← Back to the libraryCollege and NIL

What is the Protect College Sports Act, and what would it change?

By McKinley Malbrough III, J.D., MS-HRM · Certified WNBA player agent · Former certified NBA agent

Published October 17, 2026. Last updated October 17, 2026.

What is the Protect College Sports Act?

The Protect College Sports Act is a federal bill, tracked as S. 4668, sponsored by Senators Ted Cruz and Maria Cantwell, among others. It passed the Senate 77-22 on September 28, 2026, per the National Law Review. It would set national rules on NIL pay, eligibility, transfers and agents.

The bill awaits a House vote. Yahoo Sports reported that the House is unlikely to act before the November election, with the lame-duck session the likeliest window, and that the bill expires on January 3 if the House does not act, per Yahoo Sports. Until it becomes law, today's rules apply.

What would it change for NIL and school pay?

It would keep the House settlement revenue-sharing cap and add to it. Schools could pay athletes up to the cap ($21.58 million for 2026-27), and the cap would rise about 4% a year, per the National Law Review. A retention fund would let a school spend up to $22.5 million a year above the cap for nine years after enactment on athletes who completed at least one season and meet academic benchmarks, and an additional $5 million could be used for non-revenue sports, per the same summary.

• Division I athletes would report NIL deals over $600 within five days, per the National Law Review.
• Booster and collective deals would need a valid business purpose and pay matching comparable non-athletes.
• Schools could not pay recruits before they enroll.

The bill's tests for booster deals resemble the review that NIL Go runs today for associated-entity deals, and the revenue sharing guide explains the cap.

What would it change for eligibility and transfers?

It would set a five-year, age-based eligibility policy, per Front Office Sports, with exceptions for pregnancy, religious mission and military service, per the Senate Commerce Committee summary. It would also allow one free transfer, and a later transfer would cost a year of eligibility, with limited exceptions, per the National Law Review.

It would preempt conflicting state laws on NIL, transfers and eligibility, while preserving areas such as civil rights, tort, criminal, privacy and contract law, per the Committee summary. Related rules in force today are in the fifth-year article and the transfer portal rules.

What would it change for agents?

It would amend the Sports Agent Responsibility and Trust Act (SPARTA) to cover NIL activity, require agent registration, bar deceptive conduct and give athletes a private right to sue abusive agents, per the Committee summary. It would also require associations to keep a public registry of certified agents, with power to decertify or fine violators.

The summary caps agent fees at 5%. The National Law Review describes that cap as applying to endorsement contracts, so the exact scope should be checked against the enacted text if the bill becomes law. Representation rules in force today are covered in NCAA agent certification and California's agent law.

Agents notice that families rarely know which agent rules apply to them, and a federal registry would give them one place to check. Until then, the trust checklist is the practical tool.

What else would the bill do for athletes?

It would add protections that have nothing to do with pay. Schools could not cut a scholarship for athletic performance, injury, illness or roster management, and medical coverage for sports injuries would run five years past an athlete's final competition, per the National Law Review.

• Larger Division I schools would have to keep at least as many scholarships and roster spots for non-revenue sports as they offered in 2024-25.
• Predispute arbitration agreements in athlete contracts would be prohibited.
• Athletes could sue over specified violations after a 30-day notice and cure period, except for claims involving physical injury, death or sexual abuse.

The roster-spot floor works alongside the additional $5 million that could be used for non-revenue sports, which the Senate summary says include women's and Olympic sports.

How does Executive Order 14400 fit in?

The order, signed April 3, 2026, works through federal funding rather than new law, per the White House text. It says the governing body "should" update or clarify its rules before August 1, 2026, to set age-based limits of no more than five years, bar professional athletes from returning, allow one transfer during the five-year period (plus one more for an athlete who earns a four-year degree) and create a "national student-athlete agent registry."

It also tells federal agencies to weigh rule violations when judging a funded school's present responsibility, applies to schools reporting at least $20 million in athletics revenue, directs the Federal Trade Commission to take action under the FTC Act against violations by agents, and tells the Attorney General to challenge state laws that conflict with the governing body's rules on specified legal grounds. The order creates no enforceable rights.

What does the bill leave open?

Employment status. The bill does not decide whether college athletes are employees, per the Committee summary. It also creates a bipartisan Congressional commission to study the future of college athletics, per the Committee summary, rather than settling it, and it gives targeted antitrust protection to associations that adopt its rules, per the National Law Review. How that protection would apply to a pending lawsuit is a question for the courts.

Families should plan around the rules in force now: the NCAA's eligibility model, the transfer windows, NIL Go and state agent laws. A signed agent agreement, a transfer or a revenue-share contract that a player makes today is governed by those rules, not by a bill that has not passed. Whether a future federal rule changes one player's plan depends on that player's facts, and the school's compliance office and an attorney can answer it.