Sen. Ted Cruz against idea of college athletes as employees - ESPN

Sen. Ted Cruz said it is «absolutely critical» that any federal law related to college sports includes a provision that prevents athletes from being deemed employees of their school.

The Republican from Texas, who holds a key position in advancing NCAA legislation as chair of the Senate Commerce Committee, told ESPN in an interview Wednesday that Congress might run out of time to act if it can't find a bipartisan solution in the coming months. During a yearslong effort to restore order to the college sports industry, Republicans and Democrats have remained largely divided on whether college athletes should have a future avenue for collective bargaining, which would require them to be employees.

«Clarifying that student athletes are not employees is absolutely critical,» Cruz told ESPN. «Without it, we will see enormous and irreparable damage to college sports.»

Cruz and NCAA leaders say many smaller schools would not be able to afford their sports teams if athletes had to be paid and receive benefits as employees. However, as lawsuits over player contracts and eligibility rules continue to mount, a growing number of frustrated coaches and athletic directors from major programs say they are open to collective bargaining as a solution.

«I've always been against this idea of players as employees, but quite frankly, that might be the only way to protect the collegiate model,» Clemson football coach Dabo Swinney, a longtime defender of amateurism, said at a news conference last week.

The NCAA and its members have spent millions of dollars in the past several years lobbying Congress for a bill that would grant the association an antitrust exemption, supersede state laws related to college sports and block attempts to gain