Randy Levine: Will Bipartisan Salary Caps Fix The College Sports "Wild West"?

The NCAA's long-standing model of college athletics is under unprecedented bipartisan scrutiny, and a new Senate bill aims to rein in the chaos with a hard salary cap and strict eligibility rules. Randy Levine, chairman of the Presidential Committee on College Sports and former Yankees president, argues that the current system—where universities funnel NIL money through 'collectives' to circumvent caps—is unsustainable and has led to the erosion of non-revenue sports like field hockey and wrestling. The proposed legislation, backed by senators from both parties, would limit college athletes to playing between ages 18 and 24, restrict transfers to one without penalty, and ensure that revenue meant to subsidize Olympic and women's sports isn't siphoned into elite football and basketball programs. Most strikingly, Levine reveals that schools have been using third-party collectives as a backdoor to avoid the 20.5% cap on NIL payments, allowing some to spend $50 million on athletes—money that could have funded entire athletic departments. The bill’s real test, he says, is whether universities will finally act with integrity or continue to treat reform as a public relations exercise. This isn’t about eliminating athlete pay—it’s about making the system fair, transparent, and sustainable for all student-athletes, not just the revenue producers.