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The Protect College Sports Act took a step forward on Tuesday when the U.S. Senate voted 74-24 to move the bipartisan measure closer to a vote of the full body.
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The vote count to invoke cloture easily exceeded the 60 needed to prevent a potential filibuster.
One of the bill’s co-sponsors, U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), said ahead of the vote on the Senate floor, “This bill brings order to (college sports). It helps women and Olympic sports, and it sets up a commission to look at the real future, which I think should include collective bargaining. …
“Let’s bring some sanity. Recognize that athletes do deserve revenue sharing, and that this bill will put that into law for the first time.”
The other co-sponsor is Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas).
The multifaceted bill would, among many other items,:
–Nationalize the name, image and likeness policies that are currently different in each state.
–Cap the amount of revenue schools can share with student-athletes at 22%, which currently comes out at $21.5 million.
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–Institute a “retention pool” of $27.5 million that would cut down on third-party NIL involvement.
–Ensure athletes could continue to use their scholarships for 10 years following the expiration of their eligibility to pursue a degree.
–Bans schools from pulling scholarships due to an injury or a poor performance.
–Permit athletes one transfer with immediate eligibility at the new school.
–Allow conferences to choose whether to pool media rights revenue.
–Permanently codify the NCAA’s new five-year eligibility rule.
–Stop football coaches from moving to a new school midseason, a provision that is being referred to as the “Lane Kiffin rule” as a nod to the coach who left Ole Miss ahead of last season’s College Football Playoff to take over at LSU.
Should the Senate approve the bill, it then must get the OK from the House of Representatives, where a close vote is expected.
If both chambers pass the Protect College Sports Act, it would move to President Donald Trump for his signature. Trump has said he would sign the bill to make it law.
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This story was originally published September 15, 2026 at 9:27 PM.