S. 4668
Protect College Sports Act of 2026
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
I Protections of student athletes and fair competition
II Sports broadcasting
Where this section came from
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Jun 2, 2026 · Introduced in Senate Referred to Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, Jun 2
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Jun 24, 2026 · Reported to Senate Marked up by Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, Jun 18 Committee members' individual votes aren't in our records.
… 36 unchanged passages …
(A) means a sport played at the intercollegiate level, administered by an athletic department, between institutions for which eligibility requirements for participation by a student athlete are established by an
interstate
intercollegiate athletic association; and
… 19 unchanged passages …
What is a markup?
A markup is a committee meeting where members go through a bill and vote on changes before sending it to the full chamber.
(a) References to Sports Broadcasting Act of 1961. In this Act, the term Sports Broadcasting Act of 1961 means the Act of September 30, 1961 (15 U.S.C. 1291 et seq.).
(b) Amendments to Sports Broadcasting Act of 1961. The Sports Broadcasting Act of 1961 is amended—
(1) by redesignating sections 5 and 6 (15 U.S.C. 1295, 1291 note) as sections 8 and 9, respectively; and
(2) in section 8, as so redesignated—
(A) by striking As used in this Act, persons means and inserting the following: As used in this Act:
(12) Persons. The term persons means
(B) by inserting before paragraph (12), as so designated, the following:
(1) Collective media rights revenue. The term collective media rights revenue means revenue derived from the sale or transfer of the media rights of the member institutions and member conferences of the covered entity resulting from the joint agreement described in section 5.
(2) Conference. The term conference means any organization that is not an intercollegiate athletic association and that—
(A) has 2 or more institutions as members; and
(B) arranges championships for intercollegiate athletic competitions or sets rules for intercollegiate athletic competitions.
(3) Covered entity. The term covered entity means the entity formed by a joint agreement of institutions or conferences described in subparagraph (A) or (B) of section 5(b)(1) that meets each of the requirements under section 5.
(4) Grant-in-aid. The term grant-in-aid—
(A) means a scholarship, grant, stipend, or other form of financial assistance, including the provision of tuition, room, board, books, or funds for fees or personal expenses, that—
(i) is paid or provided by an institution to a student for the undergraduate or graduate course of study of the student; and
(ii) is in an amount that does not exceed the cost of attendance for the student at the institution; and
(B) does not include compensation paid to an individual who is a student athlete or a former student athlete.
(5) Institution. The term institution has the meaning given the term institution of higher education in section 101 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001).
(6) Intercollegiate athletic association. The term intercollegiate athletic association—
(A) means any organization, not-for-profit corporation, association, or other group organized in the United States that—
(i) is composed of 2 or more institutions or conferences that—
(I) are located in different States; or
(II) participate in intercollegiate athletic competitions in more than 1 State;
(ii) sponsors or arranges intercollegiate athletic competitions between institutions;
(iii) sets common rules, standards, procedures, or guidelines for the administration of intercollegiate athletic competition; and
(iv) is not a conference;
(B) includes—
(i) the National Collegiate Athletic Association; and
(ii) any other national intercollegiate athletic association; and
(C) does not include a corporation, association, or other group affiliated with professional athletic competition.
(7) Intercollegiate athletic competition. The term intercollegiate athletic competition means any varsity intercollegiate sport contest, game, meet, match, tournament, regatta, or other intercollegiate sport event in which student athletes or varsity sports teams compete.
(8) Intercollegiate football. The term intercollegiate football means the intercollegiate sport of football.
(9) Intercollegiate sport. The term intercollegiate sport—
(A) means a sport played at the intercollegiate level, administered by an athletic department, 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.
(10) Member conference. The term member conference, with respect to the covered entity, means a conference that is a member of the covered entity.
(11) Member institution. The term member institution, with respect to the covered entity, means an institution that is a member of the covered entity.
; and
(C) by inserting after paragraph (12), as so redesignated, the following:
(13) Student athlete. The term student athlete means an individual who—
(A) is enrolled as a full-time student at an institution;
(B) makes satisfactory progress towards completing a degree; and
(C) participates in intercollegiate athletic competitions or competes for a varsity sports team as part of the institution’s educational, developmental, or extracurricular programs.
(14) Top 5 historic opponents in intercollegiate football. The term top 5 historic opponents in intercollegiate football, with respect to an institution, means the 5 other institutions against which the institution has played the most intercollegiate athletic competitions within intercollegiate football.
(15) Top 10 historic opponents in intercollegiate football. The term top 10 historic opponents in intercollegiate football, with respect to an institution, means the 10 other institutions against which the institution has played the most intercollegiate athletic competitions within intercollegiate football.
(16) Traditional rivalry. The term traditional rivalry means an intercollegiate athletic competition within intercollegiate football that is between varsity sports teams of 2 institutions that—
(A) are both members of the covered entity;
(B) are not members of the same conference; and
(C) rank among each other’s top 10 historic opponents in intercollegiate football.
(17) Varsity sports team. The term varsity sports team means a team composed of student athletes that is organized by an institution for the purpose of intercollegiate athletic competitions.
III HBCU Sports Media and Connectivity Program