Funding of Olympic sports a bargaining chip as NCAA seeks antitrust help, AP sources say
Associated Press
College sports leaders seeking antitrust and other protections from Congress have a potential bargaining chip: School assurances that they will provide funding for their increasingly imperiled Olympic programs, by far the biggest pipeline of talent for Team USA.
Four people familiar with the talks told The Associated Press that lawmakers, mostly from the Democratic side that will need to provide votes to help any legislation pass the Senate, have been approached by college sports experts and policy shapers to explore options in exchange for support of a bill that some Democrats oppose.
One of the clearest tradeoffs would be for an idea that enjoys bipartisan support: helping collegiate Olympic sports programs.
Those programs produce around three-quarters of U.S. Olympians at a typical Summer Games, but some are on uncertain footing in the wake of the $2.8 billion House settlement that clears the way for schools to begin sharing revenue directly with their athletes as early as next week. Most of that money will go to football and basketball — the moneymakers — in this new era of name, image and likeness payments to players.
The people who spoke to AP did so on condition of anonymity because of the still-evolving and uncertain nature of the talks. But it's no secret that the NCAA and its biggest conferences are not convinced that the House settlement will end all their problems. In the halls of Congress
The NCAA is lobbying for a bill that would supersede state laws that set different rules for NIL; ensure athletes do not get employment status; and provide limited antitrust protection. One key issue is the handful of lawsuits challenging the NCAA's longstanding rule of giving athletes five years to complete four seasons of eligibility.
'I get why limited liability is a big ask,' NCAA President Charlie Baker said. 'But when it comes to limited liability around basic rulemaking, the consequences of this for the next generation of young people if you play this thing out are enormous.'
In a sign of the difficulty the NCAA might have in getting legislation passed, Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., who has played a large role in shaping policy for college sports, told AP that athletes 'deserve real reform and independent oversight of college sports.'
'Congressional legislation must provide strong and enforceable protections for their health, safety, and economic rights and transparency to protect non-revenue-generating sports, rather than merely offering a blank check to the NCAA to return to the status quo,' Blumenthal said.
While the U.S. government is forbidden by law from funding Olympic teams, there is no such prohibition on government funding for universities and their sports programs. One idea would be for the bill to include promises of certain levels of funding for college Olympic sports programs — some of which could be raised through federal grants to help the schools offset the cost.
'It would depend upon what they have in mind,' Baker said when asked about the idea. 'We'd be open to a conversation about that because those sports are important and they matter.'
The issue is complicated and funding sources are going to be under pressure: Over the next year alone, each D-I school is allowed to share up to $20.5 million in revenue with its athletes and there are extra millions being committed to additional scholarships – for instance, in the case of Michigan, $6.2 million. All those figures are increasing under terms of the settlement and the money has to come from somewhere. Olympic sports in peril
As of late May, the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee had tallied about 40 Olympic sports programs cut in Division I since the beginning of 2024 (but also 18 programs added) as schools prepare for the new financial realities.
Only three – the Virginia men's and women's diving programs and the Utah beach volleyball program – came from schools among the Power Four conferences that were co-defendants in the House case. Still, countless other teams have been reconfiguring their lineups with roster caps in place alongside unlimited scholarships, a combination that is forcing hard decisions.
Leaders inside the USOPC are optimistic that schools that generate the most talent – for instance, the 39 medals won by Stanford athletes at last year's Paris Games would have placed the school 11th on the overall medal table – will retain robust Olympic sports programs and that Congress is on board with helping.
'We have no reason to believe that there's not real alignment from all the parties, including members of Congress, who have indicated to us a very real concern for Olympic and Paralympic sport,' USOPC CEO Sarah Hirshland said.
Though a strictly partisan bill could pass the narrowly divided House, for it to become law it would need at least seven Democratic votes in the Senate to break a filibuster.
In 2023, Blumenthal and Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., teamed with Sen. Jerry Moran, R-Kan., to draft a bill that would have provided some antitrust protection in exchange for a number of guarantees, including the establishment of a health and safety trust fund for athletes who deal with long-term injuries from college sports.
Among the NCAA's 'core guarantees' put in place last year, schools are now required to cover medical costs for athletic-related injuries for at least two years after players leave school.
'One of the messages was 'clean up your own house first, then come talk to us,'' Baker said of his conversations with lawmakers. 'So we did some of the things that were aligned with some of the previous legislation.'
The big question is whether those moves, added to any guarantees for Olympic sports, would be enough to overcome Democratic reluctance to strip or limit legal rights of college athletes.
