Greg Sankey further calls for Congress to take action on SCORE Act, sports betting

One week after attending a White House roundtable hosted by President Donald Trump, SEC commissioner Greg Sankey reiterated his stance on how Congress can help college sports. He pointed to two key areas he hopes to see action: the SCORE Act and sports betting.

During the roundtable last week, Sankey further voiced support for the SCORE Act. The bill, which was on track for the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives last year before a delay, would deliver antitrust protection for both the NCAA and the College Sports Commission while also ensuring athletes are not employees.

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Sankey has been an outspoken supporter of the bill, but he also said sports gambling is another area in which college athletics needs Congressional help. He called for leadership to listen on that issue, in particular, while evaluating the landscape.

“Congress needs to act,” Sankey said Friday on ESPN ahead of Vanderbilt vs. Tennessee. “The SCORE Act is something that’s been in front of the House of Representatives that defines the ability to have national standards again. And I said in the White House last week, two things our young people ask us for: One is, they want to know when they’re lining up against another team, from another state and another campus, are playing by the same rules. I think that’s the most common-sense reasonable request. Eligibility, seasons of competition, how long they play and this whole economic transaction.

“The second thing they ask about is, we need some protection, some parameters around sports gambling. Because what is hitting young people because they made or missed a free throw is absurd. It’s absurd. And I hope our governmental leaders take both of those issues seriously.”

The NCAA and president Charlie Baker addressed the impact of sports gambling multiple times in the last year. Baker has called for a ban on prop bets, citing the need to protect athletes and the integrity of the game. He also encouraged states to take action amid an investigation into multiple programs related to wagering.

During the roundtable, though, Trump expressed his thoughts on the current state of college athletics in the NIL era. He floated the idea of going back to the way things were prior to NIL’s arrival in 2021 and also declared his plans to draft an executive order related to college sports. Trump said that would come this week, but Yahoo! Sports’ Ross Dellenger reported it could come next week.

In the meantime, there was also movement on Capitol Hill while the roundtable took place at the White House. Sens. Eric Schmitt (R-Mo.) and Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) agreed on legislation to amend the Sports Broadcasting Act of 1961 – marking the first time a Republican and a Democrat reached such an agreement. However, the SEC and Big Ten previously spoke out against that idea, which would pave the way for pooling media rights.