Senate passes college sports bill 77-22, sending it to a stalled House

The bill would create a national framework for athlete compensation, transfers and eligibility, and give the NCAA, conferences and schools limited antitrust protection. It is not law: it must pass the House and be signed by President Donald Trump, according to JD Supra.

Sponsors Ted Cruz and Maria Cantwell pitched it as federal protection for athletes and a check on spending by the wealthiest conferences, ms.now reported.

"We're not going to let the most powerful and richest conferences dictate to the rest of America what's going to happen to 500,000 athletes," she said.

Pay and retention

The current revenue-sharing cap under the House settlement is $21.58 million per school, Yahoo Sports reported. The bill would add a $27.5 million retention pool for current players, of which $5 million would be devoted to women's and Olympic sports. On3 breaks that pool into a $22.5 million retention fund plus a $5 million pool for women's and non-revenue sports. Either way, the additions would bring annual spending to about $50 million per school, roughly double the current cap.

Players could still earn third-party name, image and likeness deals. Deals over $600 would have to be reported to schools and the College Sports Commission, feeding an anonymized public database, Front Office Sports reported. The bill would cap agent fees on endorsement deals at 5% and require agents to register with their state and sign a written contract with players, Front Office Sports reported.

Transfers, eligibility and enforcement

Athletes would generally get one transfer between four-year schools without losing eligibility. Exceptions would cover a head coaching change, a discontinued sport, misconduct, sexual assault or harassment, and graduate study, according to JD Supra. The bill would codify five seasons in five years, starting when a player enters college or turns 19, and bar anyone over 24 from college sports. The NCAA could also keep out athletes who went pro or bet on sports, Front Office Sports reported.

The NCAA would be the primary enforcer of the new standards, ms.now reported. The bill would give the NCAA, conferences and institutions antitrust protection to enforce rules on compensation, eligibility, transfers, recruiting and agent registration. That protection would not take effect until the NCAA completes implementing rulemaking, and the bill would preempt conflicting state name, image and likeness laws, JD Supra reported. It would also create a private right of action covering NIL protections, health and safety, medical coverage and scholarship terms, with a 30-day cure period for schools.

The "Lane Kiffin rule" would stop an FBS head coach, offensive, defensive or special teams coordinator from doing head coaching work for another program in the same season. Coaches who break it would be suspended for another season, Front Office Sports reported.

Conference rules and athlete protections

Power Four conferences could not exceed 20 members, up from 19 after an amendment by Florida Senator Ashley Moody, Yahoo Sports reported. Within the first six years of the law, a Power Four team moving to a new league would have to spend three years as an independent, On3 reported. Conferences could also pool their media rights under a rewrite of a 1961 law, Yahoo Sports reported.

Most schools would have to keep the same number of women's and Olympic sports roster spots as in the 2024-25 school year for at least nine years. That requirement would apply only to Division I and FBS institutions reporting more than $80 million in annual athletics revenue, Front Office Sports reported. The bill would also set health and safety standards, require certain healthcare benefits and bar coaches from pushing players into certain majors to keep them available for practice, Front Office Sports reported. It would provide federal funding for broadband and media infrastructure at historically Black colleges and universities, Yahoo Sports reported.

What happens next

The bill does nothing to alter whether college athletes are employees, The Miami Hurricane reported. That silence is the main obstacle in the House, Sports Talk Florida reported. House Republican leaders want an explicit ban on employee status, while Democrats say such an amendment would kill their support. The New York Post reported that some Florida Republicans, whose schools do well under the status quo, are reluctant, and that sports agents oppose the fee cap.

President Donald Trump has backed the bill, On3 reported. The House is not expected to return until after the midterms, and Speaker Mike Johnson has thrown cold water on a vote before November, the New York Post reported.

If the House amends the Senate text, the bill must return to the Senate for another vote, Sports Talk Florida reported. The House has 20 legislative days left, with Dec. 17 as the last day in session, The Miami Hurricane reported. If it does not pass by the new year, lawmakers will likely have to restart the process.