Take on the Score Act

[Steamboat Willie]

The SCORE Act is being sold as the magic pill to “stabilize” college sports, which is adorable considering it mostly stabilizes the NCAA’s legal defenses and the conference commissioners’ job security. Enter Cody Campbell—Texas Tech’s billionaire booster, head regent, and newly crowned Patron Saint of Saying the Quiet Parts Out Loud—who showed up just in time to point out that the emperors aren’t just naked, they’re also terrible negotiators.

Campbell says the conferences could make billions more by pooling media rights, but commissioners won’t do it because they like controlling their own little fiefdoms. The commissioners, naturally, clutched their pearls and insisted they never said pooling would increase revenue, which is hilarious because the only thing more predictable than a commissioner’s denial is a bowl game corporate sponsor.

So now we’ve got a full-on soap opera:
Campbell yelling that the money’s on the table, the commissioners yelling that Campbell doesn’t understand the “realities,” and Congress trying to pass a bill that gives the NCAA antitrust bubble wrap while telling athletes they’re definitely not employees but should please enjoy these newly standardized NIL guardrails.

If you squint, the SCORE Act looks like “reform.”
If you read it normally, it’s the conferences trying to lock in their authority before Campbell shows up with a calculator and ruins the illusion.

But sure—let’s pretend the real crisis here is protecting commissioners’ feelings while the industry drifts toward semi-pro status with an “amateurism” sticker slapped on top.