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HRES1011119th Congress

Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that the structure and governance of the Football Bowl Subdivision postseason should prioritize broad-based athletic opportunity, financial sustainability for college athletics, and competitive balance, and that innovative proposals to expand broad based postseason participation-such as proposals advanced by Coach Mike Leach-warrant serious consideration to mitigate anticompetitive effects in top-division college football.

Sponsored By: Representative Baumgartner, Michael [R-WA-5]

Introduced

Summary

Broader, bracketed postseason formats for FBS would expand competitive opportunity and rebalance financial rewards. The resolution would urge serious consideration of proposals like Coach Mike Leach’s 16-, 32-, or 64-team bracket paired with shorter seasons and unified media packaging.

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  • Student-athletes and teams: More teams would get a meaningful late-season path instead of a narrow gate. FBS fields about 136 programs while the College Football Playoff currently selects a 12-team field.
  • Colleges and conferences: It would push scrutiny of postseason revenue splits that favor a few conferences. Public reporting shows the SEC and Big Ten each receive about 29% of CFP base distributions while the Group of Five collectively receive about 9%.
  • Program finances: The resolution highlights sustainability stress for many programs. The median FBS program showed about a $19.3 million operating deficit in 2022 and about 70% of public FBS colleges lost money on bowl games from 2015–2018.
  • Media and national product: Advocates argue unified packaging and a broader bracket could unlock roughly $4–$7 billion in additional distributable value to strengthen competitive balance.

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Bill Overview

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Sponsors & CoSponsors

Sponsor

Baumgartner, Michael [R-WA-5]

WA • R

Cosponsors

There are no cosponsors for this bill.

Roll Call Votes

No roll call votes available for this bill.

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