Protect College Sports Act of 2026

Regulatory or Legal Changes

Health, safety standards, and medical authority for athletes

Requires colleges, conferences, and athletic associations to adopt specific safety standards for concussions, heat illness, and other conditions within 270 days, designate an independent health officer at each school, and give medical staff sole authority over return-to-play decisions.

• Population Scope Medium Directly affects college student athletes and athletic medical and coaching staff at all institutions with intercollegiate sports programs — a large sector-wide population.
• Budgetary Magnitude Low No federal funds are authorized or appropriated; costs of designating a health officer and adopting safety standards fall on institutions as private compliance obligations.
• Legal / Regulatory Depth High Mandates adoption of specific named safety standards, requires designation of an independent institutional officer, and grants medical personnel legally unchallengeable return-to-play authority — new substantive duties and enforceable authority allocations binding across the sector.
• Degree of Discretion Granted Low Safety standard adoption, officer designation, and medical autonomy are mandatory with a 270-day deadline, leaving institutions no discretion to delay or substitute alternative approaches.
• Implementation & Enforcement Burden High Requires every institution to designate and fund an independent oversight officer and maintain ongoing adherence to named safety protocols — standing up new compliance infrastructure at each program.
• Temporal Commitment High Persists indefinitely until Congress acts to repeal or amend it.

Regulatory or Legal Changes

Whistleblower protections in college athletics

Prohibits colleges, conferences, and athletic associations from retaliating against employees, athletes, contractors, or others who report suspected violations of this law, and gives harmed individuals the right to sue for damages, reinstatement, and backpay.

• Population Scope Medium Directly protects employees, contractors, student athletes, prospective and former athletes, and agents across all institutions, conferences, and associations — a broad sector-wide population.
• Budgetary Magnitude Low No federal funds are authorized or appropriated; liability and remedies flow between private parties through federal district court.
• Legal / Regulatory Depth High Creates new federal anti-retaliation prohibitions and a private right of action with reinstatement, backpay, and damages remedies, invalidating pre-dispute arbitration waivers — new substantive enforceable entitlements with no prior federal analog in college athletics.
• Degree of Discretion Granted Low Anti-retaliation prohibitions and the arbitration waiver ban are mandatory; courts retain discretion over specific remedy amounts within the statutory menu.
• Implementation & Enforcement Burden High Generates federal district court litigation for retaliation claims, with reinstatement and backpay remedies requiring ongoing judicial oversight — recurring adversarial adjudication across the sector.
• Temporal Commitment High Same as above.

Regulatory or Legal Changes

Athlete agent registration and agency contract rules

Requires athlete agents to register with a state and sign a formal contract before representing college athletes in endorsement deals, sets minimum contract content requirements, and makes agents certify their registration status to athletic associations. Adds new federal prohibitions on athlete agents, including a 5% fee cap on endorsement contracts, bans on multi-year contracts extending beyond eligibility, and prohibitions on false statements about name, image, and likeness (NIL) opportunities or in registration applications.

• Population Scope Low Directly regulates athlete agents representing college athletes in endorsement contracts — a narrow professional class numbering in the thousands, a small fraction of the U.S. population.
• Budgetary Magnitude Low No federal funds are authorized or appropriated; registration and compliance costs fall on agents and associations as private obligations.
• Legal / Regulatory Depth High Imposes new statutory registration prerequisites, mandatory pre-representation contracts, a 5% fee cap, contract term limits, and fraud prohibitions — binding substantive duties on a regulated profession with no prior federal analog of this scope.
• Degree of Discretion Granted Low Requirements are stated in mandatory terms with defined fee caps and contract content minimums, leaving agents no discretion in compliance.
• Implementation & Enforcement Burden High Requires associations to maintain registries, verify certifications, and exercise decertification and fining authority — standing up new ongoing compliance infrastructure across the sector.
• Temporal Commitment High Same as above.

