Exclusive: FSU, Miami, Clemson and UNC call on Congress to change Protect College Sports Act realignment rules

As the Protect College Sports Act gains momentum in Washington following its passage in the Senate, leaders from Florida State, Miami, Clemson and North Carolina sent a letter to House leaders earlier this week requesting changes to the bill’s realignment rules.

In its current form, the PCSA limits power conferences to 20 members and requires any school moving from one power conference to another to spend three years as an independent before joining its new league. This waiting period would expire six years after the law comes into force.

The letter, obtained by Tomahawk Nation through a Freedom of Information request, was addressed to House Speaker Mike Johnson, Majority Leader Steve Scalise and Majority Whip Tom Emmer and begins by noting the schools’ greater support for the bill overall, but quickly moves forward: “There is, however, one provision that we believe merits adjustment: Section 205 with respect to interconference institutional moves.” »

“The three-year independence requirement would impose a significant additional consequence on an institution seeking to change conferences, particularly where conferences and their members have already negotiated the financial terms surrounding an exit. »

The schools are clearly working as a group, as the statement highlights: “As the bill moves through the House, our coalition has worked together to identify a compromise that addresses our concerns…”

It ends with the main demands: “Increase the maximum number of conference members from 20 to 22 institutions” and “Remove the independence requirement for an institution leaving a covered conference before joining another.” »

Florida Senators Ashley Moody and Rick Scott, both Republicans, strongly opposed the bill because of its realignment rules, voting against its advancement in procedural votes last month. Moody voted for final adoption after the Senate passed his amendment increasing the conference cap from 19 to 20, while Scott voted against it.

Reports surfaced over the summer that Florida State and other ACC schools had pressured lawmakers to change the conference’s realignment provisions. Moody also proposed an amendment that would have allowed a school to avoid the five-year independence requirement if it withdrew from its conference within 180 days of the bill’s enactment. The period of independence was later shortened from five to three years.

FSU and Miami were named as the primary opponents of the bill’s current status by New York Yankees President Randy Levine, who serves as vice chair of the Saving College Sports Roundtable.

“What bothers me a lot,” Levine told Ross Dellenger, “is that we have this incredible bipartisan bill that got 77 votes in the U.S. Senate, where the Moody Amendment passed, and yet primarily Miami and the State of Florida continue to try to undermine the bill, which even they say is great for the game, due to the fact that they want to blow up the ACC when the Big Ten and the SEC have told me no later that today neither of them intends to expand.

According to Dellenger, more than a dozen House lawmakers, most from Florida, North Carolina and South Carolina, have pledged to sign a separate letter to House leadership calling for dropping the expansion provision. A person close to one of the bill’s authors told him the changes were doomed to failure.

The House is not expected to return until Nov. 9, after the midterm elections, and any changes to the bill would mean it would be sent back to the Senate.