CONGRESSIONAL ENGAGEMENT EFFORTS   

Our efforts with the Coalition of 10 conferences continue as we received updates this week from our collective lobbying firm.  Through feedback we received very recently from Senate staff members, the Coalition of 10 worked to positively assist our collective national efforts with federal legislation crafted the  letter available via THIS LINK. It was sent to the leadership of the Senate Commerce Committee on Friday. As you will notice, the letter calls attention to the topics of employment and liability protection, which are clearly at the center of today’s environment. 

We believe the letter’s message is communal to all in college sports and think it can be a helpful catalyst for the Senate to address the challenges we currently face. We collaborated with the NCAA Government Relations team (Dawn Buth and Tim Buckley) and lobbyists from CFP-4 conferences on the approach and messaging. All were supportive and appreciative of the efforts. 

As we continue to track on the potential for Congressional action, here is an article written this week providing additional information: 

Almost six years after starting aggressive lobbying efforts in a failed attempt to get Congress to craft a bill legislating college sports, industry leaders, “clinging to scraps of amateurism, are pleading with the U.S. government to restore some of their traditional policies, all while economic and legal pressures force a transformation into a more professional entity.” Writing for On3, Ross Dellenger observes the pathway to achieve many college executives’ goals exists only through two routes: collective bargaining or Congressional intervention. “Officials in the House and executive branch are encouraging college stakeholders to agree to modifications to the SCORE Act so it can garner enough support, such as (1) eliminating the provision that prohibits athletes from being deemed employees; (2) narrowing the NCAA’s antitrust powers; and (3) perhaps even creating a new oversight entity over the industry. In the Senate, Ted Cruz (R-TX) … is against any legislation that does not include a prohibition on employment — a significant hurdle for many Democrats, some who are backed by labor unions. While there is confidence among Senate Republicans in a bipartisan agreement if the employment hurdle is crossed, some Democrats don’t necessarily feel that way. All of this leaves college sports twisting in the wind — clinging to congressional hope as the industry itself, with each passing day, moves closer to a professionalized entity without many regulations.” (link)   

   MEDIA REPORTS ON NCAA AND LEGAL MATTERS   

• Friday was a very big day as the NCAA faces two major eligibility cases in front of the court system in Alabama and Tennessee.  Stay tuned to the news for the outcomes of these important cases for the NCAA. On to the news…. 
• NCAA President Charlie Baker, who criticizes schools backing eligibility lawsuits for professional players, accusing them of wanting to avoid playing "by the same rules everyone else is" and making the rulebook "disingenuous." Baker's comments to Sports Illustrated’s Pat Forde come ahead of a Friday preliminary injunction hearing for Alabama center Charles Bediako, whose TRO has allowed him to play since Jan. 24 despite signing multiple NBA contracts. Baker warns that a ruling in Bediako's favor could set a precedent for others, like former UCLA player Amari Bailey—who appeared in 10 NBA games—to return to college, potentially displacing high school recruits. Baker also notes that a string of state court rulings that favor local programs don’t quite reconcile with federal rulings and says: “We have to marry those two tracks, the state courts and the federal courts. And it’s going to take a while.” (link) 
• On-going federal case Johnson v. NCAA could “lead to a new order in college sports that restates the economic relationship between athletes and their schools,” per Sportico’s Michael McCann, who notes with a deadline of next Tuesday to explain “efforts” to reach a settlement, whatever is disclosed will be enlightening. McCann: “If the parties don’t reach a settlement, and Johnson advances past a motion to dismiss, the case will progress toward potential pretrial discovery that would be much more invasive than what schools faced in House v. NCAA and other antitrust litigation. And if Johnson goes to trial and the athletes win, the NCAA and member schools could be on the hook to pay billions of dollars in damages. … A denial [of the NCAA’s motion to dismiss] by [Judge John] Padova would move the case into another phase where the judge will determine if the case should become a class action—possibly on behalf of all Division I college athletes dating back to 2016 or 2017—and oversee pretrial discovery. … Like House, Johnson could settle at some point, with a settlement paying many thousands of former and current college athletes and changing rules to acknowledge them as student employees. The alternative is to gamble the courts will side with the NCAA. That hasn’t been a good bet of late.” More. (link) 
• Florida State reported $211.95M in operating revenue and $208.19M in expenses for FY25, resulting in a $3.76M surplus under NCAA reporting guidelines. Revenue increased by nearly $27M year-over-year, driven largely by a reporting shift in direct institutional support, which jumped to $33.87M (up from ~$107K in FY24). (link) 
• Front Office Sports’ Ellyn Briggs explores the rapid professionalization of collegiate creative media teams, which have evolved into "full-blown production studios" to drive recruiting, sponsorship, and donor engagement in the NIL era. The strategy is paying dividends at the Group of 5 level as well: Tulsa’s viral "Portal House" social campaign generated 2.5M impressions in a single day and helped secure 22 transfer commitments, while FIU quadrupled its creative staff to achieve a top-10 national growth rate on Instagram. (link) 
• Disney has selected Disney Experiences Chairman Josh D’Amaro to succeed Bob Iger as the company’s CEO, effective March 18. More. (link) 
• NCAA President Charlie Baker tells Sports Illustrated that the upcoming 2026 men’s and women’s basketball tournaments could be the last to feature 68 teams, calling it a “good question” and acknowledging that the organization is "working to see if we can make it 72 or 76" for 2027 and beyond. Baker also tells SI’s Pat Forde that every expansion has been with resistance: "Everyone thought the world was going to come to an end. And it didn’t." Addressing concerns that additional at-large bids would disproportionately benefit mediocre power conference teams, Baker says he remains unconvinced that would be the sole outcome; however, Forde notes that “in both 2024 and ’25, three of the four teams on the wrong side of the bubble were from power conferences. In 2023, all four of those teams came from power leagues.” (link) 
• D1Baseball’s Kendall Rogers reports there is a “great deal of confidence that the number of allowable fall games will increase from 2 to 4 during April voting with the D1 Council. The measure I'm told, had overwhelming support amongst the Division I Baseball Oversight Committee, and was pushed forward.” He adds: “Here's more scoop for you. It is still in the 'discussion' stages, but there appears to be at least some momentum involved in the potential of moving the [NCAA baseball] season back to the first weekend of March start date. Very long way to go, but it's something that has been reenergized by Clemson head coach Erik Bakich behind the scenes.” (link) 
• The WCC is reportedly fining Portland $5K for storming the court after the Pilots’ upset win over No. 6 Gonzaga on Wednesday night. Per John Canzano, “AD Scott Leykam tells me he'll pay it himself.” (link) 

   QUOTE OF THE DAY   

 “It ain't about how hard ya hit. It's about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward. How much you can take and keep moving forward. That's how winning is done!” — Rocky Balboa   (LINK) 

As college athletics continues to evolve at a rapid pace, weeks like this remind us that progress happens on many fronts at once — in competition, in governance, in partnerships, and in advocacy. Through it all, The Big West remains focused on what matters most: creating opportunity, supporting our campuses, and providing an outstanding experience for our student-athletes. 

Thank you, as always, for everything our campus administrators do on behalf of our programs and young people. I appreciate the leadership, the collaboration, and the continued commitment to our shared mission. 

Have a great week, and we’ll see you next week. 

Dan