___
AP college sports: https://apnews.com/hub/college-sports
recommended
in this topic
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Politico
22 minutes ago
- Politico
Gun control crusader and former US Rep. Carolyn McCarthy dead at 81
Former U.S. Rep. Carolyn McCarthy, who successfully ran for Congress in 1996 as a crusader for gun control after a mass shooting on a New York commuter train left her husband dead and her son severely wounded, has died. She was 81. News of her death was shared Thursday by several elected officials on her native Long Island and by Jay Jacobs, chair of the New York State Democratic Committee. Details about her death were not immediately available. McCarthy went from political novice to one of the nation's leading advocates for gun control legislation in the aftermath of the 1993 Long Island Rail Road massacre. However, the suburban New York Democrat found limited success against the National Rifle Association and other Second Amendment advocates. McCarthy announced in June 2013 that she was undergoing treatment for lung cancer. She announced her retirement in January 2014. 'Mom dedicated her life to transforming personal tragedy into a powerful mission of public service,' her son, Kevin McCarthy, who survived the shooting, told Newsday. 'As a tireless advocate, devoted mother, proud grandmother and courageous leader, she changed countless lives for the better. Her legacy of compassion, strength and purpose will never be forgotten.' New York Gov. Kathy Hochul directed flags on all state government buildings to be flown at half-staff Friday in honor of the congresswoman. 'Representative Carolyn McCarthy was a strong advocate for gun control and an even more fierce leader,' Hochul said. Democratic U.S. Rep. Tom Suozzi said the nation has 'lost a fierce champion.' 'Carolyn channeled her grief and loss into advocacy for change, becoming one of the most dedicated gun violence prevention advocates,' Suozzi said on X. She became a go-to guest on national TV news shows after each ensuing gun massacre, whether it was at Columbine High School or Sandy Hook Elementary School. Known as the 'gun lady' on Capitol Hill, McCarthy said she couldn't stop crying after learning that her former colleague, Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, had been seriously wounded in a January 2011 shooting in Arizona. 'It's like a cancer in our society,' she said of gun violence. 'And if we keep doing nothing to stop it, it's only going to spread.' During one particularly rancorous debate over gun show loopholes in 1999, McCarthy was brought to tears at 1 a.m. on the House floor. 'I am Irish and I am not supposed to cry in front of anyone. But I made a promise a long time ago. I made a promise to my son and to my husband. If there was anything that I could do to prevent one family from going through what I have gone through then I have done my job,' she said. 'Let me go home. Let me go home,' she pleaded. McCarthy was born in Brooklyn and grew up on Long Island. She became a nurse and later married Dennis McCarthy after meeting on a Long Island beach. They had one son, Kevin, during a tumultuous marriage in which they divorced but reconciled and remarried. McCarthy was a Republican when, on Dec. 7, 1993, a gunman opened fire on a train car leaving New York City. By the time passengers tackled the shooter, six people were dead and 19 wounded. She jumped into politics after her GOP congressman voted to repeal an assault weapons ban. Her surprise victory inspired a made-for-television movie produced by Barbra Streisand. Since that first victory in 1996, McCarthy was never seriously challenged for reelection in a heavily Republican district just east of New York City. Some critics described McCarthy as a one-issue lawmaker, a contention she bristled about, pointing to interests in improving health care and education. But she was realistic about her legacy on gun control, once telling an interviewer: 'I've come to peace with the fact that will be in my obituary.'
