SOUTH BEND — Notre Dame athletic director Pete Bevacqua was back on Capitol Hill Wednesday, June 3 to appear before the U.S. Senate Commerce Committee as it considers proposed legislation known as the Protect College Sports Act.
Bevacqua, who appeared March 6 at the White House as part of the Saving College Sports Roundtable, spoke this time of an “existential crisis facing college athletics” in written testimony provided to the bipartisan panel led by Senators Ted Cruz (R-TX) and Maria Cantwell (D-WA).
Now in his third full year since succeeding Jack Swarbrick in late March of 2024, Bevacqua, the former NBC sports television executive, warned the committee of a college sports landscape with “decreasing opportunities” for young athletes, according to an advance transcript provided to USA Today Sports.
Calling the bill “an enormous step in the right direction,” Bevacqua said it was vital to “act now to protect athletic departments” from an escalation that could result in women’s and Olympic sports being “deemphasized or cut.”
He called upon Congress to take action immediately in hopes of addressing “bad-faith actors with predatory practices” that harm both the athletes and institutions and an “inability for common sense rules to be set and followed without risk of endless litigation.”
Bevacqua shared his hope that rival institutions would “reaffirm their commitment that student-athletes are students first and foremost.”
At Notre Dame, he said in his written testimony, athletes “live on campus, fully integrated with their fellow students in dorms” while taking in-person classes with mandatory attendance and “no online opportunities.”
Bevacqua called these “non-negotiable components” in Notre Dame’s pledge to “maintain an authentic and credible student-athlete experience.”
The Notre Dame graduate also stressed the importance of legislative action to preserve the model of Olympic and women’s sports at the college level. The risk, he said, is that the current path could “inadvertently dismantle and/or materially weaken the broad-based athletic opportunities that have made the American collegiate system the envy of the world.”
He called such programs “the bedrock of the collegiate model” and said Notre Dame remains committed to the Olympic movement and Title IX through its 26 varsity men’s and women’s sports.
“We need sanity restored to the transfer portal,” Bevacqua added. “We need a realistic cap. The concept of a cap emanating from the House Settlement is a fallacy. There is no cap. It’s an equation.”
Former Alabama football coach Nick Saban, now an ESPN commentator, also testified before the committee along with Pac-12 commissioner Teresa Gould, former university president E. Gordon Gee and Utah defensive end Lance Holtzclaw, who transferred after three seasons at Washington.
If passed in its current form, the bill could codify portions of the House Settlement to strengthen enforcement capabilities of the College Sports Commission and the NCAA; establish a five-year eligibility window; prevent professional athletes from participating in college sports; enable enforcement of a one-time transfer rule; allow leagues to pool media rights; create an agent registry and limit fees; and restrict coaches from leaving for other jobs during their season.
Mike Berardino covers Notre Dame football for the South Bend Tribune and NDInsider.com. Follow him on social media @MikeBerardino.
This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: Notre Dame AD Pete Bevacqua talks ‘existential crisis’ before Congress
Reporting by Mike Berardino, South Bend Tribune / South Bend Tribune
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
