goal.
Sponsored by Republican Ted Cruz and Democrat Maria Cantwell, the bill passed through the Senate by a bi-partisan vote of 77–22 on Sept. 28.
However, it may not be smooth sailing for the bill to pass through into law, since according to ESPN’s Dan Murphy, multiple sources on Capitol Hill have issues with the bill, and would not give it full support through the House of Representatives.
Another problem facing the PCSA is time.
The House is in a work period and recess for the upcoming midterm elections, and with only so many days left in the year, there may be more pressing issues for the House to attend to, leaving the PCSA out.
This could cause the bill to lose progress, and require a start-over when the new Congress reconvenes in January.
For now, UW and other colleges around the nation will have to hold their breath to see if these new rules will be passed.
Nunez specified that “the work is not finished. We urge the House of Representatives to act promptly, send the legislation to the President, and ultimately see the PCSA signed into law.”