Regulatory or Legal Changes

Academic protections and scholarship rules for athletes

Prohibits athletic department staff from interfering with athletes' course or major choices, bars schools from revoking scholarships due to injury, performance, or roster cuts, and requires Division I schools to offer degree completion to former athletes who left within 10 years.

• Population Scope Medium Directly benefits Division I student athletes and former athletes who left within 10 years — hundreds of thousands of current and former scholarship recipients across the country.
• Budgetary Magnitude Medium Obligates institutions to maintain scholarship funding through injury and roster cuts and to restore prior grant-in-aid levels for returning degree-completers — a recurring, mandatory, institution-borne expenditure obligation without a defined federal dollar cap.
• Legal / Regulatory Depth High Creates new statutory prohibitions on scholarship revocation and academic interference, and imposes an affirmative duty to offer degree completion — new substantive entitlements enforceable against institutions.
• Degree of Discretion Granted Low Prohibitions and the degree-completion obligation are stated in mandatory 'shall not' and 'shall offer' terms with defined exceptions, leaving institutions no discretion outside those carved-out circumstances.
• Implementation & Enforcement Burden Medium Institutions must provide written notice before scholarship changes and track former athlete eligibility for degree-completion offers — an affirmative ongoing compliance obligation across all Division I programs.
• Temporal Commitment High Same as above.

Core Policy Mechanism

Office of Student Athlete Ombudsman established

Requires each college athletic association to create an independent Office of the Student Athlete Ombudsman, funded by the association, to give athletes free legal and procedural advice, resolve disputes, and protect athletes from retaliation for seeking help.

• Population Scope Medium Directly serves college student athletes at all member institutions of intercollegiate athletic associations — hundreds of thousands of current athletes across the country.
• Budgetary Magnitude Medium Requires each intercollegiate athletic association to fund and staff a permanent independent office — a recurring mandatory expenditure obligation on private governing bodies, with no defined federal dollar floor but ongoing institutional cost.
• Legal / Regulatory Depth High Creates a new mandatory institutional body with defined duties, testimonial and discovery shields, anti-retaliation protections, and independence guarantees — new substantive legal obligations and privileges with no prior federal analog.
• Degree of Discretion Granted Low Establishment, funding, and operational independence are mandatory, and governing boards are expressly prohibited from interfering with Office duties.
• Implementation & Enforcement Burden Medium Associations must stand up and sustain a staffed, confidential, independent office at each association — ongoing institutional infrastructure with anti-retaliation enforcement exposure.
• Temporal Commitment High Same as above.

Regulatory or Legal Changes

Mandatory NIL disclosure by student athletes

Requires enrolled Division I athletes to report name, image, and likeness (NIL) agreements or compensation over $600 to their school within 30 days, and requires recruited prospective athletes to disclose ongoing NIL deals to recruiting institutions. Bars colleges, conferences, and athletic associations from blocking athletes from earning name, image, and likeness (NIL) money or revoking scholarships for NIL activity. Allows direct NIL payment by institutions and third parties. Requires any institution, conference, association, collective, or third party to get each athlete's individual agreement before using the group's name, image, and likeness (NIL) to sell or promote products or services.

• Population Scope Medium Directly affects Division I college student athletes and prospective athletes — roughly hundreds of thousands of individuals, well under 10% of the U.S. population, but a meaningfully sized regulated group within a specific sector.
• Budgetary Magnitude Low No federal funds are authorized or appropriated; compliance costs fall on institutions and athletes as private obligations.
• Legal / Regulatory Depth High Creates new statutory mandates — disclosure duties on athletes, group-consent requirements, and prohibitions on NIL restrictions — binding across the regulated population with no prior federal analog.
• Degree of Discretion Granted Low Obligations are stated in mandatory 'shall' terms with defined thresholds ($600, 30 days), leaving institutions and associations no discretion in implementation.
• Implementation & Enforcement Burden Medium Institutions must receive, store, and protect disclosure data while associations must distribute educational materials — an ongoing affirmative compliance obligation across all Division I programs.
• Temporal Commitment High Same as above.

