WASHINGTON, D.C. – Sen. Shelley Moore Capito once again stands in support of the bipartisan Protect College Sports Act after participating in a rally for the bill’s passage on Monday.
The bill, which would put federal regulations on college athletics while providing an antitrust exemption, is expected to come to a vote in the next week, according to its co-author, Sen. Ted Cruz, R-TX.
“This is seriously threading a needle. I am a member of the Senate Commerce Committee. I am a proud co-sponsor of this bill. The work that they have done has really been a herculean task because there are a lot of pushes and pulls that you might not see as this goes through,” she said.
College administrators across the country have lobbied for the PCSA’s passage to put limits on what co-author Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-WA, called “the Wild West” in college sports.
West Virginia University President Michael T. Benson and Director of Athletics Wren Baker, as well as Brad Smith and Gerald Harrison, their counterparts at Marshall University, have publicly expressed support for the PCSA.
“Our coaches, our ADs, our college presidents, and our student-athletes are fully behind the Protect College Sports Act. They believe it is a great way to solve a lot of the problems,” Capito said.
Capito has repeatedly highlighted the PCSA’s measures for the protection of women’s and Olympic sports as athletic departments dedicate more and more money to stay competitive in revenue-producing sports like football and men’s basketball.
She cited herself and her daughter’s experiences as college athletes to underscore the value of those programs.
“I saw not just athletic ability but perseverance and leadership. Future leaders, family leaders, and community leaders—all of them—their connections to sports and the experiences that they’ve been able to have at colleges and universities across the state is irreplaceable,” Capito said.
Capito is one of eight co-sponsors on the PCSA, a group that splits evenly along party lines. She believes in the vision of the bill because she believes sports are a universal language.
“Sports are so very important in small states and large states. It doesn’t really matter,” she said.
Guests at Monday’s rally included current NCAA student-athletes and prominent coaches, including men’s basketball coaches John Calipari, Mark Few, and Kelvin Sampson.