S. 4668 — Protect College Sports Act of 2026

This section defines terms used throughout the title, including antitrust laws, associated entity, athlete agent, collective, compensation, conference, cost of attendance, grant-in-aid, image, institution, and intercollegiate athletic association.

This section prohibits institutions, conferences, and athletic associations from restricting student athletes' or prospective student athletes' ability to market or earn compensation for their name, image, or likeness, from limiting eligibility for competition or grants-in-aid on that basis, or from using a group of athletes' name, image, or likeness without individual consent. It requires disclosure of name, image, and likeness agreements and compensation exceeding $600 within 5 days of signing or 30 days of receipt, with an inflation adjustment to the threshold, and permits institutions to restrict eligibility for violations of student conduct codes or unauthorized use of institutional marks.

This section modifies the Sports Agent Responsibility and Trust Act to require written agency contracts only and to expand the definition of endorsement contracts to include name, image, and likeness agreements. It prohibits athlete agents from charging fees exceeding 5 percent of an endorsement contract's value, entering contracts that extend beyond a student athlete's eligibility, or making materially false representations about name, image, or likeness opportunities. It establishes a private right of action allowing current or former student athletes to seek declaratory relief and actual damages, and it requires athlete agents to register with a State before representing student athletes in endorsement contracts.

This section requires intercollegiate athletic associations to maintain a publicly available website with a searchable database of athlete agents who are state-registered, certified under the Sports Agent Responsibility and Trust Act, and compliant with association rules on recruitment and tampering. It authorizes associations to decertify or fine agents for violations and prohibits decertified agents from representing or contacting student athletes or prospective student athletes at member institutions.

This section requires Division I institutions to disclose anonymized name, image, and likeness agreement data—including service descriptions, compensation amounts, and program-level breakdowns—to their athletic associations by July 1 each year, and to submit annual reports on sports program revenues, expenditures, student athlete hours, and academic outcomes within 60 days after each academic year. It directs each intercollegiate athletic association to establish and maintain a publicly accessible database of such data by September of the first year after enactment, updated each September 1, with privacy protections, and limits application to Division I institutions.

This section prohibits athletic department employees from pressuring student athletes on course or major selection, retaliating for such choices, or blocking non-conflicting employment, internships, or activities. It bars marketing or solicitation in any financial literacy programming offered to student athletes. It also bars institutions from revoking, reducing, or conditioning athletic scholarships based on performance, injury, or roster decisions, with exceptions for transfers or violations of conduct or eligibility standards, and requires Division I institutions to provide former athletes who received aid in their final year of eligibility the opportunity to complete an undergraduate degree plus either the prior aid amount or need-based aid.

This section requires Division I institutions to cover all out-of-pocket medical expenses, independent second opinions, catastrophic injury insurance above $90,000, and end-of-college physicals for student athletes injured in intercollegiate sports. It also mandates 5 years of post-eligibility coverage for athletes in their final year of eligibility. It establishes an intercollegiate athletic association fund of at least $60 million annually, up to $100 million, to assist low-revenue schools with demonstrated hardship and to cover long-term conditions such as chronic traumatic encephalopathy.

This section requires each institution, conference, and intercollegiate athletic association to adhere to specified standards protecting student athletes from brain injury, heat-related illness, rhabdomyolysis, sickle cell trait, and asthma by following designated NCAA, American College of Sports Medicine, and National Athletic Trainers’ Association guidelines. It also directs them to take reasonable actions to prevent abuse, hazing, and sexual misconduct; provide student athletes with contact information for the Office of the Student Athlete Ombudsman; designate an athletic health and safety officer independent of the athletic department; and ensure medical personnel have unchallengeable authority over medical management and return-to-play decisions.

This section requires each intercollegiate athletic association to establish an Office of the Student Athlete Ombudsman. The Office must provide free independent advice to student athletes on rights and responsibilities under the Act, assist with concerns involving the association or institutions, supply third-party resources and contact information, develop required signage for common areas and shareable curricula, maintain confidentiality with listed exceptions, bar retaliation for contacting the Office, and operate independently of association governance.

This section requires intercollegiate athletic associations and conferences to maintain comparable standards for medical care, lodging, meals, rest, transportation, publicity and promotion, and athletic facilities for championship events or tournaments across similarly situated men’s and women’s athletic programs.

