Senate moves closer to vote on national college-athlete compensation rules

WASHINGTON — The Senate moved closer Thursday to a final vote on national rules for college-athlete compensation. Senators adopted Amendment No. 6776, a substitute for S. 4668, by a 77-23 vote and then invoked cloture, 74-25, limiting further debate. A final-passage vote was set for Sept. 28. 1

The Protect College Sports Act of 2026 would create federal rules for name, image and likeness, or NIL, agreements. NIL agreements allow athletes to be paid for the use of their name, image or likeness. The bill also addresses athlete transfers, sports agents, limits on revenue sharing, lower-revenue sports and certain television-rights deals. 2

What the bill would do

The bill would protect college athletes' ability to enter NIL agreements, subject to limits in the legislation. Athletes would have to report NIL compensation above $600 to their schools.

Agents would have to register with a state, and their fees for endorsement contracts would be capped at 5%. Athletes would get one transfer without losing athletic eligibility. The bill also would restrict football personnel from becoming the head football coach at another school during the same season. 2

The measure would make permanent, and adjust for inflation, a limit on revenue sharing with athletes tied to the court-approved House settlement. It also would prohibit schools, conferences and certain related entities from using compensation arrangements to get around that limit. 2

At athletic departments with at least $80 million in annual revenue, the bill would generally require schools to maintain at least the number of grant-in-aid opportunities and roster spots they offered in 2024-25 for sports that did not produce positive net revenue. Those protections would have specified financial-hardship waivers and would expire after nine years. 2

Television rights and fans

The bill would provide a limited antitrust exemption for qualifying agreements in which schools or conferences jointly transfer sports telecasting rights to a third party. At least 75% of Football Bowl Subdivision schools would have to participate. 2

Sen. Jerry Moran, R-Kan., said the provision would expand which entities may use the Sports Broadcasting Act exemption, not expand the exemption itself. He said it applies to games made available through “sponsored telecasting,” rather than exclusive streaming arrangements, and is intended to increase access through free, over-the-air broadcasts. 3

The framework involves tradeoffs. Athletes would receive federal NIL protections and one eligibility-preserving transfer, while schools and conferences would receive rules for compliance and budgeting. The revenue-sharing ceiling could make costs more predictable for schools but would limit covered athlete compensation. Protections for lower-revenue and Olympic sports could preserve teams, scholarships and roster spots while requiring large athletic departments to absorb the costs. The media-rights exemption could make some joint telecast deals easier, while coordinated sales still raise competition concerns and Moran’s statement excludes exclusive streaming from the exemption’s intended reach.

Senators also offered and tabled proposals concerning foreign-financing disclosure and coach compensation. They were proposals during the debate, not changes adopted in the substitute. 1

Cloture is a Senate procedure that limits debate; it did not enact the bill. A Senate vote on final passage would be another step, and further action by the House and the president would be required for the measure to become law.