Ted Cruz unloads on state of college football as programs get decimated by transfer portal: 'Absolute crisis'

Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, has been trying for years present to get much regulations astir name, representation and likeness (NIL) deals successful assemblage sports, saying backmost successful 2023 that the scenery was "in peril."

Now, successful 2025, Cruz sees assemblage shot specifically arsenic a "disaster."

Cruz responded to a station connected X, which called the "current assemblage shot landscape...unsustainable."

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Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, arrives to a proceeding successful the U.S. Capitol connected Dec. 17, 2025, successful Washington, D.C. The Federal Aviation Administration proceeding with the Senate Committee connected Commerce, Science, and Transportation, Subcommittee connected Aviation, Space, and Innovation focused connected evaluating progress, ensuring accountability and results. (Heather Diehl/Getty Images)

The station pointed retired that the Iowa State Cyclones, who conscionable mislaid longtime caput manager Matt Campbell to the vacant Penn State Nittany Lions job, lone has 17 players remaining connected their roster for adjacent season. Among those players, lone 1 was a starter.

Essentially, the Cyclones volition person to tract an wholly caller roster and squad and anticipation they tin jell heading into 2026.

SCORE ACT RECEIVES SUPPORT FROM OVER 20 CONSERVATIVE GROUPS AS NIL REFORM FIGHT REVS UP

Cruz slammed the information the NCAA allows this.

"An implicit crisis," helium wrote connected X. "Congress NEEDS to act. For months, I’ve been moving nighttime & time to effort to bring Republicans and Democrats unneurotic to prevention assemblage sports.

"If we neglect to bash so, it volition beryllium an utter tragedy. And it’s happening close earlier our eyes."

Cruz introduced a measure successful 2023, 2 years aft NIL was born, successful hopes that tighter regulations would assistance assemblage sports nationwide. Instead, we’ve seen programs paying for apical players done NIL deals, portion the transportation portal has allowed players to determination from schoolhouse to schoolhouse each year.

Cruz is 1 of the apical lawmakers successful enactment of the Student Compensation and Opportunity done Rights and Endorsements (SCORE) Act, which would springiness the NCAA a constricted antitrust exemption successful hopes of protecting the enactment from imaginable lawsuits implicit eligibility rules and would prohibit athletes from becoming employees of their schools."

FILE - Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, speaks astatine the Conservative Political Action Conference, CPAC, astatine the Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center, Feb. 20, 2025, successful Oxon Hill, Maryland. (Jose Luis Magana/AP Photo)

"The SCORE Act is the escaped market, idiosyncratic liberty, constricted authorities hole to the ‘name, image, and likeness (NIL)’ contented successful assemblage athletics,’" a missive addressed to House Speaker Rep. Mike Johnson, R-La., work earlier this month.

The groups successful favour of the SCORE Act said the measure is the "common-sense way" to found rules and preempt confusing authorities laws successful the NIL era.

"H.R. 4312 prohibits proceedings lawyers from suing nether national oregon authorities antitrust law. It besides provides that athletes receiving NIL compensation request not beryllium employees of these universities, protecting them from compulsory unionization. This means student-athletes tin beryllium treated arsenic tiny concern owners, not unionized workers," the missive added.

The blimpish groups framed the SCORE Act arsenic being a amended program than the "Student Athlete Fairness and Enforcement (SAFE) Act," which has mostly been backed by Democrats. The SCORE Act has astatine slightest scored immoderate bipartisanship enactment successful the House.

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) holds a property league with families who mislaid loved ones successful the January 29, 2025, DCA level clang connected Dec. 15, 2025, astatine the U.S. Capitol successful Washington, DC. The bipartisan property league addressed the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) language, which changes subject airspace policy. (Heather Diehl/Getty Images)

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The SCORE Act besides calls connected schools to stock revenue, per presumption of the House colony to the tune of 22% "if specified rules supply that specified excavation bounds is AT LEAST 22 percent of the mean yearly assemblage sports gross of the 70 highest-earning schools."

Finally, the SCORE Act prohibits schools from utilizing pupil fees to money NIL payments.

Fox News’ Ryan Gaydos and the Associated Press contributed to this report.

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