22 minutes ago
Key Medicaid provision in Trump's bill is found to violate Senate rules. The GOP is scrambling
WASHINGTON -- The Senate parliamentarian has advised that a Medicaid provider tax overhaul central to President Donald Trump's tax cut and spending bill does not adhere to the chamber's procedural rules, delivering a crucial blow as Republicans rush to finish the package this week. Guidance from the parliamentarian is rarely ignored and Republican leaders are now forced to consider difficult options. Republicans were counting on big cuts to Medicaid and other programs to offset trillions of dollars in Trump tax breaks, their top priority. Additionally, the parliamentarian, who is the Senate's chief arbiter of its often complicated rules, advised against various GOP provisions barring certain immigrants from health care programs. Republicans scrambled Thursday to respond, with some calling for challenging, or ever firing, the nonpartisan parliamentarian, who has been on the job since 2012, though GOP leaders dismissed those views. Instead, they worked to revise the various proposals. 'We have contingency plans," said Majority Leader John Thune of South Dakota. Friday's expected votes appeared to be slipping, but Thune insisted that 'we're plowing forward.' But Democrats, who are unified against package as a tax giveaway for the wealthy at the expense of American safety net programs, said the procedural decisions would devastate the GOP package. Sen. Ron Wyden, the top Democrat on the Senate Finance Committee, said the Republican proposals would have meant $250 billion less for the health care program, 'massive Medicaid cuts that hurt kids, seniors, Americans with disabilities and working families.' The outcome is a setback as Senate Republicans race toward a weekend session to pass the bill and send it back to the House for another vote before Trump's Fourth of July deadline. Trump hosted House Speaker Mike Johnson and other GOP lawmakers in the East Room at the White House joined by truck drivers, firefighters, tipped workers, ranchers and others that the administration says will benefit from the bill. "We don't want to have grandstanders,' Trump said of the GOP holdouts. Trump said there are 'hundreds of things' in the emerging package of tax breaks, spending cuts and bolstered money to carry out his mass deportation plans. 'It's so good.' At its core, the big bill, which has passed the House and is now being revised in the Senate, includes $3.8 trillion in tax breaks that had been approved during Trump's first term, but will expire in December imposing a tax hike if Congress fails to act. To help offset lost revenues, Republicans are relying on steep cuts to health care and food stamps, and imposing new fees on immigrants. GOP leaders were already struggling to rally support for Medicaid changes that some senators said went too far and would have left millions without coverage. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office has said more than 10.9 million more people would not have health care under the House-passed bill; Senate Republicans were proposing deeper cuts. After the parliamentarian advised against the the Medicaid provider tax change Republicans said they would try to revise the provision to make it acceptable, perhaps by extending the start date of any changes. They are rushing to come up with similar adjustments to other proposals that have run into violations, including one to change the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or food stamps. It's all delaying action on the bill, but Republican leaders have little choice. They are counting on the health care restrictions to save billions of dollars and offset the cost of trillions of dollars in tax cuts. Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., the Budget Committee chairman rejected calls to fire the parliamentarian, and said in statement he was working with the office to "find a pathway forward." States impose the so-called provider tax on hospitals and other entities as a way to help fund Medicaid, largely by boosting the reimbursements they receive from the federal government. Critics say the system is a type of 'laundering,' but almost every state except Alaska uses it to help provide the health care coverage. The House-passed bill would freeze the tax, while the Senate would cut the tax that some states are allowed to impose. Several GOP senators have opposed cutting the Medicaid provider tax, saying it would hurt rural hospitals that depend on the money. Hospital organizations have warned that it could lead to hospital closures. Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., among those fighting the change, said he had spoken to Trump late Wednesday and that the president told him to revert back to the earlier proposal from the House. 'I think it just confirms that we weren't ready for a vote yet,' said Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., who also had raised concerns about the provider tax cuts. More than 80 millions people in the United States use the Medicaid program, alongside the Obama-era Affordable Care Act. Republicans want to scale Medicaid back to what they say is its original mission, providing care mainly to women and children, rather than a much larger group of people. To help defray lost revenues to the hospitals, one plan Republicans had been considering would have created a rural hospital fund with $15 billion as back up. Some GOP senators said that was too much; others, including Sen. Susan Collins of Maine, wanted at least $100 billion. The parliamentarian has worked around the clock since late last week to assess the legislation and ensure it complies with the so-called Byrd Rule, named for the late Sen. Robert C. Byrd of West Virginia. It essentially bars policy matters in budget reconciliation bills. If leaders moved ahead without altering the provisions that have been found to violate the rules, those measures could be challenged in a floor vote, requiring a 60-vote threshold to overcome objections. That would be a tall order in a Senate divided 53-47 and with Democrats unified against Trump's bill. 'It's pretty frustrating,' said Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., who wants even steeper reductions. Overnight Wednesday the parliamentarian advised against GOP student loan repayment plans, and Thursday advised against provisions those that would have blocked access for immigrants who are not citizens to Medicaid, Medicare and other health care programs, including one that would have cut money to states that allow some migrants into Medicaid. Earlier, proposals to cut food stamps were ruled in violation of Senate rules, as was a plan to gut the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. But Sen. Kevin Cramer, R-N.D., said there's no desire to challenge the parliamentarian's advice. 'It the institutional integrity,' he said. 'Even if I'm convinced 100% she's wrong."
New York Post
22 minutes ago
- New York Post
NY Mayoral Chaos, Robo-Taxis & Paramount Deal Drama
Lydia Moynihan and Charles Gasparino break down the political shockwaves after Zohran Mamdani clinched the Democratic nomination for NYC mayor. They examine Andrew Cuomo's next move and whether the DNC is ready for what comes next. Turning to tech headlines, Tesla's rollout of a small fleet of robo-taxis raises big questions about the future of driverless vehicles. Plus, the pair weigh in on Skydance's promise to seal the Paramount deal by summer's end—and the obstacles that could still derail it. To close, they name this week's winners and losers across business and politics.
