The Senate passed a bill Monday night that aims to regulate college sports after several court cases in recent years dramatically overhauled NCAA rules and allowed student-athletes to earn money from their name, image, and likeness, known as NIL.
The Protect College Sports Act passed 77-22 with broad bipartisan support. The legislation would establish a federal framework for NIL payments, cap the amount universities can give directly to athletes, create rules for transfers, and establish other regulations governing college sports.
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The bill was championed by Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Ted Cruz (R-TX) and ranking member Maria Cantwell (D-WA). Cruz recently appeared on ESPN’s College GameDay, a popular college football pregame show, where he advocated the bill.
“It’s [the bill] about protecting the underdog and ensuring that each and every team has the opportunity to develop and compete, and maybe even make it to the Final Four next season, but those stories only happen if those teams still exist,” Cruz said ahead of the vote on the Senate floor.
The push is the strongest effort yet to establish federal rules for college athletics and regulate athlete compensation after years of negotiations and tumult. Those talks ramped up following a 2025 settlement in the House v. NCAA litigation that allowed colleges to begin directly sharing revenue with athletes. The bill would build on that system while establishing additional guardrails.
Along with compensation restrictions, the bill creates a framework for transfers, allowing one undergraduate transfer without penalty and another for graduate school. The bill would also give the NCAA limited protection from antitrust lawsuits when implementing the new federal rules. Supporters argue the provision would provide stability following years of litigation, while opponents argue it could restrict athletes’ ability to challenge limits on compensation and other rights in court.
The Southeastern Conference and the Big Ten, two of the most powerful college sports conferences, initially opposed the bill, but later voiced support after negotiations with lawmakers.
“The Big Ten Conference and Southeastern Conference support the Protect College Sports Act as currently drafted, following detailed and productive negotiations with Senators Cruz, Cantwell and [Sen. Eric Schmitt (R-MO)] and their respective staffs,” the two conferences said in a joint statement. “We appreciate the substantial work that has gone into this effort.”
Despite broad support in the Senate, opponents of the bill have pointed to the lack of limits on coaches, athletic directors, media companies, and others who profit from college sports.
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“Last year the buyouts for just three coaches at [Louisiana State University] totaled over $169 million, six times the annual operating deficit of the entire athletics program and so, if you want to know what’s driving the deficit at these big schools, it’s not simply the amount of money they’re paying the students,” Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT) said on the Senate floor ahead of the vote. “Those numbers are dwarfed by the amount of money that’s going to coaches and to facilities.”
The bill faces an uphill battle to reach President Donald Trump’s desk before the end of the current Congress, with the House not scheduled to return until after November’s midterm elections.
