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A massive college sports bill is coming — here’s what it targets
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- A massive college sports bill is coming — here’s what it targets
Sens. Maria Cantwell and Ted Cruz are backing a legislative proposal titled the "Protect College Sports Act of 2026" that its co-authors have drafted to "protect the name, image and likeness rights of, and provide protections for, student athletes and to promote fair competition among intercollegiate athletics, and for other purposes."
Cantwell (D-Wash.) and Cruz (R-Texas) reached consensus on the bill on Wednesday, May 27, and prepared to introduce to the 119thCongress' 2D Session.
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The bill's table of contents outlines the legislative proposal's goal of definitions of anti-trust exemptions, NIL protections, capping agent fees/percentages on NIL deals, transfer modifications, extension of the revenue-share cap and "prohibited compensation and agreements."
The bill aims to tackle transfer regulations – one anytime-transfer, then a requirement to sit for a year barring a coaching change if an athlete seeks to again depart the present institution plus some regimented academic standards – while also moving forward in the quest to give NCAA student-athletes an additional year of eligibility.
While the NCAA prefers the "age-based eligibility" nomenclature, this bill essentially is a pathway for a "five-for-five" model in collegiate athletics, one that also bars professional players – ex-Alabama basketball star Charles Bediako returned to the Crimson Tide in early 2026 after three-plus seasons of playing in the NBA's G League – from returning to collegiate athletics. The bill seeks protection against even international pros, making an exception for international players who have earned specific prize monies but not inked binding professional contracts.
Student-athletes under the bill still would be required to report within 30 days all NIL arrangements with a value greater than $600; agent commissions/fees on deals would be capped at 5% of any agreement; the College Sports Commission would retain its right to govern NIL deals – the CSC approved almost $250 million in NIL pacts from June 2025-March 2026 – and the bill also provides language to elevate the $600 by percent increase in inflation per the Consumer Price Index.
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The bill also seeks to require a prospective agent representative to register within the state of the athlete's location prior to formal representation. The agent then also is to be required to become certified to the "Intercollegiate Athletic Association" to legally represent athletes. It also seeks to protect student-athletes by requiring institutions to provide written notice of intent for "possible revocation or reduction of the grant-in-aid or athletic eligibility of the student-athlete."
Section 110 of the bill, "Rules Governing Certain Mid-Season Coaching Transitions," seeks to bring order to the chaos of the annual college football coaching firing and hiring cycle , with an intent to freeze movement until the "conclusion of the competitive season, including any postseason competition, of the prior institution or the hiring institution, whichever occurs later."
Per the bill, a coach or personnel of a college football program "shall not, during that same competitive season, perform for another institution any duties or responsibilities customarily associated with a head coach of a varsity sports team for intercollegiate football, including, at minimum (the following): recruiting or contacting current and prospective student-athletes, directing or influencing recruiting strategy (for a new institution), directing or materially influencing roster management, including decisions on transfers, facilitating or negotiating NIL activities."
It also contains broader language stating simply that "undertaking any other activity customarily associated with a head coach of varsity sports for intercollegiate football."
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Title II of the bill, which addresses sports broadcasting, also seeks to make it "unlawful under the antitrust laws, as defined in section 1(a), for any conference that reported more than $1 billion in revenue on its fiscal year 2025 tax return to merge or consolidate with, or to acquire assets, media rights (including media rights of an institution) or membership of another conference if, as a result of the transaction, the number of institutions that are members of the conference would be less than the membership requirements under section 5(b)(1)(A)."
This language is aimed to protect against the dismantling of existing NCAA conferences, such as what happened earlier this decade when the Big Ten Conference plucked Oregon, UCLA, USC and Washington from the Pac-12 and all but two of that league's remaining members jettisoned the conference to join the Big 12.
Additionally, the bill proposes to add a Commission on the Future of College Athletics and also, in Section 110, seeks "rules governing certain mid-season coaching transitions."
A "post-eligibility insurance and catastrophic injury fund or program" also is required by the proposed bill to include funding of "at least $60,000,000 on the first day of each academic year" and also that student-athletes' medical bills are covered in their entirety for a five-year period beyond the athlete's final NCAA competition.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: College sports 'chaos' sparks sweeping new bill from Cruz, Cantwell
