President Donald Trump says college athletics are barreling toward financial ruin without the sports bill moving through the Senate.
In a social media post celebrating Tuesday's vote, Trump called the current state of college sports a "horrible situation" and predicted a wave of closures if Congress doesn't act.
"It is out of control, and will lead to bankruptcies and disaster for many Colleges," Trump wrote.
The Senate voted 74-24 on Tuesday to advance the Protect College Sports Act, clearing the 60-vote threshold needed to break a filibuster. The bipartisan bill from Sens. Ted Cruz (R-TX) and Maria Cantwell (D-WA) would set national rules for paying college athletes for the use of their name, image and likeness, along with rules for transfers and eligibility.
"College sports today are in crisis," Cruz said on the Senate floor, calling the current system the Wild West.
Trump warned that without caps, every college will be financially consumed, and said women's sports and Olympic sports face the worst of it. He also said professional athletes returning to college for big money to play against younger competition is dangerous and unfair. The president has pushed the issue for months, hosting a White House roundtable in March with former Alabama coach Nick Saban and NCAA President Charlie Baker, then signing another executive order in April.
The bill would write the 22% cap on revenue that schools can share with players into law, an amount worth roughly $21.5 million this year, and add a $27.5 million retention pool. It would also limit players to one transfer without sitting out a year and cap eligibility at five years.
Trump said only two Senate Republicans voted against advancing the bill, Sens. Ashley Moody and Rick Scott of Florida, and predicted they would come around. He thanked Saban and New York Yankees president Randy Levine for their help, and claimed the issue polls at 91%.
NAACP President Derrick Johnson told ESPN the bill is driven by conference greed and argued there's no instability in the game. All four Black Democrats in the Senate voted against advancing it.
Cruz has said more than 370 universities back the measure. A second procedural vote and a final Senate vote must still happen before the bill heads to the House, which has repeatedly failed to pass its own version.