Arkansas fans have been asking the same question for years.
How do the Hogs keep up when everybody else in the SEC seems to carry a bigger checkbook?
Washington might be about to hand them an answer. Or at least part of one. That’s according to a fairly comprehensive story with all the details by Ross Dellenger at On3.com on Thursday.
The U.S. Senate is working on the Protect College Sports Act. Senators have piled up 35-plus proposed changes to the bill this week.
One of them could matter a lot in Fayetteville.
That’s especially true after a story by The Athletic last week put Arkansas football at the bottom of the SEC.
So here’s the question nobody in Northwest Arkansas can ignore. Is the Arkansas football revenue-share cap fight the fix athletic director Hunter Yurachek has been praying for?
The loophole everybody is using
Today’s system uses a soft cap. Baseball fans will recognize the setup.
This year, a school’s direct payments to players top out at $21.3 million. The limit grows by 4% each year.
Football doesn’t get that whole pile. It’s shared by every team on campus.
Here’s the catch. Outside NIL money sits beyond the limit.
So schools get creative. They line up deals with sponsors, apparel companies and other school-linked partners. Then they call them endorsement contracts.
Spending estimates tell the story. Most power conference schools are thought to be north of $30 million in player pay. A dozen or more may have cleared $50 million.
The College Sports Commission is supposed to flag bogus deals. It’s let plenty of them slide. Oops.
What the Razorbacks could gain
Sen. Katie Britt, R-Ala., and Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., filed an amendment to close that gap for good.
Their plan spells it out. NIL money from school-affiliated groups would count toward the cap. No wiggle room.
The bill already aims to do this. Britt’s language would make it crystal clear. Nobody has signed off on it yet.
For a program like the Razorbacks, that could be a big deal.
If the big spenders can’t sneak extra cash through side doors, everybody plays under the same ceiling. That’s the theory, anyway.
But the ceiling would rise. The bill bumps the cap from $21.3 million to $48.8 million.
Two new pots of money make up the jump. There’s $22.5 million set aside for players already on the roster. Think of it as a reason to stay put. Another $5 million goes to Olympic and non-revenue sports.
Would it really help the Hogs?
Yurachek might want to hold off on the victory lap.
A higher cap only helps if Arkansas can actually fill it. Schools with deeper pockets would still max out first.
A hard cap could shrink the gap at the top. It won’t erase it.
Still, it beats watching rivals stack sponsor money with no limit at all.
And what about coaches?
Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., and Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., want coaches’ paychecks limited to $5 million a year. Every sport would be included.
Fans have been asking this one for years. Players get a limit. Why shouldn’t coaches?
Don’t hold your breath
Neither pay amendment is expected to go far. Most of those proposed changes are headed for the trash. Some already got there.
The bill itself is in good shape. Support isn’t the problem. Sixty votes gets it through, and backers think they could land 75.
Backers hope for a final Senate vote Thursday afternoon. Next week is the fallback.
Why the wait? Every procedural vote comes with a 30-hour gap. Senate leaders could skip that with unanimous consent. So far, they haven’t gotten it.
Several lawmakers, mostly Democrats, keep objecting. Leaders have talked about giving their amendments a floor vote in exchange. Negotiators kept at it well past dark Wednesday.
Then comes the House. Republicans there have issues with the expansion part. The Congressional Black Caucus is against the whole thing.
The House is out until the midterm elections wrap up in mid-November. And a Wednesday report said an October return isn’t on the calendar.
So Yurachek’s prayers might get answered. Just don’t expect it before Thanksgiving.
Assuming, of course, he’s still around by then.
