The Protect College Sports Act writes NIL rules, a $48.8m pay ceiling and one-transfer limits into US federal law as it nears final Senate passage.
The US Senate advanced the Protect College Sports Act on 17 September, voting 77-22 to open floor debate after clearing a 74-24 procedural vote two days earlier. A final vote is expected as early as this week, though the Senate has not set a date.
The bill sets national rules for paying college athletes, limits transfers, restricts mid-season coaching moves and gives the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) limited protection from antitrust lawsuits. Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Ted Cruz, a Texas Republican, and Ranking Member Maria Cantwell, a Washington Democrat, wrote the bill.
“College sports are at a breaking point,” Cruz said. State-level lawsuits and the arrival of name, image and likeness (NIL) earnings in 2021 dismantled the NCAA’s amateurism rules over five years, removing any national standard on pay, transfers or eligibility.
What the college sports bill does
The bill writes the revenue-share cap from the House v. NCAA settlement into federal law, letting schools pay athletes directly up to about 22% of the wealthiest conferences’ average athletic revenue, roughly $21.5m for 2026-27.
It adds an athlete-retention fund of up to $27.5m – $22.5m, plus $5m reserved for women’s and Olympic sports – the Senate Commerce Committee said.
The House settlement took effect on 1 July 2025, letting schools pay athletes directly for the first time. The cap and fund last only as long as that settlement, unless Congress votes to keep them.
Athletes get one transfer without losing eligibility; a second transfer generally requires sitting out a year, with exceptions. The bill caps eligibility at five years, requires agents to register with a state, caps agent fees at 5% and bars football coaches from leaving mid-season to run another programme.
It also guarantees scholarships for 10 years after eligibility, requires Division I schools to provide medical coverage, and codifies athletes’ NIL rights, while creating a medical trust fund of $60m to $100m a year for post-eligibility care.
The bill also lets conferences pool their television media rights, which supporters estimate could raise $4bn to $8bn in extra revenue. The Big Ten and SEC said they would not take part. Conferences are capped at 19 members.
Opposition and collective bargaining
The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, the AFL-CIO and the Congressional Black Caucus opposed the bill. The Congressional Black Caucus wrote to Cruz and Cantwell arguing it shortchanges the Black athletes who built college sports into a multibillion-dollar business. Critics say the bill gives the NCAA and conferences antitrust cover without letting athletes bargain collectively, as players do in the NFL and NBA.
Cantwell defended the bill on the Senate floor. “I will not let the perfect be the enemy of the essential,” Cantwell said, adding that it protects women’s college sport and historically Black colleges. The Big Ten and SEC had pushed back over a provision on transfers between power conferences, which the Senate softened before the floor vote.
President Donald Trump backs the bill, calling it “vital to future Sports in America” in a Truth Social post.
The full text of S.4668 is published on Congress.gov.
