U.S. Sens. Ted Cruz and Maria Cantwell advanced a bipartisan college sports reform bill through the Senate Commerce Committee by a 19-9 vote, aiming to regulate name, image and likeness payments, cap revenue sharing at $48.8 million, and restrict midseason coach transfers ahead of an anticipated Senate floor vote.
A high-stakes congressional push to rescue college athletics from what lawmakers describe as escalating chaos has cleared its first major legislative hurdle. The Protect College Sports Act, crafted jointly by Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and ranking member Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), passed the committee by a 19-9 vote after months of intense negotiations. The proposal arrives as the industry grapples with the fallout from a landmark 2021 ruling allowing name, image and likeness (NIL) compensation and a massive 2024 class-action settlement that compelled athletic conferences to share revenue directly with athletes.
Proponents argue that without federal intervention, the current financial model threatens to widen the gap between elite programs and smaller institutions while jeopardizing nonrevenue sports, particularly women’s athletics and the U.S. Olympic pipeline. This is a stability bill, not just an NIL bill,
Cruz Apnews, referencing football rosters operating with multimillion-dollar payrolls.
Bipartisan Committee Passage and the Path to a Senate Floor Vote
Cruz expressed strong confidence that the legislation will reach the Senate floor, telling CBS Sports on Monday that this bill is going to pass, and it’s going to pass this week out of the Senate.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune has been spoken with directly by Cruz, and President Donald Trump endorsed the legislation, telling reporters Monday that the NIL, or whatever it is, is very close to getting solved.
Despite executive backing, procedural hurdles remain steep. The Senate’s schedule ahead of its planned August recess is heavily congested with a spending bill, a budget resolution, and competing items. A Republican Commerce Committee aide noted that cloture could drag on for several days, leaving a late-week vote as the earliest possible timeline. Sen. Eric Schmitt, one of the bill’s co-authors, told CBS Sports that he believes the legislation could secure more than 80 votes if it reaches the floor.
Revenue Caps, Antitrust Protections, and the Big Ten-SEC Breakthrough
The legislation received a vital late-week boost when the Southeastern Conference (SEC) and the Big Ten endorsed the framework following intensive weekend negotiations involving league commissioners, university presidents, Trump adviser Randy Levine, and Cody Campbell, who leads the President’s commission on college sports. Cruz credited the White House with forcing the breakthrough after weeks of friction over revenue caps and associated entities.
The compromise raises the athlete revenue-share cap to $48.8 million. That total incorporates $21.3 million originating from the House settlement framework, a $22.5 million retention pool intended to help schools keep athletes, and $5 million dedicated to nonrevenue sports. The associated entities provision is designed to prevent athletic departments from routing money through corporate sponsors and multimedia rights partners to bypass the cap.
The bill also grants targeted antitrust protection to the NCAA and the College Sports Commission in exchange for public-facing athlete protections, including guaranteed scholarships and health insurance, alongside more stringent regulations for NIL deals from third parties and agents who broker their deals.
Transfer Portal Restrictions and the Proposed Lane Kiffin Rule
Beyond financial constraints, the legislation tackles roster instability by limiting players to one unrestricted transfer over their college careers and moving toward a five-year eligibility period. It also targets coaching movement with an informal Lane Kiffin rule,
named after the former Ole Miss football coach who departed for Louisiana State University while his team prepared for the College Football Playoff.
Under the terms proposed by Cruz and Cantwell, midseason coaching changes would be strictly prohibited. It’s not fair or right to poach a coach in the middle of the season while the team is still competing,
Cruz told reporters, drawing a parallel to professional leagues like the NFL.
Media Pooling and Opposition Among Major Conferences
While the NCAA and figures like former Alabama coach Nick Saban backed the effort during Senate hearings, the SEC and Big Ten initially argued that the bill does not meaningfully preempt the existing patchwork of state NIL laws. Meanwhile, the Congressional Black Caucus raised separate substantive concerns regarding institutional authority and athlete accountability, echoing the legislative collapse of the House’s SCORE Act earlier in the congressional session.
Whether the Senate can navigate its crowded pre-recess calendar to pass the legislation remains uncertain. If the bill clears the chamber, it must secure approval in the House before reaching President Trump’s desk ahead of the fall college football season.