From Mother Jones · Alex Nguyen · · 1m 30s
Ted Cruz got booed for 10 minutes on College GameDay
A senator pitched his NCAA bill live on ESPN in Austin, and 100,000 people told him exactly what they thought.
In brief
A senator pitched his NCAA bill live on ESPN in Austin, and 100,000 people told him exactly what they thought. ESPN handed a sitting senator ten uninterrupted minutes to sell a bill that strips college athletes of leverage, with nobody on air to argue the other side. Originally reported by Mother Jones.
Ten minutes of boos
Cruz sat down with Rece Davis on College GameDay before Texas hosted Ohio State. The Austin crowd booed for close to ten minutes and broke into chants of "Ted, you suck!"
“Ted, you suck!”
What the bill does
The Protect College Sports Act would let the NCAA set its own rules on revenue sharing and transfers, and it shields the association from antitrust lawsuits.
Who is against it
The NAACP and the AFL-CIO oppose the bill, arguing it cuts into what little bargaining power college athletes have won.
Only one side got airtime
Nick Saban and Pat McAfee have also used ESPN to back the bill. No opponent was booked Saturday. Jemele Hill called for Senator Chris Murphy to appear too.
“ESPN using its flagship college football show to openly advocate for this bill is egregient”
The Disney double standard
Days earlier, ABC blocked Jimmy Kimmel from airing an interview with Senate candidate James Talarico after FCC threats. Same parent company, opposite call.
He has been here before
Yankee Stadium heckled him with "Go back to Cancún!" during the 2022 ALCS. Weeks later he got booed at the Astros World Series parade.
“Ted Cruz pulled off what I thought was impossible- getting booed at a championship parade.”
The key point
ESPN handed a sitting senator ten uninterrupted minutes to sell a bill that strips college athletes of leverage, with nobody on air to argue the other side.
