The NFL and the NFL Players Association have released a statement in support of the Protect College Sports Act.
“The National Football League applauds Senators Ted Cruz, Maria Cantwell, Eric Schmitt, and Chris Coons for their bipartisan leadership in introducing the Protect College Sports Act of 2026,” the NFL said in a statement issued on Tuesday," the statement read. “Healthy, stable, and thriving collegiate athletics is essential to the future of American sports, including Olympic sports, and this legislation is an important step to achieving that for the benefit of all college athletes and institutions alike.
Authors of the bill say the legislation aims to "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."
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.
“By utilizing proven models like the voluntary pooling of media rights under the Sports Broadcasting Act, which supports broad, fan-friendly distribution of NFL games, this legislation will support college athletics and ensure fans will be able to access their favorite games across today’s changing media landscape," the NFL said in its statement.
The NFLPA, along with the NBA Players Association, separately communicated their joint support for the bill in a letter to its sponsors.
