It's a great week to flip that coin.
asserted
It → flip → coin
Democrats will control Congress!
asserted
Democrats → control → Congress
We'll get into what it means at length for college sports, then touch on a few other angles after that.
asserted
it → get → that
We'll close with some thoughts on NASCAR's new playoff format.
asserted
We → close → format
- From Awful Announcing: "Is a sports media blue wave coming, too?"
asserted
wave → announce → Announcing
- Blue Jays player Anthony Santander was not happy that Michigan Democrat Abdul El-Sayed won his Senate election and reposted two Instagram videos that said "America voted for Sharia" and "Islam is not peaceful."
asserted
Islam → win → Sharia
The Blue Jays distanced themselves from the statement.
asserted
Jays → distance → statement
- After an international court ruled that Russia must be allowed in international hockey tournaments, the Canadian government is refusing to issue visas to Russians for the upcoming World Junior Ice Hockey Championships.
asserted
government → rule → Championships
- Colorado passed a higher income tax, and the state's professional athletes are getting hit with it.
asserted
athletes → pass → it
(Those states with no income tax must look nice!)
asserted
states → look → tax
- The SEC might implement a luxury tax to discourage high spending on athletics.
uncertain
SEC → implement → athletics
(We'll see if Democrats and the courts have anything to say about that.)
asserted
Democrats → see → that
- Voters in Pickerington, Ohio, keep rejecting tax increases, so the school district cut nonvarsity sports.
asserted
district → keep → sports
- Elsewhere in Reason: "California Voters Reject 5% Billionaire Wealth Tax"
- God bless the people who do things like systematically grade field stormings in their free time:
asserted
who → reject → time
Notre Dame just stormed the field as a 7-point favorite.
asserted
Dame → storm → favorite
Grading every field storm since 2019 on:
- the line
- who you beat
- your own program
- how close to defeatBeating No. 1 counts for a lot.
asserted
defeatBeating → grade → lot
Being a home favorite counts against you.
asserted
Being → count → you
This grades as a D, 14th worst https://t.co/Jks7k9xIwP pic.twitter.com/qgzHzcfsgQ
— Stick to the Model (@StickToTheModel) November 8, 2026
The Midterms Upended the Push for College Sports Regulation
You already know Democrats won big in the 2026 midterm elections.
asserted
Democrats → grade → elections
The question is, what if it happens again in 2028?
asserted
it → happen → 2028
And what would it mean for federal regulation of college sports?
asserted
it → mean → sports
The Protect College Sports Act (PCSA) passed the Senate in September.
asserted
Act → pass → September
Despite all the problems with it, its backers hope the House of Representatives will pass it swiftly now that they've returned from recess.
asserted
they → hope → recess
(I'm old enough to remember when Sen. Ted Cruz [R–Texas] predicted the House would come back from recess early so President Donald Trump could sign the bill on College GameDay before the midterm elections.
uncertain
Trump → remember → elections
"If you want a quote, here it is," the aide said, "the NIL bill is dead on f****** arrival."
asserted
bill → want → arrival
It's time for college sports to move on from the PCSA.
asserted
sports → move → PCSA
— Mit Winter (@WinterSportsLaw) November 5, 2026
Why would Democrats give Trump a win?
asserted
Democrats → give → win
Why wouldn't they wait out two years until, they hope and assume, a Democrat sweeps into the White House with even-larger majorities in Congress?
asserted
Democrat → wait → Congress
And if that happens, what might their partisan, Democrats-only version of the bill look like?
uncertain
version → happen → bill
It could radically change college sports forever.
uncertain
It → change → sports
A few pieces of legislation introduced by Democrats in 2025 give us a useful preview.
asserted
pieces → introduce → preview
The more mainstream bill introduced by Democrats last year was the Student Athlete Fairness and Enforcement (SAFE) Act.
asserted
bill → introduce → Democrats
Like the PCSA, it was written in part by Sen. Maria Cantwell (D–Wash.), so the two bills have a lot in common.
asserted
bills → write → lot
The PCSA and the SAFE Act both, in differing ways, give conferences and schools an antitrust exemption to pool their media rights.
asserted
PCSA → give → rights
However, the PCSA shields the NCAA and conferences from antitrust lawsuits for enforcing the PCSA's rules, while the SAFE Act does not.
asserted
Act → shield → rules
The PCSA caps athletes' compensation; the SAFE Act does not alter the current cap under the legal House settlement.
asserted
Act → cap → settlement
The PCSA codifies the NCAA's newly desired five-year eligibility rules—the SAFE Act doesn't do that, but was introduced before the new NCAA rules.
asserted
Act → codify → rules
The PCSA allows one free transfer; the SAFE Act allows two (both allow more with certain exceptions).
asserted
both → allow → exceptions
The PCSA basically bans the power conferences from merging, but the SAFE Act does not.
asserted
Act → ban → conferences
The SAFE Act doesn't mention anything about student-athlete employment status, while the PCSA explicitly says it is neutral and does not alter that status, but a more radical Senate bill differs on that: the College Athlete Right to Organize Act, introduced by Sens. Chris Murphy (D–Conn.), Elizabeth Warren (D–Mass.), and Bernie Sanders (I–Vt.).
asserted
bill → mention → Murphy
That bill is short and narrow, but it explicitly recognizes student-athletes as employees of their colleges with rights to collectively bargain with their schools and conferences (but not the NCAA).
asserted
it → recognize → schools
…and 41 more, not listed.
The Aporia
