Landmark College Sports Overhaul Heads To House After Big Senate Win

The U.S. Senate voted 77-22 on Monday to pass the Protect College Sports Act of 2026, advancing major bipartisan legislation aimed at overhauling how college athletics operate across the country.

The bill, introduced jointly by Commerce Committee Chair Ted Cruz (R-TX) and ranking member Maria Cantwell (D-WA), now moves to the House of Representatives, which returns to legislative session on Monday, Nov. 9.

If enacted, the legislation would establish federal standards for college athlete compensation, replacing individual state rules with a single national framework. It guarantees student-athletes the federal right to earn money through Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) deals, while also opening the door to direct revenue sharing with colleges.

“There are several things in this bill that are really important to enshrine into federal law at this time. First and foremost, the federal right to NIL,” Cantwell said on the Senate floor ahead of Monday’s vote. “But compensation on revenue sharing is probably the most important thing we could possibly enshrine in federal law today. This is [Congress] saying, for the first time, that an athlete gets a percentage of the media rights, the ticket sales, and the sponsorship.”

The measure also sets strict rules around player welfare, financial representation, and long-term academic access. Key provisions in the bill include:

• Setting a federal right for college athletes to earn NIL compensation under a standardized national rule.
• Capping sports agent fees at 5% to limit predatory representation practices.
• Protecting scholarships for 10 years following an athlete’s eligibility period so they can finish their degrees, while barring programs from pulling aid over injuries or poor performance.
• Requiring Division I athletic programs to cover out-of-pocket medical costs for sports-related injuries during play and for five years after eligibility ends.
• Requiring colleges to maintain a minimum number of sports programs to protect women’s and Olympic sports from budget cuts.
• Giving athletes a private right of action, allowing them to sue in federal court if institutions violate safety standards, NIL rights, or medical coverage rules.

Sen. Maria Cantwell (Senator’s Office)

“We also believe in a health and safety standard in federal law, one that protects the athletes beyond the way the law works today and gives them the right to sue and hold these people accountable for any kind of health and safety violations,” Cantwell said. “And then medical coverage for five years post-eligibility, and capping agents’ [fees] at 5%.”

The bill follows a Sept. 15 report from Cantwell’s office that examined rapid spending increases in college athletics and their financial impact on broader university budgets, including tuition and faculty costs. A day earlier, on Sept. 14, lawmakers held a Capitol press conference alongside college athletes, coaches, and Gonzaga men’s basketball head coach Mark Few to build momentum for the legislation.

“We need to stop stealing money out of college [and] university institutions for education, for tuition, for professors, and putting it into an arms race on sports,” Cantwell told colleagues before the final tally. “It is putting a pin in the problems to stabilize the loss of women’s and Olympic [sports] and to create the opportunity to discuss the larger structure moving forward. That is why I think we have so much support.”

The legislation awaits committee assignment and floor debate in the House when lawmakers reconvene in November.