S. 4668

Protect College Sports Act of 2026

Sponsor: Ted Cruz

9 cosponsors
Follow this bill

In plain English: what this bill does

The Protect College Sports Act of 2026 would set national rules for college athletes' name, image, and likeness (NIL) payments, athlete welfare, college sports broadcasting, and HBCU media infrastructure. It would bar schools and groups from blocking athletes from earning money from their own name or image, require athletes and schools to report certain payments and deals, and cap school revenue-sharing with athletes at a set amount, with a temporary retention fund above that cap. It would also add health, safety, academic and transfer protections, let athletes sue for certain violations, give antitrust protection to many college sports rules, allow a joint TV-rights sales entity for college sports, and create a $180 million yearly grant program for HBCU broadcast and broadband upgrades.

Who this affects

  • **Student athletes (current and prospective)**: may earn money from their name, image and likeness, must report deals over $600 to their school and athletic association, and gain new health, transfer, academic and grant-in-aid protections.
  • **Schools (mainly NCAA Division I)**: may pay athletes for name, image and likeness within the revenue share cap, must file yearly reports on athlete payments and program finances, must provide medical coverage and health and safety measures, and must keep women's and Olympic sports at 2024–2025 levels.
  • **Intercollegiate athletic associations and conferences**: must run an agent registry and a searchable fair-market-value database, set up an Office of the Student Athlete Ombudsman, reserve at least one-third of governing board seats for current or recent student athletes, and enforce the new rules.
  • **Athlete agents**: must register with a state, certify compliance with association rules, may not charge fees above 5 percent of an endorsement deal, and may be decertified for violations.

Words to know

  • **Revenue share cap**: the limit on how much a school may pay athletes directly, set by a court settlement and continued under this bill unless Congress acts.
  • **Retention fund**: an extra amount a school may pay above the cap to keep athletes who have finished at least one season there.
  • **Collective**: a group, such as a booster organization, that gives money to or for athletes or a school's athletic program.
  • **Antitrust laws**: federal and state laws against business practices that limit competition, such as agreements to fix prices.

For example

Made-up numbers: A school's revenue share cap is $10,000,000 for the year, and it wants to pay $2,000,000 above that to keep a player through the retention fund. The bill allows up to $22,500,000 above the cap, so the school may pay the extra $2,000,000 because $2,000,000 is less than $22,500,000.

  • Step one: Check the cap room: $10,000,000 + $2,000,000 = $12,000,000 in total.
  • Step two: Compare the extra amount to the limit: $2,000,000 is less than $22,500,000.
  • Step three: The payment is allowed under the retention fund for that year.

Written by AI from the bill's text below; it can be wrong. How it's written

Official summary

Written by the Congressional Research Service.

Protect College Sports Act of 2026

This bill establishes requirements for name, image, or likeness (NIL) agreements for college student athletes and provides a limited antitrust exemption for schools and conferences to pool and sell certain college sports media rights. The requirements address elements of the court-approved agreement to settle In re College Athlete NIL Litigation (i.e., House settlement).

First, the bill statutorily prohibits institutions, conferences, or interstate intercollegiate athletic associations (e.g., the National Collegiate Athletic Association [NCAA]) from restricting student athletes from entering NIL agreements (subject to specified limitations). Students must report to their institution NIL compensation greater than $600.

The bill requires agents to register with a state and caps agent endorsement contract fees at 5%.

The bill also provides student athletes with one transfer without losing athletic eligibility and restricts football personnel from becoming the head football coach at a different institution during the same season.

Further, the bill prohibits institutions, conferences, or specified entities acting for the benefit of an institution from providing athletes with compensation that circumvents the limit on sharing revenue with student athletes established under the House settlement. The bill also makes the limit permanent and provides for an annual inflation adjustment.

The bill generally prohibits Division I conferences from reducing the number of varsity or Olympic sports teams that a member institution must sponsor. Specifically, large institutions ($80 million or more in annual athletics revenue) must offer and maintain at least as many grant-in-aid opportunities and roster spots for sports that do not generate positive net revenue as the institution provided during academic year 2024-25. The bill provides for a waiver of this requirement under certain circumstances of financial hardship and the requirements expire nine years after the enactment of the bill.

Additionally, the bill establishes (subject to specified conditions) a limited antitrust exemption for institutions or conferences that form joint agreements to transfer their sports telecasting rights to a third party. Such an agreement requires participation from at least 75% of the institutions in the Football Bowl Subdivision.

