Protect College Sports Act undergoes key changes

The co-authors of the Protect College Sports Act, Sens. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), and Eric Schmitt (R-Mo.), released an updated version of the legislation following weeks of negotiations with college athletics leaders.

The revised proposal builds on earlier versions of the bill, which included revenue-sharing spending caps, transfer regulations and eligibility guidelines. The latest revisions follow discussions at the White House and were shared with the Big Ten and SEC for feedback.

Key changes 

The revised bill continues to address conference realignment, transfer rules and protections for women’s and Olympic sports. It also offers schools an additional $20 million retention pool exception above the existing revenue-sharing cap, along with an extra $5 million designated specifically for women’s NIL opportunities. 

According to CBS Sports, conference leaders had pushed for at least a $25 million retention pool, making the latest proposal smaller than they requested. The proposal would also exempt future institutional NIL agreements from market-value evaluations. 

The updated bill also expands recruiting rules to cover both prospective student-athletes and their agents while extending tampering rules and closing what lawmakers describe as a high school recruiting loophole. In addition, it lowers the proposed Super League revenue threshold from $1 billion to $700 million.

Sen. Ted Cruz also addressed confusion surrounding the proposal on X, defending the legislation’s revenue-sharing cap and NIL rules.