Ted Cruz expects Senate vote on Protect College Sports Act soon - ESPN

With college football in full swing, proponents of the Protect College Sports Act have launched an all-out blitz to push the legislation through the Senate before the chamber breaks in the coming weeks.

The bill aims to put guardrails around escalating spending in college sports as the industry struggles to adapt to a new model in which schools can pay players. Major conferences, Senate leadership and President Donald Trump have backed the bipartisan bill, yet it still faces pushback that could sink it before the chamber breaks this fall.

«This bill protects the billions of dollars that coaches and sports industry executives are making over the suppression of compensation for some of the most highly valued athletes in the world,» Democratic Sen. Chris Murphy of Connecticut said on a call with reporters Monday. «What we're being asked to do is to basically allow colleges and conferences and the NCAA to illegally collude.»

Murphy's opposition followed a high-profile weekend push by Sen. Ted Cruz, a co-sponsor of the bill, who appeared Saturday on ESPN's «College GameDay» to make the case for its passage. Cruz, a Texas Republican, spent nearly 10 minutes explaining why he thinks the legislation is important as loud boos rang out from the University of Texas crowd behind him.

Launched by Cruz and Democratic Sen. Maria Cantwell of Washington in late May, the bill that has been discussed all summer is back in focus with a vote possible before Congress goes back into recess for the midterm elections.

Cruz, at a news conference in Washington alongside Cantwell, college athletes, coaches and other members of Congress, said he expects the Senate to vote on the bill this week or next. He is hoping it passes with resounding support