Senate lawmakers are advancing major changes to the Protect College Sports Act, bipartisan legislation that would reshape college athletics through expanded NIL protections, new transfer rules, conference realignment provisions and stronger safeguards for women’s and Olympic sports. The bill recently advanced out of the Senate Commerce Committee and now heads to the full Senate for consideration.
One of the bill’s primary goals is to establish uniform NIL guidelines across college athletics. The legislation would protect college athletes’ right to profit from their name, image and likeness while creating a national framework for NIL. It would also regulate NIL agents and increase oversight of compensation to help prevent abuse and improve transparency.
The US Senate Commerce Committee, which approved the bill, released a statement saying:
“…The landmark bill sets new rules and provides new tools to stabilize college sports, including codifying athletes’ rights to earn compensation for their NIL, enshrining scholarship and healthcare protections in law, reining in predatory agents and preserving and protecting the future of women’s and Olympic sports.”
Conference realignment
The legislation also includes language aimed at regulating future conference realignment. According to CBS Sports, the proposal would cap Power Four conferences at 19 or 20 member schools. Under the proposal, most Power Four schools seeking to change conferences would first be required to spend five years as an independent before joining a new league. Notre Dame and UConn, however, would be exempt from that waiting period because they are already independent, allowing them to join a Power Four conference immediately if they choose.
Women’s and Olympic sports protections
The proposal would prevent major athletic departments from reducing the number of women’s sports, Olympic sports, roster spots or scholarships.
The US Senate Commerce Committee said in the statement:
“And any college athletic department with more than $80 million in revenue – 74 major universities, including Notre Dame plus the schools of the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC), Big Ten, Big 12 and Southeastern Athletic Conference (SEC) – may not reduce the number of women’s and Olympic teams they field below 2024-25 levels for nine years.”
Transfer rules
The legislation would establish new restrictions on athlete transfers by limiting how often student-athletes may transfer without affecting their eligibility. The changes would provide greater roster stability while encouraging academic continuity.
The SEC also voiced support for this aspect of the proposal. In a statement, chair of SEC presidents/chancellors Donde Plowman, who also serves as the chancellor of the University of Tennessee, said the conference worked closely with senators during the drafting process and praised the bill’s transfer and eligibility provisions.
“We applaud how the language we have seen so far addresses important issues including transfer rules and eligibility. That means student-athletes would not be able to transfer every year, putting their educations and team dynamics at risk – or toggle back and forth between professional teams and university teams with no intention of getting a degree.”
House bill
In addition to this Senate bill, H.R. 9137
was introduced in the House by Rep. Michael Baumgartner on June 4. Like the Senate proposal, it would establish national NIL standards, require athletes to report larger NIL deals, cap agent fees at 5%, limit compensation that circumvents the House settlement’s revenue-sharing cap, and provide a limited antitrust exemption for certain conference media-rights agreements.
The legislation must still pass the full Senate and House of Representatives before it can be signed into law.
