'Never flinched': Ted Cruz responds to crowd booing him during ESPN's 'College GameDay' appearance

AUSTIN, TEXAS: Senator Ted Cruz was loudly booed during a nine-minute appearance on ESPN’s 'College GameDay' on Saturday, September 12.

The Texas Republican appeared on the program to promote his Protect College Sports Act, which would establish federal rules governing college athletics and has bipartisan support. Despite the reaction from the crowd at the University of Texas stadium, Cruz continued discussing the legislation before later defending his stance in a post on X (formerly Twitter). 

Ted Cruz promotes college sports bill as crowd boos

Cruz joined host Rece Davis ahead of the football game between the University of Texas and Ohio State University to discuss the proposed legislation, which he said was intended to address what he described as a lack of rules governing college athletics.

“What we have right now is chaos. There are no rules,” Cruz said, pointing to issues including student-athlete gambling, repeated transfers, extended eligibility and compensation. He also argued that financial pressures facing college athletic programs could threaten non-revenue sports.

“Most college athletic programs are losing tens of millions of dollars, and as a result, they're canceling women's programs and non–revenue sports and Olympic sports,” Cruz said. “If we don't act, in three to five years we're going to see 40 to 50 schools that have competitive football programs and everyone else goes under. That would be a tragedy.”

The crowd behind Cruz began booing during the segment, with the reaction growing loud enough at times to make the senator difficult to hear. Nevertheless, Cruz continued with his remarks and said he expected the bill to have enough support to pass the Senate in the coming weeks.

The Protect College Sports Act would give the National Collegiate Athletic Association an antitrust exemption, allowing it to enforce eligibility and name, image and likeness rules. The legislation would also permit different athletic conferences to pool broadcast rights during media negotiations.

Ted Cruz defends his appearance in social media post 

The bill has also faced opposition from Democrats as Senator Chris Murphy is scheduled to hold a press conference criticizing the legislation. The event's logline alleges that it "denies college athletes the rights and protections they are owed as workers and cuts off any path these athletes have to advocate for themselves, all so the NCAA, college athletic conferences and schools can consolidate money and power over athletes' lives."  

Cruz then addressed the criticism by posting the video of the ESPN appearance on X, stating that he did not let the chants deter him. "Whole crowd came on a blitz this morning, I stayed in the pocket. Never flinched," he wrote. 

The senator then joked about the hostile reception, saying, “If we don't pass the Protecting College Sports Act I could play for your favorite team. Call your Senator!”