In the below post, Sen. Ted Cruz says that some conference commissioners want to bar third party companies associated with schools from striking any and all NIL deals with athletes, even kosher endorsement contracts. He contends language in the latest bill creates a hard cap.

There’s confusion about how the cap and Associated Entity language work in the Protect College Sports Act. Let me clear it up. The cap is a hard cap. Full stop. That loophole is closed. Once a school hits the cap, a player can still do NIL deals on the open market — if the deal is genuinely commercial and the school isn’t directing it. That’s the line. Some commissioners want more: bar any company doing business with a school from signing that school’s players. So a QB couldn’t sign with Nike because Nike has a separate contract with his university. That’s not protecting a cap. That’s blocking a kid from selling his own name. Every pro league works this way. If the team doesn’t direct it, the player earns it. What exactly is the objection? And we went further than anyone asked: players disclose all of their deals, and the university president AND the sponsor sign a letter certifying they stayed under the cap. Cheat, and you signed your name to it. Hard cap. Loophole closed. Players keep the right to earn what the school didn’t arrange. Those aren’t in tension — that’s the whole point.