College Sports Bill Advances Past First Major Senate Hurdle

WASHINGTON – A sweeping bill aimed at reshaping the rules of college athletics has moved past its first major Senate test, as the NCAA, influential coaches and other prominent backers intensify their campaign for passage before the midterm elections.

The Senate voted 74-24 on Tuesday to take up the measure, giving the college sports legislation crucial momentum. The proposal seeks to establish limits and standards amid rapidly rising spending across college athletics, which is navigating a new era in which universities can directly compensate players. It has the support of major athletic conferences, Senate leaders and President Donald Trump.

Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Ted Cruz, R-Texas, said Congress must step in to bring order to what he described as mounting turmoil in college sports.

“It threatens the viability of many college athletic programs, it threatens the roster spots and scholarship positions of hundreds of thousands of student athletes,” Cruz said. “It threatens women’s sports. It threatens Olympic sports. If Congress does not act, all of that is in jeopardy of going away.”

Sen. Maria Cantwell of Washington, the leading Democrat on the Commerce Committee, framed the proposal as “the last chance to save college sports.”

Even with its strong procedural vote, the bill faces resistance from multiple groups, potentially making final Senate approval difficult during the chamber’s final three weeks of work before the November elections.

Some Republican senators want the legislation to include further provisions involving transgender girls and women’s sports. Labor organizations argue that the measure falls short on athlete protections. The NAACP has also pledged to oppose it, saying Congress should not reward universities and athletic conferences “while many remain silent as Black voting rights come under attack in the states where they operate.”

Ahead of Tuesday’s vote, Democratic Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey contended that the proposal hands the NCAA excessive authority without creating sufficient accountability to the athletes affected by its decisions.

“Look at their history, it is not about player protection,” Booker said. “This is a money play, plain and simple.”

Bill seeks to rein in rapidly escalating college sports spending

The legislation aims to allow schools to enforce national rules for competing and recruiting and create new guidelines around transfers and eligibility, the likes of which have landed the NCAA in court dozens of times just over the last month.

It would provide a limited lawsuit immunity for the NCAA with the goal of eliminating some of these lawsuits, which most recently have come up over the new college rule allowing players five seasons of eligibility over five years.

Another big feature in the bill is a redefinition of “third-party” NIL — the name, image, likeness sponsorship deals that most blame for spiraling costs in college sports. Under current rules, schools can share revenue of up to $21.3 million among all players across their athletic program.

The legislation would double the salary cap to nearly $49 million per school, with the hope that shifting the money from third-party NIL to under the cap will set a more realistic limit on what schools can spend.

There’s a last-minute push before the elections

Republicans currently hold a 53-47 majority in the chamber. Democrats are trying to flip the Senate in November’s midterms, which can complicate the legislative agenda.

“We’re going to get one shot at this, and I don’t know if we ever will again soon,” said Missouri Sen. Eric Schmitt just ahead of the vote. “We’ve got a moment.”

The bill, he said, could “define the trajectory of college athletics.”