- May 21, 2026
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On Saturday, ESPN gave Senator Ted Cruz (R-Texas) a platform to push for the passage of the Protect College Sports Act. There was no balance, no equal time.
And ESPN is receiving the criticism it deserves for its ongoing effort to support the bill.
The NAACP has responded. The organization, which seeks to "achieve equity, political rights, and social inclusion by advancing policies and practices that expand human and civil rights, eliminate discrimination, and accelerate the well-being, education, and economic security of Black people and all persons of color," has posted the following statement on Twitter: "Surprised [ESPN] so willing[ly] lent their platform to political performance today. But we’ll play. We’d love to have [NCAA president Derrick Johnson] join you in his home state of Miss. next week to express why the Protect College Sports Act is dangerous to Black Athletes and the Black community."
The proponents of the Protect College Sports Act don't want you to think of it that way. They want you to see unrestrained chaos in college sports — created by the reckoning for years of antitrust violations — and they believe the only answer is to give the NCAA and its members an antitrust exemption that will allow the earning power and mobility of players to be limited.
The broader point is that ESPN is clearly in the tank for the passage of the Protect College Sports Act. If it isn't, it will give Derrick Johnson a chance next weekend to state the case against it, when College GameDay goes to Oxford for LSU vs. Ole Miss.
And ESPN is receiving the criticism it deserves for its ongoing effort to support the bill.
The NAACP has responded. The organization, which seeks to "achieve equity, political rights, and social inclusion by advancing policies and practices that expand human and civil rights, eliminate discrimination, and accelerate the well-being, education, and economic security of Black people and all persons of color," has posted the following statement on Twitter: "Surprised [ESPN] so willing[ly] lent their platform to political performance today. But we’ll play. We’d love to have [NCAA president Derrick Johnson] join you in his home state of Miss. next week to express why the Protect College Sports Act is dangerous to Black Athletes and the Black community."
The proponents of the Protect College Sports Act don't want you to think of it that way. They want you to see unrestrained chaos in college sports — created by the reckoning for years of antitrust violations — and they believe the only answer is to give the NCAA and its members an antitrust exemption that will allow the earning power and mobility of players to be limited.
The broader point is that ESPN is clearly in the tank for the passage of the Protect College Sports Act. If it isn't, it will give Derrick Johnson a chance next weekend to state the case against it, when College GameDay goes to Oxford for LSU vs. Ole Miss.