This article was written by Mark J. Burns and published on Sport & State, a new media company founded by Clay Travis that is built around sports, culture, original voices, and live conversation.
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Two weeks ago, Sen. Ted Cruz used the ESPN College GameDay megaphone to trumpet the Protect College Sports Act, much to the chagrin of the collective sports media.
But, apparently, the Republican’s nearly 10-minute segment about the bipartisan bill didn’t bother the millions of college football fans sitting on their couches.
For all of the media’s grumbling, and there was a lot of it both during and after Cruz’s interview with host Rece Davis, you would have believed the Texas senator’s very appearance forced fans to immediately grab their remote and change the channel.
Did not know ESPN had become a political lobbying firm.
— Jemele Hill (@jemelehill) September 12, 2026
The facts say otherwise.
Pretty much nobody left the College GameDay segment, which aired live from Austin ahead of the primetime affair between Texas and Ohio State on Sept. 12.
I’ll write that again for you.
Of the 2.13 million viewers who tuned in to watch Cruz discuss the bill, that same number remained until the very end of the segment, according to Puck’s sports correspondent John Ourand.
Apparently, the controversial discussion had zero negative effect on fans’ interest in watching Cruz, who declared that “there are no rules” in college sports as it descends into further “chaos” without any guardrails and viable structures in place.
“It protects the students,” Cruz said of the bill, which, slowly but surely, continues to progress forward in the U.S. Senate. “It protects the students’ ability to be compensated to receive name, image, and likeness compensation. I think that’s only fair. It’s only right. They’re producing enormous value.”
Still, the remarks left media members annoyed, frustrated, and downright pissed off at Cruz and ESPN.
“What a stupid thing on GameDay to have,” exclaimed NBC Sports football analyst Chris Simms. “How stupid. You’re going to bring in that bull crap politics into it for the biggest game of the year. That was an embarrassment.”
Whoa. Chris Simms punching until his arms had nothing left. Obliterated the Ted Cruz appearance on ESPN’s College Gameday last week, lobbying for the Protect College Sports Act. The line telling Cruz to go back to Cancun like he did when people in Texas were freezing … savage. pic.twitter.com/6zTlv6ZOb5
— Charles Robinson (@CharlesRobinson) September 19, 2026
Days later, ESPN college football analyst Kirk Herbstreit addressed Cruz’s appearance, only to be on the receiving end of more angst and animosity from the sports media. Shocking, I tell you.
Kirk pretending he knows nothin bout nothin here is hilarious. Just say it does you no good to debate politics or express an opinion. Say that ESPN doesn’t want you to or you’re uncomfortable doing it. All fine. But pretending to know nothing about Ted Cruz’s politics is absurd. https://t.co/eynGjT3LvR
— Kyle Tucker (@KyleTuckerCBB) September 18, 2026
You cannot have a sitting U.S. senator on to talk a hot button political issue and then say “but I don’t do politics.” That is totally moronic. https://t.co/SYprNKNARz
— Shehan Jeyarajah (@ShehanJeyarajah) September 18, 2026
Some media critics have now called College GameDay “political propaganda“ but fail to recognize the irony of their words.
Are we just going to forget about Pennsylvania Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro being given ample screen time on the Disney airwaves last fall?
Libs are freaking out about ESPN‘s College Gameday hosting Texas Senator Ted Cruz to discuss the “Save College Sports Act”, yet they had NO PROBLEM with Gameday hosting Pennsylvania’s Democrat Governor Josh Shapiro last season…
Can’t have it both ways. https://t.co/UNL1z2jdoF pic.twitter.com/EI77wT4tB5
— Jon Root (@JonnyRoot_) September 12, 2026
Or when Bloomington, Ind., Mayor Kerry Thomson, a Democrat, popped on viewers’ TV screens in 2024 to declare a Lee Corso Day?
Yes, the media backlash has been real for Cruz and Co., but ultimately, the average college football fan didn’t seem to care.
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