S. 4668
Protect College Sports Act of 2026
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
The Sports Broadcasting Act of 1961 is amended by inserting after section 5 (as added by section 203 of this Act) the following:
6. Market-level broadcast access for college football and basketball
(a) Definitions. In this section:
(1) Designated market area. The term designated market area has the meaning given the term in section 122(j)(2)(C) of title 17, United States Code.
(2) Local designated market area
(A) In general. The term local designated market area means an area that—
(i) consists of a designated market area that includes the principal campus of an institution that is a member of the covered entity; and
(ii) at the election of the member institution and the applicable network, distributor, or licensee holding market-level rights, may include not more than 1 additional geographically adjacent designated market area, or designated market area within the State in which the principal campus of the member institution is located, in which a substantial portion of the student body, alumni, or in-State resident population of the member institution resides.
(B) Publication of list. The Federal Communications Commission shall—
(i) not later than 180 days after the date of enactment of the Protect College Sports Act of 2026, publish a list of designated market areas described in subparagraph (A); and
(ii) maintain the list described in clause (i) on a public website.
(3) Local Outlet option. The term Local Outlet option means the opportunity for not less than 1 outlet to carry a live intercollegiate athletic competition without charge to viewers within the local designated market area of a member institution that is participating in the competition.
(b) Requirement of Local Outlet option
(1) In general. As a condition of the exemption under section 1(b)(1), the covered entity shall make commercially available by purchase or license, on a non-exclusive basis, for each intercollegiate athletic competition in football or basketball, not less than 1 Local Outlet option in the local designated market area of each member institution participating in the competition.
(2) Rule of construction. Nothing in paragraph (1) shall be construed to require carriage of an intercollegiate athletic competition by more than 1 Local Outlet in a given designated market area.
(3) No effect on national media agreements. Nothing in paragraph (1) shall limit the covered entity’s ability to negotiate nationwide or regional media agreements.
(4) Requirement fulfillment. A national rights holder may satisfy the requirement under paragraph (1) by making intercollegiate athletic competitions available to viewers in the applicable local designated market areas using an offering that the rights holder owns or is affiliated with that is freely available to viewers.
(c) Good faith negotiation
(1) In general. Each covered entity, and any network, distributor, or licensee holding market-level rights or seeking Local Outlet option rights to intercollegiate athletic competitions described in subsection (b), shall negotiate in good faith to fulfill the requirement of that subsection.
(2) Enforcement. The Federal Communications Commission shall have jurisdiction over complaints alleging a violation of paragraph (1).
III HBCU Sports Media and Connectivity Program