Text of the bill

Expand all

I Protections of student athletes and fair competition

Sec. 110. Rules governing certain mid-season coaching transitions Changed · Sep 28

Where this section came from

  1. Jun 2, 2026 · Introduced in Senate Referred to Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, Jun 2
  2. Sep 28, 2026 · Engrossed in Senate S.Amdt. 6779: To improve the bill. Official page › S.Amdt. 6777: To improve the bill. Official page › S.Amdt. 6776: In the nature of a substitute. Official page › S.Amdt. 6831: To modify the prohibition on certain conference mergers and acquisitions. Official page › S.Amdt. 6830: To require the disclosure of foreign financing of intercollegiate athletics. Official page › S.Amdt. 6828: To modify the provision relating to the relationship of this Act to existing law. Official page › On Cloture on the Motion to Proceed — Cloture on the Motion to Proceed Agreed to, 74–24 · Roll Call 235On the Motion to Proceed — Motion to Proceed Agreed to, 77–22 · Roll Call 236On the Cloture Motion — Cloture Motion Agreed to, 70–21 · Roll Call 240On the Amendment — Amendment Agreed to, 77–23 · Roll Call 242On the Cloture Motion — Cloture Motion Agreed to, 74–25 · Roll Call 243On the Amendment — Amendment Agreed to, 96–1 · Roll Call 245On the Amendment — Amendment Rejected, 1–94 · Roll Call 246On the Amendment — Amendment Rejected, 42–54 · Roll Call 247On the Amendment — Amendment Rejected, 49–50 · Roll Call 248On the Amendment — Amendment Rejected, 47–52 · Roll Call 249On Passage of the Bill — Bill Passed, 77–22 · Roll Call 250
What changed in the text

… 11 unchanged passages …

(d) Penalties for non- Compliance compliance . In the event an individual who accepts employment, appointment, or designation as head coach of a varsity sports team for intercollegiate football at another institution violates this section, that individual shall be ineligible to assume the duties as head coach of the varsity sports team for intercollegiate football at the hiring institution for the subsequent competitive season after the season in which the violation occurred and be subject to additional penalties sufficient to ensure compliance with this section.

… 8 unchanged passages …

(a) In general. An individual who serves, or has served at any point during a competitive season, as football athletic personnel for a varsity sports team for intercollegiate football at an institution 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 a minimum—

(1) recruiting or contacting prospective or current student athletes;

(2) directing, participating in, or materially influencing recruiting strategy or evaluations;

(3) directing, participating in, or materially influencing roster management decisions, including decisions relating to transfers;

(4) facilitating, coordinating, negotiating, or otherwise materially influencing name, image, and likeness activities involving student athletes;

(5) directing, supervising, or materially influencing coaching staff or team operations;

(6) participating in practice planning, game preparation, strategic decision-making, or on-field activities;

(7) publicly representing the institution in an intercollegiate football-related capacity in a manner that reflects or implies authority over the intercollegiate football program; and

(8) undertaking any other activity customarily associated with a head coach of a varsity sports team for intercollegiate football.

(b) Application. Subsection (a) shall apply without regard to title, formal designation, compensation structure, employment status, or timing of any public announcement, and the applicable intercollegiate athletic association may prohibit any arrangement that, in substance or effect, provides an individual described in subsection (a) with authority or responsibilities customarily exercised by a head coach.

(c) Determination of ineligibility. An individual described in subsection (a) who accepts employment, appointment, or designation as head coach of a varsity sports team for intercollegiate football at another institution during the same competitive season is ineligible to participate in intercollegiate athletic competition for intercollegiate football as head coach for the hiring institution through the conclusion of the competitive season, including any postseason competition, of the prior institution or the hiring institution, whichever occurs later.

(d) Penalties for non-compliance. In the event an individual who accepts employment, appointment, or designation as head coach of a varsity sports team for intercollegiate football at another institution violates this section, that individual shall be ineligible to assume the duties as head coach of the varsity sports team for intercollegiate football at the hiring institution for the subsequent competitive season after the season in which the violation occurred and be subject to additional penalties sufficient to ensure compliance with this section.

(e) Application. This section applies only to institutions that compete in the Football Bowl Subdivision, as defined by bylaw 20.9.9 of the National Collegiate Athletic Association, or a successor bylaw.

(f) Definitions. In this section:

(1) Applicable intercollegiate athletic association. The term applicable intercollegiate athletic association means only an intercollegiate athletic association that has at least one member institution that is a member of the Football Bowl Subdivision, as defined by bylaw 20.9.9 of the National Collegiate Athletic Association, or a successor bylaw.

(2) Competitive season. The term competitive season means the period beginning with the first regularly scheduled intercollegiate athletic competition for intercollegiate football for an institution during a season and ending with the conclusion of the final intercollegiate athletic competition for intercollegiate football for the institution during that season.

(3) Football athletic personnel. The term football athletic personnel means any individual employed by, contracted with, or otherwise engaged by an institution who provides coaching, instruction, recruiting, roster management, or training as the head coach or a coordinator, including an offensive, defensive, or special teams coordinator, of student athletes who are members of or participate with the varsity sports team for intercollegiate football of the institution.

(4) Intercollegiate football. The term intercollegiate football—

(A) means football played between institutions for which eligibility requirements for participation by a student athlete are established by an intercollegiate athletic association; and

(B) does not include a recreational, intramural, or club sport.

II Sports broadcasting

III HBCU Sports Media and Connectivity Program