What the Protect College Sports Act Does

College sports has operated without a federal rulebook for three years — a patchwork of state NIL laws, a single federal executive order, a House antitrust settlement, and a graveyard of congressional bills that never reached a floor vote.

On May 27, 2026, senators from both parties released a bill they say is different.¹

The Protect College Sports Act was introduced by Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Ted Cruz (R-TX) and Ranking Member Maria Cantwell (D-WA), along with Senators Eric Schmitt (R-MO) and Chris Coons (D-DE). All four argued that a bipartisan bill from the committee with jurisdiction over college sports has a better path to passage than the SCORE Act that stalled in the House earlier this month.

Here's what the bill actually says.

NIL: One National Standard

The bill gives every college athlete a federal right to earn compensation for their name, image, and likeness. That right replaces more than 30 different state NIL laws currently operating simultaneously — a patchwork that created legal uncertainty for schools, athletes, and deal brokers.

Under the bill, agent fees in NIL deals would be capped at 5 percent. Schools and third-party collectives would operate under a shared national framework instead of state-specific rules.

If you are a current high school athlete weighing schools partly on NIL opportunity, the passage of this bill would standardize the rules nationally — meaning a school in a state with weak NIL laws would no longer be at a disadvantage compared to schools in states with stronger laws.

Transfers: One Free Move

The bill guarantees college athletes one transfer without any eligibility penalty. A second transfer would result in a one-year sit-out.

This replaces the current portal system, which has been criticized for instability — players moving multiple times, roster management becoming nearly impossible for coaches, and athletes sometimes losing out by transferring to situations that weren't as advertised.

Athletes would receive five years of eligibility starting at age 19 or high school graduation, whichever comes first. Exceptions apply for pregnancy, military service, religious mission, and other approved absences.¹

Revenue Sharing: $20.5 Million Per School

The bill sets a cap on direct athlete compensation from schools at up to 22 percent of the average power conference media, ticket, and sponsorship revenue — which currently translates to approximately $20.5 million per school per year.¹

For context, the House antitrust settlement that currently governs revenue sharing caps it at $21.3 million for the 2026-27 academic year. The bill's formula produces a slightly lower number, but ties future growth to actual conference revenue rather than a fixed figure.

$20.5M — Approximate annual athlete revenue-sharing cap per school under the Protect College Sports Act^{Senate Commerce Committee press release, May 27, 2026}

Athlete Health and Scholarship Protections

This section of the bill is less covered in sports media but matters more to most athletes than NIL deals.

The bill would:

• Guarantee scholarships for 10 years after eligibility ends, so athletes can finish their degrees
• Mandate medical coverage during athletic participation, including coverage for a second opinion and an end-of-eligibility physical
• Create a $60 million trust fund to cover post-eligibility medical costs and help athletes managing long-term conditions, including CTE
• Set safety standards for heat exertion, brain injury, sickle cell trait, and asthma

The scholarship guarantee addresses a long-standing grievance: athletes who are injured or whose sport is cut can lose their scholarship and with it their ability to finish their degree.

Pooled Media Rights

The bill would amend the Sports Broadcasting Act of 1961 to extend antitrust protection to college sports, allowing schools to jointly negotiate broadcast rights — the same model the NFL, NBA, and NHL use. Proponents estimate that pooled rights could generate more than $9 billion in additional revenue.¹

This provision is where the bill gets complicated. Not all schools, conferences, or media partners will benefit equally from pooled negotiating, and larger conferences may resist sharing leverage with smaller ones.

What This Means for College Athletes Right Now

The bill does not become law the moment it was introduced. The Senate still needs to schedule debate and a vote. The House has its own version of college sports reform in progress. Past bills — including the SCORE Act — have cleared committee only to stall.²

What athletes and recruits should take from the bill:

• If you are a current college athlete, the transfer and health provisions — if passed — would affect you. The one-free-transfer rule formalizes a protection many athletes assumed they already had.
• If you are a recruit, NIL standardization means your deal value would depend more on your actual market value than on which state your school sits in.
• If you are a walk-on or scholarship athlete in a non-revenue sport, the scholarship guarantee and trust fund matter more to you than NIL caps.

The Trump executive order from April 2026 set a 5-year eligibility window and transfer limits as interim rules. The Cruz-Cantwell bill would supersede those executive-branch guardrails with permanent legislation.

For athletes thinking about managing time on the field and in the classroom, stable federal rules would at least reduce one source of uncertainty: whether the rules will change again before you graduate.

For prospective athletes wondering how the athletic scholarship landscape fits into their financial plan, the athletic scholarship reality check lays out what these scholarships actually cover and where gaps remain.

---

Footnotes

1. U.S. Senate Commerce Committee. (2026, May 27). Cantwell, Cruz, Schmitt & Coons release bipartisan bill to stabilize college sports, protect athletes and expand revenue sharing. U.S. Senate. https://www.commerce.senate.gov/press/dem/release/cantwell-cruz-schmitt-coons-release-bipartisan-bill-to-stabilize-college-sports-protect-athletes-and-expand-revenue-sharing/ ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴

2. The Hill. (2026, May 27). Senators unveil Protect College Sports Act as calls for reform grow. The Hill. https://thehill.com/policy/keeping-score/5897555-protect-college-sports-act-unveiled/ ↩