U.S. Senate Commerce Committee chairman Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and ranking member Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) have reached a bipartisan agreement on legislation that they say will restore stability to college sports, titled the Protect College Sports Act of 2026.
According to a press release, the Protect College Sports Act would "restore order in college athletics by creating enforceable national rules, preserving fair competition, protecting student athletes, while also ensuring that long-standing rivalries are maintained."
The senators said the bill "would bring stability to transfers, eligibility, recruiting, tampering, and real Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) rights for athletes; protect student athletes without turning college sports into professional sports; preserve fans’ favorite games and traditions; make TV money work for college sports; and restore competitive balance to ensure all schools, not just the blue bloods, can compete."
“College sports are at a breaking point," said Cruz in a statment. "Fans can see their favorite teams being hollowed out by transfer chaos, fake NIL bidding wars, eligibility lawsuits, and a system that allows the richest programs to keep pulling away. The Protect College Sports Act is a bipartisan plan to restore order. Student athletes can profit from their name, image, and likeness, but college sports still needs real rules, competitive balance, rivalries, and a true connection to education. This bill protects athletes and fans and keeps college sports from becoming a two-conference minor league.”
Specifically the bill would do the following:
Limit athletes to transferring schools only one time without penalty
Limit athlete eligibility to a maximum of five years
Prohibit former professional athletes from playing in college
Prohibit schools from poaching a coach from another school during their sport's season
The bill also tries to resolve some of that disparity between wealthier schools and those with smaller budgets by giving the conferences an option to negotiate future TV deals as one large group and share the money more evenly, as long as 75% of FBS schools agree to join together. ESPN reported that the Big Ten and SEC would not be required to join that group.
“We’re seeing thousands of men’s and women’s athletic roster slots and a hundred athletic programs being cut," Cantwell said. "Collegiate athletics is a hallmark for human development. Let’s not ruin it with out-of-control chaos. This bill puts new tools and new rules on the table to rein in runaway costs while still preserving NIL, revenue sharing, and women and Olympic sports.”