Regulatory or Legal Changes

Endorsement contract requirements for student athletes

Sets minimum legal standards for endorsement contracts involving college athletes, including a written-contract requirement, disclosure of the athlete's right to representation, mandatory contract terms, and a cap limiting institution-affiliated contracts to the athlete's eligibility period.

• Population Scope Medium Directly affects all college student athletes entering endorsement contracts and all entities contracting with them — a broad set of parties across hundreds of institutions.
• Budgetary Magnitude Low No federal funds are authorized or appropriated; compliance costs are borne by contracting parties in the private market.
• Legal / Regulatory Depth High Creates new enforceable federal form and content requirements for endorsement contracts and grants athletes a statutory right to void non-compliant agreements — new substantive entitlements binding across the regulated market.
• Degree of Discretion Granted Low Mandatory content requirements and the duration cap are stated in 'shall' terms with no agency or party discretion to waive them.
• Implementation & Enforcement Burden Medium Compliance requires contracting parties to ensure all agreements meet mandatory content standards, with voiding rights creating an ongoing litigation risk that disciplines the market.
• Temporal Commitment High Same as above.

Regulatory or Legal Changes

College athlete transfer eligibility rules

Guarantees college athletes one penalty-free transfer, imposes a one-year eligibility delay for a second transfer, and allows additional penalty-free transfers in specific circumstances such as sport discontinuation, coach departure, sexual misconduct, or graduate study.

• Population Scope Medium Directly affects all college student athletes who transfer between institutions — a large and recurring population across all Division I programs nationwide.
• Budgetary Magnitude Low No federal funds are authorized or appropriated; eligibility determinations are administrative obligations on institutions and associations.
• Legal / Regulatory Depth High Creates new federal statutory guarantees of one penalty-free transfer and defined exceptions to second-transfer penalties — new substantive entitlements enforceable against institutions and associations with no prior federal analog.
• Degree of Discretion Granted Low Transfer guarantees and the one-year penalty for second transfers are mandatory, with exceptions defined by statute leaving associations no discretion to impose stricter rules.
• Implementation & Enforcement Burden Medium Institutions and associations must track each athlete's transfer history and apply exception criteria on a case-by-case basis — recurring adjudicative compliance obligations.
• Temporal Commitment High Same as above.

Regulatory or Legal Changes

College athlete eligibility criteria and standards

Sets federal standards for who may compete in college sports, including academic requirements, a five-year eligibility window with exceptions for pregnancy, military service, and religious mission, and rules on professional status, drug use, sports wagering, and transfer standards.

• Population Scope Medium Directly governs all college student athletes and prospective athletes nationwide, including two-year college transfers — a broad population across every intercollegiate program.
• Budgetary Magnitude Low No federal funds are authorized or appropriated; eligibility administration is an institutional and association obligation.
• Legal / Regulatory Depth High Establishes comprehensive new federal statutory eligibility criteria — a five-year window, professional status rules, clock exceptions, and equal transfer standards — displacing association discretion with binding federal mandates.
• Degree of Discretion Granted Medium Associations retain authority to restrict eligibility for drug use and sports wagering, and institutions retain conduct-code authority, but the core eligibility framework is mandatory.
• Implementation & Enforcement Burden Medium Associations and institutions must apply eligibility criteria to each athlete individually, including clock exceptions and transfer standard equity — recurring case-by-case adjudicative compliance obligations.
• Temporal Commitment High Same as above.

Regulatory or Legal Changes

Prohibited compensation and NIL agreement validity rules

Bans compensation arrangements that would cause a school to exceed its revenue share cap, and prohibits name, image, and likeness (NIL) agreements that lack a valid business purpose or pay more than market rate, while allowing certain personal and education benefits consistent with an existing court settlement.

