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
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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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
… 5 unchanged passages …
(B) With respect to each name, image, and likeness agreement entered into between the institution and a student athlete,
and any other compensation provided or to be provided by an institution to a student athlete— (i) the amount of compensation provided or to be provided to the student athlete by the institution; and (ii)
disaggregated by intercollegiate sports program— (
i
I
) the number of agreements
the
and
institution entered into
payments
; (
ii
II
) the average value of the agreements
and payments
; and (
iii
III
) the total value of the agreements
and payments
.
… 7 unchanged passages …
(1) In general. Not later than September of the first year beginning after the date of the enactment of this Act, each intercollegiate athletic association shall establish and maintain a publicly accessible, searchable database for student athletes and their agents to estimate the fair market value for name, image, and likeness agreements
.
, which shall include data collected under subsection
(
a)(
2
). (2
) Content of database. An intercollegiate athletic association shall include the data reported by institutions pursuant to
paragraphs (1) and (2) of
subsection (a
)(1
) in the database described in paragraph (1).
… 2 unchanged passages …
(
5
c
) Limitation. This section
applies
shall apply
only to institutions
that
whose
compete
primary membership is
in Division
1
I,
as defined by bylaw 20.9 of the National Collegiate Athletic Association, or a successor bylaw
, and shall not apply to any Division II or Division III institution (as so defined) that participates in a limited number of sports at the Division I level
.
(a) Disclosures by institutions
(1) Disclosure of data on name, image, and likeness agreements. Not later than July 1 of the first year beginning after the date of the enactment of this Act, and each July 1 thereafter, each institution shall disclose to the intercollegiate athletic association of which the institution is a member, in an anonymized manner, the following data:
(A) With respect to each name, image, and likeness agreement disclosed to the institution by a student athlete as required by section 101(b)—
(i) a description of services rendered; and
(ii) the amount of compensation to be provided to the student athlete or group of athletes under the agreement.
(B) With respect to each name, image, and likeness agreement entered into between the institution and a student athlete, and any other compensation provided or to be provided by an institution to a student athlete—
(i) the amount of compensation provided or to be provided to the student athlete by the institution; and
(ii) disaggregated by intercollegiate sports program—
(I) the number of agreements and payments;
(II) the average value of the agreements and payments; and
(III) the total value of the agreements and payments.
(2) Report on revenue and student outcomes. Not later than 60 days after the date on which an academic year ends, each institution with 1 or more intercollegiate sports programs shall submit to the governing athletic association for such institution a report that includes, for the academic year, the following:
(A) The amount of revenues and expenditures of each such sports program, including the amount of associated entity and third-party donations, Federal funds, and State funds, including the total amount of remuneration for personnel of each intercollegiate sports program, individually by program and in the aggregate.
(B) The average number of hours student athletes spent on intercollegiate athletic events and intercollegiate athletic competition, disaggregated by sports program.
(C) The academic outcomes and majors for student athletes, disaggregated by sports program.
(3) Treatment of men’s and women’s programs. An institution shall treat men’s and women’s sports programs as distinct sports programs for the purposes of disclosure and reporting obligations under this subsection.
(4) Protection of personally identifiable information. In making a disclosure under paragraph (1), an institution shall ensure that no personally identifiable information of a student athlete is transmitted to an intercollegiate athletic association.
(b) Disclosures by associations and database
(1) In general. Not later than September of the first year beginning after the date of the enactment of this Act, each intercollegiate athletic association shall establish and maintain a publicly accessible, searchable database for student athletes and their agents to estimate the fair market value for name, image, and likeness agreements, which shall include data collected under subsection (a)(2).
(2) Content of database. An intercollegiate athletic association shall include the data reported by institutions pursuant to paragraphs (1) and (2) of subsection (a) in the database described in paragraph (1).
(3) Update of database. An intercollegiate athletic association shall update the database described in paragraph (1) each September 1.
(4) Privacy. An intercollegiate athletic association shall take reasonable technical measures to ensure that information available in the database described in paragraph (1) may not be used to identify a student athlete.
(c) Limitation. This section shall apply only to institutions whose primary membership is in Division I, as defined by bylaw 20.9 of the National Collegiate Athletic Association, or a successor bylaw, and shall not apply to any Division II or Division III institution (as so defined) that participates in a limited number of sports at the Division I level.
II Sports broadcasting
III HBCU Sports Media and Connectivity Program