by Ja'han Jones | Jul 31, 2026 | Congress, Opinion, Sports
Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, is attempting a high-wire act as he tries to rally support for the Protect College Sports Act. And the window of opportunity appears to be closing.
Cruz and Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., have jointly backed the legislation, which is intended in part to address player compensation and name, image and likeness issues, or NIL. It also would limit transfers and establish a five-year window of eligibility.
The bill has been promoted by ultraconservative megadonor Cody Campbell, while Athletes.org, a players association, has said it “vehemently opposes” the legislation over concerns that it could move college athletes closer to the pre-NIL era, which was rife with exploitation. The bill has also been opposed by the Big Ten and the Southeastern Conference, which include several powerhouse programs.
Yahoo Sports’ Ross Dellenger reported that the legislation was in trouble after the two conferences blew past a deadline to weigh in on revisions.
The Protect College Sports Act is in a dire position.As Wednesday night arrived, the SEC and Big Ten continued to oppose the bill – despite days of negotiations with lawmakers, specifically over closing a cap circumvention loophole.Time is running out.https://t.co/vu3igm809K— Ross Dellenger (@RossDellenger) July 29, 2026
Cruz and Cantwell are attempting to bring the legislation to the floor of the Senate for a vote next week — the final week that senators are in session before a monthlong recess. The legislation faces longer odds of passage if it does not reach the floor before the recess.
On Thursday, the Senate adjourned for the week without the backing of the conferences.
“The bill’s chances of a vote next week are slim now,” Dellenger wrote on
by Ja'han Jones | Jul 30, 2026 | Opinion, Sports, White House
International rage over FIFA’s close ties to President Donald Trump has reached a fever pitch after soccer’s governing body announced a plan to sell a significant stake to an investor group led by Joshua Kushner, the brother of Trump’s son-in-law.
The president and his family have all but turned the White House into their personal piggy bank. And FIFA — which has its own sordid history of corruption — seems to have made itself a party to Trump’s self-enrichment under Gianni Infantino’s leadership, such as by paying for space inside Trump Tower in New York. (The organization has defended the office rental as a World Cup outpost.)
Soccer is seen by many as a unifying game. But Trump’s incorporation of FIFA into his political dynasty is threatening that idea.
As The Athletic reported:
FIFA has announced plans to sell a large minority stake in a new company that will run its main events, including the World Cup and Club World Cup, as part of a plan to triple the amount of development money it dishes out to its 211 member associations.
Under the proposals — which are subject to approval by a majority of those national associations and FIFA’s 37-member council — a new entity called FIFA Forward Enterprises (FFE) will take over all commercial operations, while FIFA remains the game’s global governing body and retains a majority stake in FFE.
A press release from FIFA confirmed the plans and said Thrive Eternal, which was launched by Joshua Kushner, is expected to lead the investment group that would control FIFA Forward Enterprise. FIFA did not clarify why Thrive Eternal was selected, and Kushner was already dabbling
by Erum Salam | Jul 26, 2026 | culture, News, Sports, White House
Katy Perry lambasted the Trump administration over the weekend for using her song “Firework” in one of its social media videos about U.S airstrikes on Iran.
The pop star said she was “deeply appalled and angry” over the use of her song in a White House TikTok video featuring bombs exploding set to Perry’s 2010 hit — specifically featuring her lyrics “boom, boom, boom.” A caption on the video, which has more than 6 million views, reads: “Iran has been warned.”
“I did not approve this, I was not asked, and I absolutely do not condone it. I wrote this song to be an anthem of hope, healing, and inner strength for people going through their darkest personal moments,” Perry wrote in an X post on Saturday. “To see a message of self-worth and upliftment weaponized to soundtrack destruction and violence is a complete violation of everything my song stands for. My music is for bringing people together, not celebrating warfare.”
White House aide Kaelan Dorr responded to Perry, saying, “This you?” He posted Perry’s own military-themed music video of her song “Part of Me,” in which she’s dressed in combat uniform.
Perry, who is in a romantic relationship with former Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, is among many other prominent artists who have rebuked the Trump administration for using their music in videos on official accounts.
Kesha publicly admonished President Donald Trump’s administration in March after the official White House TikTok account used her song “Blow” in another video about military action. “Stop using my music, perverts,” she said on X.
Stop using my music, perverts @WhiteHouse— kesha (@KeshaRose) March 3, 2026
The Filipino American pop
by Erin Reed | Jul 23, 2026 | Gender-Affirming Care, Henry Cuellar, LGBTQ Rights, Military, NDAA, News, Sports, Trans Children, Trans Rights, transgender sports bans
If you’re transgender, you can die for our country — but you cannot receive life-saving health care, access it for your transgender family members, or expect your family to be treated equally in schools run by the armed forces, should a new provision in the House NDAA become law. This appears to be the politic of Democratic Representatives Henry Cuellar and Vicente Gonzalez, of Texas…
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by Maximillian Alvarez, Dave Zirin, and Jules Boykoff | Jul 22, 2026 | edge of sports, Edge of Sports TV, Fascism, Opinion, Podcast, Politics and Movements: International, Politics and Movements: US, Sports, The Cultural Front
For many around the US and around the world, the World Cup was a welcome distraction from the dismal state of the world and the daily overwhelm of relentless war, corruption, fascism, and disaster. But the games were also an uncomfortable reminder that, no matter how much we love sports and want them to be an escape from politics and the pain of living in a broken society, there is no way to truly escape those things, and the manufactured illusion that sports are an escape from political reality is just that: an illusion.
At a live event hosted on July 16, 2026, at Chilo’s bar in New York City, TRNN Editor-in-Chief Maximillian Alvarez spoke with legendary sportswriters Dave Zirin and Jules Boykoff about what it means to love sports in an age of authoritarians.
Additional links/info:
Chilo’s bar website and Instagram
Jules Boykoff, OR Books, Red Card: The 2026 World Cup, Sportswashing, and the FIFA Greed Machine
Dave Zirin, Penguin Randomhouse, The People’s Historian: The Outsized Life of Howard Zinn
Credits:
Audio Post-Production: Alina Nehlich
Transcript
The following is a rushed transcript and may contain errors. It will be updated.
Maximillian Alvarez:
Welcome back to the Real News Network. I’m Maximillian Alvarez. The 2026 World Cup is now officially over after Spain defeated Argentina in the final match on Sunday. And for many of us around the US and around the world, the World Cup was a very welcome distraction from the ambient awfulness and doom and the daily delugion overwhelm of relentless war, corruption, fascism and disaster. But the games were also an uncomfortable reminder that no matter how much we love sports and the global spectacle of the
by Sharon Zhang | Jul 21, 2026 | Corruption, Donald Trump, FIFA, Golf, News, Republicans, Sports, World Cup
On Friday, American golfer and right-winger Bryson DeChambeau reportedly threatened to get President Donald Trump to help get a two-stroke penalty overturned during the Open in the U.K. this weekend, just weeks after a scandal in which the president intervened in a penalty for a U.S. men’s soccer player during the World Cup. During a lengthy argument with officials over the penalty that…
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