WATCH LIVE: Senate expected to consider the Protect College Sports Act

The Senate is expected to pass a sweeping bipartisan bill Monday setting federal rules for college sports, responding to disruption caused by soaring athlete payments and frequent transfers since a 2025 court settlement let colleges pay players directly. The measure would give the NCAA new authority and limited antitrust protections to enforce name, image and likeness and transfer rules, though it still needs House approval, where a prior version stalled and the chamber is now in recess. Backed by more than 70 senators, the bill would codify the settlement's revenue-sharing cap while letting some schools distribute millions more through a retention fund, cap player transfers at one every five years, limit eligibility to five years, restrict conference size, and require minimum sports offerings to protect women's and Olympic programs. Ted Cruz, who worked on the legislation with Maria Cantwell, argued that only federal law, not the industry itself, could resolve the disorder. Cantwell cited LSU's scrapped plan to roster players who had attended NFL training camps as evidence of how "out-of-hand" things had become. Opponents, including Chris Murphy and Tim Kaine along with groups such as the NAACP, AFL-CIO and Congressional Black Caucus, contend the bill entrenches exploitation by capping athlete pay without limiting coaching salaries or donations, weakens athletes' ability to sue schools, and sidesteps whether players should be classified as employees able to collectively bargain, according to PBS NewsHour.

Summarized by PolitiKool from PBS NewsHour’s reporting. Read the full story at PBS NewsHour →