This section prohibits football athletic personnel at Football Bowl Subdivision institutions from performing any head coach duties, including recruiting, roster decisions, NIL facilitation, practice planning, or on-field activities, at another such institution during the same competitive season. An individual who accepts a head coach position mid-season becomes ineligible to coach for the hiring institution through the later of the two seasons' conclusions and for the following season, subject to additional penalties.

This section requires that at least one-third of the membership and voting power on any governing board or rulemaking committee of an intercollegiate athletic association consist of current student athletes or former student athletes who graduated within the preceding 10 years. It excludes any such former athlete who is a current or former employee of the association, a conference, or a member institution from counting toward the requirement and bars members from voting on matters that present a conflict of interest.

This section permits a student athlete to transfer between four-year institutions once without losing or delaying intercollegiate athletic eligibility. It allows a second transfer with loss of eligibility during the first academic year after the move, except that eligibility is preserved without delay or loss if a sport is discontinued, the head coach departs, the student athlete experiences sexual assault or harassment by an institutional associate, or the student athlete pursues a graduate degree.

This section establishes eligibility criteria for participation in Division I or Division II varsity sports. It limits eligibility to five calendar years beginning after the student athlete’s 19th birthday or full-time enrollment, whichever occurs first, with exceptions for pregnancy, religious missions, active-duty military service, and certain injuries or medical conditions. It permits restrictions for illegal or performance-enhancing drug use and sports wagering, clarifies that youth basketball participation and limited prize money in other sports do not constitute professionalism, and bars stricter academic standards for transfers from two-year institutions than those applied to four-year transfers.

This section prohibits institutions, conferences, and associated entities from compensating student athletes or prospective student athletes in amounts that exceed the revenue share cap, except for a retention fund of up to $22,500,000 per academic year for athletes who have completed one competitive season, plus up to an additional $5,000,000 for non-revenue sports. It permits reasonable personal benefits for education or athletics, such as family travel and lodging during competitions or health issues, and requires multimedia rights holders and sponsors to certify that compensation does not originate from institutions. The retention exception applies for nine years after enactment and only if institutions meet graduation and academic progress benchmarks.

This section requires defendant parties to a covered settlement agreement to notify Congress of its scheduled expiration at least 180 days in advance or of early termination within one day, establishes a 30-day period for Congress to enact a joint resolution of approval, and provides that the revenue share cap and retention fund provisions cease at the end of that period absent approval. Upon approval, the cap increases by 4 percent annually for the first two years and is then recalculated every three years at 22 percent of average shared revenue, subject to independent third-party audit.

This section establishes the Congressional Commission on the Future of College Athletics within the legislative branch. The 24-member commission, co-chaired by one majority and one minority appointee, must include at least eight current or former student athletes, two representatives of historically Black colleges and universities, and two representatives of mid-sized athletic conferences (those generating under $500 million in annual revenue). It holds authority to conduct hearings and issue subpoenas, and its duties include studying and recommending an alternative compensation structure for student athletes that considers collective bargaining and employment status.

This section permits an intercollegiate athletic association to enforce recruitment and tampering rules that restrict institutions, conferences, employees, associated entities, and athlete agents from contacting enrolled or committed student athletes or prospective student athletes outside 2-to-5-week windows after the last competition of the season. It further requires affirmative opt-in before any recruitment or contact and bars inducements that violate these limits, while allowing opt-in outside the windows for transfers under specified exceptions.

This section provides antitrust exemptions to intercollegiate athletic associations, conferences, and institutions for enforcing or complying with rules on student-athlete compensation, transfers, eligibility, championships, and athlete agent conduct. It authorizes sanctions including fines, competition restrictions, and athlete agent decertification for violations of those rules. Associations must adopt implementing rules to qualify for the exemptions. It permits designation of an entity to enforce compensation rules, subject to notice and comment requirements.

This section establishes a private right of action in federal or state court for violations of sections 101(a) and (c), 104 through 109, 111, 112 (limited to transfer standards at Division I–III institutions), 113 (limited to eligibility standards at Division I–II institutions), and 114(b). It authorizes prevailing plaintiffs to recover actual damages and other appropriate relief, bars pre-dispute arbitration agreements and joint-action waivers (for seven or more plaintiffs) with student athletes, requires 30 days’ written notice before filing (with a cure option except for claims involving physical injury, death, or sexual abuse), and directs certain NIL and compliance disputes to procedures in the In Re College Athlete NIL Litigation settlement.