• Population Scope Medium Directly affects institutions, conferences, collectives, and student athletes involved in NIL compensation arrangements — a broad set of parties across all Division I programs.
• Budgetary Magnitude Low No federal funds are authorized or appropriated; the provision constrains private compensation flows rather than directing public expenditure.
• Legal / Regulatory Depth High Imposes new statutory prohibitions on above-cap compensation and non-market NIL agreements, and anchors permitted benefits to a court-approved settlement — binding substantive restrictions on private compensation arrangements across the sector.
• Degree of Discretion Granted Low Prohibitions on exceeding the revenue share cap and on non-business-purpose NIL agreements are mandatory, with permitted benefits defined by reference to an external court settlement.
• Implementation & Enforcement Burden Medium Institutions and associated entities must evaluate each NIL agreement for business purpose and market-rate compliance — a recurring substantive review obligation across a high volume of transactions.
• Temporal Commitment High Persists indefinitely, with the revenue share cap and its inflation adjustment continuing after the underlying court settlement expires.

Regulatory or Legal Changes

Recruitment and tampering contact restrictions

Limits when schools, conferences, agents, and associated entities may contact enrolled athletes for transfer recruitment to a five-week window after the season ends, bans unsolicited recruitment contact, and prohibits compensation-based inducements tied to recruitment violations.

• Population Scope Medium Directly regulates institutions, conferences, agents, and associated entities engaged in transfer recruitment, and protects enrolled athletes — a broad set of parties across all Division I programs.
• Budgetary Magnitude Low No federal funds are authorized or appropriated; compliance costs are administrative obligations on institutions and agents.
• Legal / Regulatory Depth High Creates new federal statutory contact windows, opt-in requirements, and compensation-inducement prohibitions — binding substantive restrictions on recruitment conduct with no prior federal analog.
• Degree of Discretion Granted Low The five-week window, seven-day delay, and opt-in requirement are mandatory with no association or institutional discretion to expand contact periods.
• Implementation & Enforcement Burden Medium Institutions, agents, and associations must monitor and enforce contact-window compliance and opt-in status for each athlete — recurring case-by-case compliance obligations across every transfer cycle.
• Temporal Commitment High Persists indefinitely until Congress acts to repeal or amend it.

Regulatory or Legal Changes

One-third student athlete board representation mandate

Requires at least one-third of membership and voting power on governing boards and rule-making committees of college athletic associations to be current or recently graduated student athletes, excluding association employees from the count.

• Population Scope Low Directly affects the governing boards of intercollegiate athletic associations and the pool of current and recent student athletes eligible to serve — a narrow institutional population.
• Budgetary Magnitude Low No federal funds are authorized or appropriated; governance restructuring costs are borne by associations as internal administrative obligations.
• Legal / Regulatory Depth High Imposes a new mandatory governance composition requirement on intercollegiate athletic associations, restructuring board membership and voting power allocation — a new substantive statutory duty binding on private governing bodies.
• Degree of Discretion Granted Low The one-third threshold and employee exclusion are stated in mandatory terms with no association discretion to set lower representation levels.
• Implementation & Enforcement Burden Medium Associations must continuously monitor board composition, enforce the employee exclusion, and apply conflict-of-interest recusal rules — an ongoing affirmative compliance obligation.
• Temporal Commitment High Same as above.

Carve-outs, Exemptions, Eligibility

Antitrust exemption for enforcing bill provisions

Shields college athletic associations, conferences, and institutions from antitrust lawsuits when they adopt rules or impose penalties — such as fines, eligibility limits, or agent decertification — to enforce the standards set by this law.

• Population Scope Low Directly benefits intercollegiate athletic associations, conferences, and institutions as the entities whose antitrust exposure is reduced — a narrow institutional population.
• Budgetary Magnitude Low No federal funds are authorized or appropriated; the provision reduces private litigation exposure rather than directing public expenditure.
• Legal / Regulatory Depth High Grants new federal antitrust immunity for a defined category of enforcement activities and sanctions — a substantive change to associations' legal exposure under antitrust law, conditioned on implementing rules.
• Degree of Discretion Granted Medium The exemption is self-activating once implementing rules are adopted, but associations retain discretion over whether to adopt those rules and what sanctions to impose.
• Implementation & Enforcement Burden Low Reduces rather than increases enforcement burden by shielding covered enforcement actions from antitrust challenge, with the compliance prerequisite being adoption of implementing rules.
• Temporal Commitment High Same as above.

