Senator Ted Cruz (R-Texas) was drowned out by boos and chants of “Ted, you suck” during an unusual 9-minute appearance on ESPN’s College GameDay on Saturday morning. Cruz joined the program to promote the Protect College Sports Act, a piece of legislation that purports to regulate business interests in the industry.
“Most college athletic programs are losing tens of millions of dollars, and as a result, they’re canceling women’s programs and non–revenue sports and Olympics sports,” Cruz said to host Rece Davis on the show. The interview was broadcast in Austin ahead of a football game between the University of Texas and Ohio State University. “If we don’t act, in three to five years we’re going to see 40 to 50 schools that have competitive football programs and everyone else goes under. That would be a tragedy.”
While Cruz hocked his legislation, which has garnered bipartisan support and is expected to see a Senate vote in the coming weeks, the large crowd of fans behind the senator booed him through the entire segment.
“Whole crowd came on a blitz this morning, I stayed in the pocket. Never flinched,” Cruz wrote on X, sharing a video of him being interviewed while the crowd booed behind him. “If we don’t pass the Protecting College Sports Act I could play for your favorite team. Call your Senator!”
The bill would grant the National Collegiate Athletic Association an antitrust exemption, allowing it to enforce eligibility and name, image and likeness rules. It would also allow different conferences to pool broadcast rights in media negotiations.
The bill has drawn significant opposition, with Senator Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) hosting an upcoming press conference to voice criticism of the bill. The event’s logline alleges that it “denies college athletes the rights and protections they are owed as workers and cuts off any path these athletes have to advocate for themselves — all so the NCAA, college athletic conferences and schools can consolidate money and power over athletes’ lives.”
ESPN has yet to host a critic of the Protect College Sports Act on air.
Notably, Cruz’s ESPN appearance comes days after fellow Disney-owned network ABC did not air an interview between late-night host Jimmy Kimmel and James Talarico, the Democratic candidate for Senate in Texas. In an on-air statement ahead of the interview, Kimmel stated that the interview would debut directly on YouTube due to “regulatory threats” by the Trump-appointed administrati0n of the Federal Communications Commission.