This section prohibits institutions, conferences, and intercollegiate athletic associations from discharging, demoting, harassing, or otherwise discriminating against employees, student athletes, prospective or former student athletes, contractors, and agents for providing information on violations of this title or Title IX to federal or state agencies or assisting in related proceedings. It authorizes aggrieved individuals to sue in federal district court for compensatory damages, attorney’s fees, equitable relief, temporary relief, reinstatement, and backpay, and invalidates agreements waiving these rights or requiring predispute arbitration.

This section preempts state laws that conflict with the title or that govern compensation to student athletes or prospective student athletes for name, image, or likeness, transfers between institutions, or eligibility rules set by institutions, conferences, or intercollegiate athletic associations. It preserves state Uniform Athlete Agent Acts, civil rights laws, tort and criminal laws, privacy and data breach laws, contract law, trademark and copyright law, consumer protection law, and causes of action for personal injury, wrongful death, property damage, sexual assault, harassment, fraud, abuse or hazing, deficient safety measures, and related claims, as well as antitrust liability not limited by the title.

This section applies Section 113(c)(1)(B) to any action or proceeding pending on or commenced on or after the date of enactment. It limits the remainder of the Act to actions commenced on or after the effective date, while preserving the five-year total eligibility limit for Division I or II varsity sports participation and the Benefits Pool Limit established in the In Re College Athlete NIL Litigation settlement (No. 20-cv-03919). It also preserves claims for monetary relief arising from pre-enactment conduct.

This section provides that if any provision of this title or an amendment made by this title is held unenforceable or invalid, the remaining provisions and amendments continue in effect.

This section prohibits Division I and Football Bowl Subdivision institutions from reducing minimum varsity sports teams, competitions, or participants, including for men’s, women’s, and Olympic sports. It requires institutions generating at least $80 million in annual athletics revenue to maintain at least as many grant-in-aid opportunities and roster spots for non-revenue-generating sports, including women’s and Olympic programs, as provided in academic year 2024–2025, subject to one-year waivers for 15 percent revenue declines or financial hardship, and sunsets after nine years. It imposes the same maintenance requirement on institutions generating $50 million to $80 million in revenue, with exemptions for revenue declines or hardship, and sunsets after four years. It permits institutions to modify or substitute which sports they sponsor.

This section requires intercollegiate athletic associations to ensure adequate representation by mid-sized conferences on any board of directors, governing board, or committee with authority to establish and enforce rules or bylaws. It defines a mid-sized conference as one that generated less than $500,000,000 in total annual revenue during the preceding academic year.

This section preserves the applicability of Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 to all programs and activities covered by that law, unaffected by any provision in this title.

This section establishes the policy of the United States that institutions of higher education participating in intercollegiate athletics should prioritize domestic students in the selection of student athletes and the awarding of athletic opportunities, including grant-in-aid and roster positions, on varsity sports teams.

This section requires institutions, conferences, and intercollegiate athletic associations to disclose to the relevant athletic association all amounts over $600 received from a foreign government, foreign adversary, state-owned enterprise, or sovereign wealth fund relating to intercollegiate athletics, within 30 days of the transaction or any material change. It further requires each athletic association to submit an annual report on such disclosures and its own receipts to the Secretary of Education and the Senate Commerce and House Energy and Commerce Committees by August 1, and to publish updated disclosures on a public website by January 31 and July 31 each year.

This section defines 17 terms in the Sports Broadcasting Act of 1961 for application of its antitrust exemption to joint media rights agreements, including student athlete (an individual enrolled full-time, making satisfactory degree progress, and participating in varsity intercollegiate sports), covered entity (the organization formed by institutions or conferences under a qualifying joint agreement), collective media rights revenue, grant-in-aid (scholarships or stipends up to cost of attendance, excluding compensation to student athletes), intercollegiate athletic association (such as the NCAA), conference, traditional rivalry, and top 10 historic opponents in intercollegiate football. It also redesignates sections 5 and 6 as sections 8 and 9.

This section extends the existing antitrust exemption for joint agreements selling telecasting rights of professional football, baseball, basketball, and hockey to similar agreements among colleges and athletic conferences. The exemption applies when the institutions form a covered entity that complies with section 5 requirements and transfers rights in intercollegiate athletic competitions to a third party.