Regulatory or Legal Changes

Ban on large conference mergers reducing membership

Prohibits college athletic conferences with over $1 billion in 2025 revenue from merging with or absorbing another conference if doing so would drop their membership below a minimum threshold, with no antitrust efficiency defenses allowed and violating transactions rendered void.

• Population Scope Low Directly regulates only athletic conferences with over $1 billion in fiscal year 2025 revenue — a very small number of entities, likely fewer than five major conferences.
• Budgetary Magnitude Low No federal funds are authorized or appropriated; the provision restricts private transactions with no public spending dimension.
• Legal / Regulatory Depth High Creates a new per se prohibition on specific conference transactions, renders violating deals automatically void, and expressly bars standard antitrust defenses — a substantive change to both antitrust law and conference merger authority.
• Degree of Discretion Granted Low The prohibition is categorical with no regulatory discretion or waiver authority — efficiency and procompetitive defenses are expressly foreclosed.
• Implementation & Enforcement Burden Medium Transaction voidness is self-executing, but parties and courts must assess membership-threshold compliance for each covered deal — case-by-case adjudicative burden concentrated in a narrow sector.
• Temporal Commitment High Persists indefinitely until Congress acts to repeal or amend it, with the $1 billion threshold anchored to 2025 as a fixed historical reference.

Core Policy Mechanism

Congressional Commission on College Athletics established

Creates a 20-member Congressional Commission on the Future of College Athletics to study athlete compensation, welfare, spending limits, and health standards, with authority to hold hearings and issue subpoenas, and a mandate to report within five years.

• Population Scope High The Commission's inquiry and recommendations address compensation, welfare, and governance across the entire college athletics system, affecting all institutions, associations, and athletes nationwide — a sector with broad national reach.
• Budgetary Magnitude Low Authorizes appropriations split between House and Senate accounts, but the dollar amount is unspecified and likely modest relative to the sector, and funding is time-limited to the Commission's lifespan.
• Legal / Regulatory Depth Medium Creates a new legislative body with subpoena power and a joint-resolution drafting mandate — a significant procedural and investigative authority but one that shapes rather than directly changes substantive law.
• Degree of Discretion Granted Medium The Commission has discretion over hearing topics and subpoena use, but its core mandate — producing a report and Pool Benefits Limit resolution within five years — is mandatory.
• Implementation & Enforcement Burden Medium Subpoena authority requires judicial enforcement infrastructure, and the joint resolution mechanism channels Commission output into the congressional process — moderate implementation demands.
• Temporal Commitment Low Terminates 90 days after submitting its report, which is due within five years — a hard expiry well within 10 years that self-terminates unless Congress acts to extend it.

Carve-outs, Exemptions, Eligibility

Employment status neutrality for student athletes

Declares that this federal law takes no position on whether college athletes are employees, and does not change their employment classification status under any existing law.

• Population Scope Medium Bears on all college student athletes and institutions engaged in employment classification disputes — a broad sector-wide population, though the practical effect is confined to legal proceedings invoking this statute.
• Budgetary Magnitude Low No federal funds are authorized or appropriated; the provision is a rule of construction with no spending dimension.
• Legal / Regulatory Depth Medium Establishes a federal statutory rule of construction that constrains how courts and agencies may use this bill in employment classification proceedings — a procedural constraint on legal reasoning rather than a new substantive duty.
• Degree of Discretion Granted Low The neutrality rule is mandatory and self-executing, leaving no agency or judicial discretion to treat the bill as evidence of employment status.
• Implementation & Enforcement Burden Low Creates no new enforcement mechanism; applies only as a rule of construction in existing proceedings with no new compliance infrastructure required.
• Temporal Commitment High Persists indefinitely until Congress acts to repeal or amend it.

Carve-outs, Exemptions, Eligibility

Exemption of certain agreements from antitrust laws

The