Mike Calabrese: Who Owns College Sports?

Today, Peter Vazquez welcomes Mike Calabrese, Senior Advisor for College Sports at the America First Policy Institute, to examine who really benefits from college athletics and who protects the students behind the game.

College sports are big business, but athletes, parents and smaller schools do not all play by the same financial rules. Their conversation challenges the old amateur model, the rise of name, image and likeness (NIL) compensation, and the competing interests of universities, conferences and television networks. Calabrese discusses federal college-sports legislation and the consequences of leaving hundreds of thousands of student-athletes in a changing system.

They consider athletes' compensation and labor status, scholarships, medical protections, transfers, women's and Olympic sports, and the financial future of smaller programs. For New York families and college sports fans, the stakes go beyond a Saturday scoreboard: Will reform protect education, competition and opportunity, or only preserve the institutions that profit most?

Original broadcast: October 9, 2026. The Next Steps Show with Peter Vazquez. Putting People First.

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