This section conditions the antitrust exemption for joint agreements among institutions or conferences selling collective media rights on formation of a covered entity that includes at least 75 percent of Football Bowl Subdivision institutions. The entity must extend membership on fair terms to all Division I conferences and institutions, allocate one vote to each member conference or institution plus at least 10 current or former student athletes on revenue decisions, require two-thirds votes for major decisions, majority votes for non-major decisions, and unanimous votes for revenue allocations, voting thresholds, and media rights contributions. It mandates annual revenue distributions that guarantee each member institution at least as much as its highest annual amount from academic years 2021–2022 through 2024–2025, allocate at least 15 percent of remaining revenue equally among qualifying Football Bowl Subdivision institutions, and direct the balance according to performance, while transferring amounts to the fund established under section 106 before distribution and requiring protections for women’s and Olympic sports.

This section requires covered entities under the Sports Broadcasting Act of 1961 to make available, on a non-exclusive basis, at least one local outlet option for live broadcasts of each intercollegiate football or basketball competition in the local designated market area of every participating member institution, without charge to viewers. It directs the Federal Communications Commission to publish and maintain a list of those areas within 180 days and to enforce good faith negotiation of the rights.

This section prohibits covered conferences reporting more than $700 million in annual revenue from merging with or acquiring another covered conference or institution if the resulting membership would fall below 75 percent of Football Bowl Subdivision institutions or exceed 20 institutions. It also bars any entity from merging or acquiring covered institutions to form a new conference, renders such transactions void, and disallows antitrust defenses based on efficiencies or procompetitive effects.

This section modifies the exemption allowing professional football telecasts near intercollegiate or interscholastic games on certain Friday and Saturday dates by adding the requirement that intercollegiate seasons and postseasons conclude not later than January 8 of any year, to the extent practicable. It also exempts postseason Football Bowl Subdivision contests from the restrictions during the protected Army-Navy Game broadcast window, defined as the period from one hour before kickoff to 30 minutes after the conclusion of the annual game between the United States Military Academy and the United States Naval Academy on the second Saturday in December.

This section requires distributors acquiring media rights for intercollegiate athletic competitions in sports other than football or basketball to make those competitions reasonably available to the public within one year after the agreement's effective date. If the distributor fails to do so, the rights revert to the originating covered entity, member institution, or member conference after notification and a 180-day cure period, allowing reconveyance without penalty.

This section authorizes the Assistant Secretary, in consultation with the Secretary, to award competitive grants to eligible entities for periods of 2 to 5 years to support long-term improvements to broadband, information technology, media infrastructure, sports broadcast facilities for intercollegiate athletic events, and local journalism. It requires applications with baseline network and student access data plus numerical targets, and directs priority to entities with the greatest infrastructure needs, limited fundraising capacity, high percentages of Pell Grant recipients, declining state support at public institutions, and lowest projected cost per student.

This section permits eligible entities to use grants to install or upgrade high-speed broadband infrastructure (except where already served at 1 gigabit per second or subject to enforceable deployment obligations), modernize campus facilities, construct digital media production and research laboratories, and build media production facilities for intercollegiate athletics. It also allows equipment purchases, IT and cybersecurity capacity, digital skills training, and broadband subscriptions for students demonstrating financial need via FAFSA. It prohibits routine maintenance, national security risk equipment, overlapping activities under part B of title III of the Higher Education Act (unless approved), last-mile deployment where 1 gigabit per second service exists or is obligated, and fundraising technology. It directs the Assistant Secretary and Secretary to encourage public-private partnerships for additional funding.

This section requires the Assistant Secretary, in consultation with the Secretary, to coordinate with the Federal Communications Commission, State broadband offices, other Federal agencies including the Department of Agriculture, intercollegiate athletic associations, and the Director of the Office of Minority Broadband Initiatives to ensure efficient administration, avoid duplication of funding and efforts, and maximize student achievement. It also directs alignment of application requirements with other Federal broadband programs and prohibits grants or funds under this title from duplicating projects funded by those entities.

This section requires the Assistant Secretary to submit reports to Congress, beginning two years after the first grant award and annually thereafter, assessing project types, costs, geographic distribution, student demographics, grantee effectiveness in improving achievement, intercollegiate athletic and media events produced, and students trained in journalism or media. Grantees must submit final reports within 90 days after the grant period ends. Device utilization, log-in counts, bandwidth, or similar metrics may not fully satisfy performance metrics or count as evidence of effectiveness.

This section defines terms used throughout the title, including the appropriate congressional committees, the Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Telecommunications and Information, covered entities under the Sports Broadcasting Act of 1961, eligible entities such as part B institutions and programs under section 326(e)(1) of the Higher Education Act of 1965, HBCU athletic conferences, intercollegiate athletic associations, and the Secretary of Education.