Discussion · Senate
Ashley Moody Republican
“I want to change this bill to raise the limit on how many schools can be in an athletic conference from 19 to 20. Florida has many great college football teams. The current limit would hurt them and give them less room to grow.”
“Mr. President, I would like to begin by thanking the sponsor of this bill, Senator Cruz, Senator Schmitt who had such a large hand in getting this to the floor for their support on this amendment. I think everyone can agree that college sports has become broken and is headed in a bad direction. Fans across the Nation are seeing it. I am hearing about it from Floridians, and that is why I appreciate the efforts of my colleagues and the Trump administration to address these issues. But there is an area in this bill that would not best serve all of our universities, especially all the universities in the State of Florida, and that is why I am here with this amendment. We have a unique situation in Florida. We have a lot of schools that have successful football programs. In fact, 25 percent of the national football championship teams, since 1983, have come from the State of Florida. It is because of those successful programs. And they have been successful because the universities have had the opportunity to make decisions based on students and the success of their program. So we need more flexibility in the conference caps in this bill, and that is why I am moving to amend this bill simply by expanding the conference cap by 1, from 19 to 20 in those conferences. This would go a long way to helping schools like USF, which is in its 30th year, and they are at a 4 to 0 start to the season. The strict conference cap will limit them. It also helps our historic programs like the University of Miami, who is also 4 to 0 already this year, and Florida State University that wants to continue to build on their storied century-old successes in football. So thank you for the opportunity to speak on this amendment. Again, I would like to thank the bill’s sponsor that supports this amendment, and I would like to yield my time to Senator Blumenthal from Connecticut who also is sponsoring this amendment.”
Mr. President, I would like to begin by thanking the sponsor of this bill, Senator Cruz, Senator Schmitt who had such a large hand in getting this to the floor for their support on this amendment. I think everyone can agree that college sports has become broken and is headed in a bad direction. Fans across the Nation are seeing it. I am hearing about it from Floridians, and that is why I appreciate the efforts of my colleagues and the Trump administration to address these issues. But there is an area in this bill that would not best serve all of our universities, especially all the universities in the State of Florida, and that is why I am here with this amendment. We have a unique situation in Florida. We have a lot of schools that have successful football programs. In fact, 25 percent of the national football championship teams, since 1983, have come from the State of Florida. It is because of those successful programs. And they have been successful because the universities have had the opportunity to make decisions based on students and the success of their program. So we need more flexibility in the conference caps in this bill, and that is why I am moving to amend this bill simply by expanding the conference cap by 1, from 19 to 20 in those conferences. This would go a long way to helping schools like USF, which is in its 30th year, and they are at a 4 to 0 start to the season. The strict conference cap will limit them. It also helps our historic programs like the University of Miami, who is also 4 to 0 already this year, and Florida State University that wants to continue to build on their storied century-old successes in football. So thank you for the opportunity to speak on this amendment. Again, I would like to thank the bill’s sponsor that supports this amendment, and I would like to yield my time to Senator Blumenthal from Connecticut who also is sponsoring this amendment.