By KACE KIESCHNICK, Tiger Rag Staff Reporter
Let’s try this again.
The Southeastern Conference and the Big Ten Conferences are now facing another deadline set by lawmakers. The final version of the Protect College Sports Act has been sent to conference officials after last minute negotiations Wednesday, and they had until 9 a.m. central time Thursday to announce their positions, and that deadline has been missed as of 10:30 a.m. Thursday.
The conferences, of course, faced a similar deadline Wednesday after they received an overhauled version of the act, which conformed to many of the demands made by the SEC and Big 10. The leagues missed that deadline and held meetings to discuss the bill, threatening its future.
Congress is running out of time to get the Protect College Sports Act to the U.S. Senate floor before a month-long recess beginning Aug. 7. If the bill does not make it to Majority Leader John Thune’s desk by tonight, it will likely be tabled until next off-season, if it does not die completely.
The hold up for the conferences was a new revenue-share retention pool that has now been increased to $22.5 million that schools may exceed the normal $21.3 million cap by to retain athletes. With a $5 million retention pool exception for women’s sports, that is a $48.8 million total cap limit for schools.
Also changed in the final copy is harsher language to prevent cap circumvention.
It is believed the bill will pass through the Senate with the support of the SEC and Big 10.
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