(KIWA Staff Photo)Statewide, Iowa – Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley says the Protect College Sports Act that passed the Senate this past Monday should have far-reaching benefits for his alma mater, the University of Northern Iowa, and the state’s other Division I schools.
The bill’s crafters say it would overhaul and stabilize college athletics by trading state-level rules for a single national rulebook, while setting national standards for Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) agreements, transfers, and more.
Opponents of the legislation include the NAACP and the Congressional Black Caucus, which argue the bill rolls back athletes’ rights and shifts control entirely to the NCAA. Supporters of the bill include all 32 major collegiate athletic conferences, more than 380 colleges and universities, as well as major league baseball, football, basketball and hockey.
Grassley says the bill should help to level the playing field for Iowa’s smaller institutions.
Grassley says the situation may not necessarily ruin things for UNI, but it would generally make it tough for all schools that aren’t in the big four conferences. The bill faces an uncertain future in the U.S. House, which is in recess until after the November elections, though Grassley says he’s optimistic.
President Trump is among the bill’s backers, posting on social media that it will “not only save college sports, it will save the colleges themselves.”
